Buying 'Green': Implementation of Environmentally-Sound Purchasing Requirements in Department of Defense Procurements

Most environmental legislation which impacts the procurement process is not specifically directed at Government contracts but at Federal actions in general. Consequently, these laws are not intended to use the procurement process to further environmental protection, but to ensure that Federal contracts do no harm. The implementation of these laws in Government contracts is usually referred to as environmental considerations . There is, however, an existing and growing body of requirements that seek to use the Federal procurement process as an instrument to do some good for the environment. These requirements fall into two broad categories. First, those that require the purchase of certain environmentally sound goods and services to create markets for them and, second, those that restrict purchases of environmentally harmful goods and services in order to limit or phase out their use in the Federal sector. The implementation of this body of requirements into Government contracts could rightly be called considering the environment.