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The Office of Procurement and Property Management (OPPM) provides leadership and policy guidance concerning procurement, property management, and energy conservation. OPPM also promotes and establishes USDA policy for alternative fuel vehicles and the purchase of biobased, environmentally preferable, and recycled products.
OPPM is working to simplify and reduce the cost of procurement, and to improve access to information about procurement and property management policy for businesses and other members of the public. The cost of procurement has been reduced by expanding the use of commercial credit cards (purchase cards) and the Purchase Card Management System to make small purchases. OPPM posts USDA procurement and property management policy and procedures on the Departmental Administration Web site, http://www.usda.gov/da.html. Businesses interested in selling to USDA may view Doing Business with USDA at the Web site.
In October 1998, USDA published in the Federal Register Uniform Procedures for the Acquisition and Transfer of Excess Personal Property, in accordance with the provisions of Section 923 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. Since then, USDA has transferred excess personal property worth over $10.6 million to 1994 land-grant institutions (tribal), 1890 land-grant institutions, and Hispanic-serving institutions.
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The Hazardous Materials Management Group (HMMG) administers USDA’s Hazardous Materials Management Program (HMMP) and provides departmental leadership for Resource, Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) compliance. In addition, HMMG develops procedures and guidance in the areas of environmental compliance, pollution prevention, and response under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly referred to as Superfund. The working cost estimate for the environmental cleanup portion of the HMMP exceeds $4 billion.
The HMMP has been focused for the last several years on environmental cleanup results, prioritization of needs, and integration of budgets and performance. The strategic plan defines two goals: cleaning up and restoring facilities and lands contaminated from releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances and materials, and improving regulatory compliance and reducing environmental contamination through pollution prevention and improvements in management practices.
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