City Council
MEETING DATE: 1/13/2016
TITLE:
Title
Adopt an Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy
End
FROM:
Tami Scott, Administrative Services Director
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends the Council adopt an Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy to formalize existing practices and bring the City into conformance with State of California Grant Program Requirements.
Body
BACKGROUND:
The State of California has declared that the responsibility of environmentally preferable purchasing shall be that of any agency that does procuring on behalf of the state (Assembly Bill 498 [Chan, Statutes of 2002, Chapter 575]), and this extends to grantees using state funds.
DISCUSSION:
“Environmentally preferable purchasing” (EPP) is defined in Public Contract Code Section 12400 as “the procurement or acquisition of goods and services that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing goods or services that serve the same purpose. This comparison shall take into consideration, to the extent feasible, raw materials acquisition, production, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, reuse, operation, maintenance, disposal, energy efficiency, product performance, durability, safety, the needs of the purchaser, and cost.” In other words, EPP considers, among other things, the environment, performance and cost.
While Cathedral City has had these practices in place for several years; and they are the way we do business, they have not been formalized in a policy format. By adopting this policy, Cathedral City will be in conformance with State requirements and can continue to apply for and receive financial assistance from various state programs.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Because these practices are already in place, formalizing them into a policy statement will not have any fiscal impact.
ATTACHMENTS:
Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy