National Aeronautics and Space Administration<br />Office of Inspector General<br />Washington, D.C. 20546<br /><br /><br />June 23, 2003<br /><br /><br />RELEASE 2003-041: NASA NONCOMPLIANCE WITH WASTE REDUCTION REQUIREMENTS<br /><br /><br /> The audit report "NASA Noncompliance With Waste Reduction Requirements" <br />(IG-03-013) has been posted to the NASA Office of Inspector General Web <br />site at: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/oig/hq/ig-03-013.pdf<br /><br /><br />One of the Federal Government's goals for protecting the environment is <br />to lead waste reduction efforts by using recycled and environmentally <br />preferable products. Executive Order 13101, "Greening the Government <br />Through Waste Prevention, Recycling and Federal Acquisition," September <br />14, 1998, and Section 6002 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery <br />Act require agencies to meet this goal by implementing affirmative <br />procurement programs to increase the use of recycled and <br />environmentally preferable products.<br /><br /><br />Results of Audit<br /><br /><br />We found that NASA's affirmative procurement program needs <br />improvements. Specifically, NASA Centers were not obtaining waivers to <br />justify purchases of certain nonrecycled products because Center <br />personnel were not aware that a waiver was required, and a waiver <br />process did not exist at one Center. In addition, the Federal <br />Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clauses related to waste reduction and <br />using products containing recovered materials were not included in <br />applicable support services contracts because the contracting officers <br />had not received adequate training or guidance on the FAR requirements. <br />Further, the Agency Environmental Executive needs to be at a higher <br />level to meet Executive Order 13101 requirements.<br /><br /><br />Recommendations<br /><br /><br />We recommended that NASA emphasize the affirmative procurement <br />requirements and provide training on the requirements for applicable <br />personnel. We also recommended that Johnson Space Center direct <br />appropriate officials to implement a waiver process for purchases of <br />certain nonrecycled products. In addition, we recommended that NASA <br />provide training for contracting officers on affirmative procurement <br />requirements and require that Procurement Management Surveys assure <br />affirmative procurement FAR clauses are included in applicable <br />contracts. Further, we recommended that NASA revise agency guidance to <br />address the requirements of the Executive order and that the Assistant <br />Administrator for Management Systems assume the role of the Agency <br />Environmental Executive.<br /><br /><br />Management's Response<br /><br /><br />NASA concurred with the report recommendations and has initiated <br />corrective actions. We consider management's comments to be responsive <br />to the recommendations.<br /><br /><br />To comment on this report, please send e-mail to igrelease@hq.nasa.gov <br /> *** End ***<br /><br /><br />Please do not contact NASA Office of Public Affairs for information on<br />Office of Inspector General releases.<br /><br /><br />For additional information on the NASA Office of Inspector General,<br />including published reviews, audit reports, inspection/assessment reports,<br />press releases, and other publications, please access our web site at:<br />http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/oig/hq<br /><br /><br />Report Crime, Fraud, Waste, Abuse, and Mismanagement to the NASA OIG<br />Hotline at: 800-424-9183, TDD 800-535-8134.