GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1991

S	2 

SENATE BILL 812
State Personnel & State Government Committee Substitute Adopted 7/3/91

Short Title:  State Buy Recycled Goods.	(Public)
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Sponsors:
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Referred to:  
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April 24, 1991

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A STATE PROCUREMENT POLICY WHICH ENCOURAGES THE PURCHASE OF PRODUCTS MADE FROM RECYCLED MATERIALS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 143-49 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143-49. Powers and duties of Secretary.
The Secretary of Administration shall have power and authority, and it shall be his duty, subject to the provisions of this Article:
(1)	To canvass sources of supply, including sources of supply of products made from recycled materials, and to purchase or to contract for the purchase, lease and lease-purchase of all supplies, materials, equipment and other tangible personal property required by the State government, or any of its departments, institutions or agencies under competitive bidding or otherwise as hereinafter provided.
(2)	To establish and enforce specifications which shall apply to all supplies, materials and equipment to be purchased or leased for the use of the State government or any of its departments, institutions or agencies.
(2a)	To establish criteria for determining whether goods or supplies qualify as products made from recycled material, as defined in G.S. 143-58.2.
(3)	To purchase or to contract for, by sealed, competitive bidding or other suitable means, all contractual services and needs of the State government, or any of its departments, institutions, or agencies; or to authorize any department, institution or agency to purchase or contract for such services.
When the award of any contract for contractual services exceeding a cost of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) requires negotiation with prospective contractors, the Secretary shall request and the Attorney General shall assign a representative of the office of the Attorney General to assist in negotiation for the award of the contract. It shall be the duty of such representative to assist and advise in obtaining the most favorable contract for the State, to evaluate all proposals available from prospective contractors for that purpose, to interpret proposed contract terms and to advise the Secretary or his representatives of the liabilities of the State and validity of the contract to be awarded. All contracts and drafts of such contracts shall be prepared by the office of the Attorney General and copies thereof shall be retained by such office for a period of three years following the termination of such contracts. The term ‘contractual services' as used in this subsection shall mean work performed by an independent contractor requiring specialized knowledge, experience, expertise or similar capabilities wherein the service rendered does not consist primarily of acquisition by this State of equipment or materials and the rental of equipment, materials and supplies. The term ‘negotiation' as used herein shall not be deemed to refer to contracts entered into or to be entered into as a result of a competitive bidding process.
(4)	To have general supervision of all storerooms and stores operated by the State government, or any of its departments, institutions or agencies; to provide for transfer or exchange to or between all State departments, institutions and agencies, or to sell all supplies, materials and equipment which are surplus, obsolete or unused; and to have supervision of inventories of all tangible personal property belonging to the State government, or any of its departments, institutions or agencies. All receipts from the transfer or sale of such surplus, obsolete or unused equipment of State departments, institutions and agencies which are supported by appropriations from the general fund, except where such receipts have been anticipated for, or budgeted against the cost of replacements, shall be placed by the Secretary in an equipment reserve fund from which expenditures may be made only with prior approval of the Director of the Budget. The duties imposed by this subdivision shall not relieve any department, institution or agency of the State government from accountability for equipment, materials, supplies and tangible personal property under its control. Prior to taking any action under this subdivision concerning expenditures from the equipment reserve fund, the Secretary may consult with the Advisory Budget Commission.
(5)	To make provision for or to contract for all State printing, including all printing, binding, paper stock, recycled paper stock, and supplies or materials in connection with the same.
(6)	To make available to nonprofit corporations operating charitable hospitals, to local nonprofit community sheltered workshops or centers that meet standards established by the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of Human Resources, to private nonprofit agencies licensed or approved by the Department of Human Resources as child placing agencies or residential child-care facilities, and to counties, cities, towns, governmental entities and other subdivisions of the State and public agencies thereof in the expenditure of public funds, the services of the Department of Administration in the purchase of materials, supplies and equipment under such rules, regulations and procedures as the Secretary of Administration may adopt. In adopting rules and regulations any or all provisions of this Article may be made applicable to such purchases and contracts made through the Department of Administration, and in addition the rules and regulations shall contain a requirement that payment for all such purchases be made in accordance with the terms of the contract. Prior to adopting rules and regulations under this subdivision, the Secretary of Administration may consult with the Advisory Budget Commission."
Sec. 2.  Article 3 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes is amended by adding the following new section:
"§ 143-58.2.  State policy; cooperation in promoting the purchase of products made from recycled materials.
(a)	It is the policy of this State to encourage and promote the purchase of products made from recycled materials.  All State agencies, institutions, and political subdivisions shall cooperate with the Department of Administration and all other State agencies, institutions, and political subdivisions in efforts to encourage the purchase of products made from recycled materials, and, where economically feasible, to require the use of products made from recyclable material.  When contracting for the purchase of products for which criteria have been established pursuant to G.S. 143-49(2a), the Secretary shall employ any procedures adopted under G.S. 143-53 to award contracts for products made from recycled materials.
(b)	To encourage the maximum purchase of materials made from recycled materials, the Department of Administration, in consultation with The University of North Carolina, the Department of Economic and Community Development, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources shall, no later than July 1, 1992:
(1)	Develop a plan to increase the State purchase of materials made from recycled solid waste.  No later than January 1, 1993, the Department of Administration shall submit a report for the implementation of this plan to the General Assembly; and
(2)	With representatives of the recycling industry and environmental organizations, establish a list of acceptable products which contain recycled materials and publish this list at least twice each year for the use of State agencies.
(c)	As used in this section, ‘recycled materials' means materials recovered or diverted from the solid waste stream, but does not include those materials or by-products generated from and commonly reused within an original manufacturing process."
Sec. 3.  Article 8 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 143-135.7.  State policy; cooperation in promoting the purchase of products made from recycled materials.
It is the policy of this State to encourage and promote the purchase of products made from recycled materials, as defined in G.S. 143-58.2.  All State agencies, institutions, and political subdivisions shall cooperate with the Department of Administration and all other State agencies, institutions, and political subdivisions in efforts to encourage the purchase of products made from recycled content and, to the extent economically feasible, to require the use of supplies and material made from recycled materials when purchasing goods and services."
Sec. 4.  This act becomes effective October 1, 1991.