Fostering Green Chemistry Innovation through Healthy State Purchasing: Policy Concept

Healthy State Purchasing will foster green chemistry innovation while protecting public health and the environment.

Oregon lawmakers worked to create a cutting-edge Healthy State Purchasing bill (HB 4151) that would have helped level the playing field for innovative products by making some timely and practical updates to Oregon's public purchasing policy. The 2012 Healthy State Purchasing bill would have done the following:

1. Added human health and environmental evaluation criteria to purchasing decisions made by state agencies.
2. Increased transparency about the presence of chemicals of concern in products purchased by state agencies. 
3. Allowed green chemistry innovators to highlight the benefits of safer, more sustainable products when being considered for state purchases.

Although HB 4151 was denied a public hearing in the General Government and Consumer Protection Committee of the Oregon House of Representatives, OEC's efforts to champion the bill yielded some important results:

1. A number of leading businesses in the state, including Staples, Columbia Forest Products, SolAire Homebuilders, and Neil Kelly voiced their support for the bill.
2. The Oregon Department of Administrative Services agreed to work on a plan for implementing key elements of the bill moving forward.
3. A unique combination of democrats and republicans agreed to support the bill during the 2012 session.