Vehicles

Green purchasing guidance for vehicles, including: cars, trucks, and vans.

Preferred specifications

The following have been identified as green specifications relevant to the goods/services as preferred specifications to be scored. These would be part of your evaluation. If you are using the Washington state procurement manual templates, the following should be inserted in the relevant document that is used for evaluation.

  • Avoidance of Mercury. RCW 70A.230.060: Mercury-free Product Preference.
    Statutory Preference for Nonmercury-Added Products. Pursuant to RCW 70A.230.060, Enterprise Services is providing a bid preference in the amount of five percent (5%) per product line item tested to any bidder that provides products that have the least amount of mercury added to the product necessary for the required performance for products identified in the Interstate Mercury Education and Reduction Clearinghouse Mercury-Added Products Database or where the product containing mercury is designed to reduce electricity consumption by at least 40%. Bidders who seek to obtain the five percent (5%) bid preference in Exhibit C-Bid Price must identify the amount of mercury added to the product or indicate the reduction in electricity consumption for identified products in Exhibit C – Bid Price.

Consideration for purchasers

  • RCW 43.19.637: Clean Fuel Vehicles—Purchasing Requirements states that at least 30% of all new vehicles purchased through a state contract shall be clean-fuel vehicles.
  • In addition, EO 20-01: State Efficiency and Environmental Performance (SEEP) and EO 21-04 Zero Emission Vehicles, which provide updated guidance, direct state agencies to ensure that each lease or purchase of new vehicles shall prioritize the purchase of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) (or better emerging technology) and support the installation of associated charging infrastructure. For vehicle classes in which BEVs are not available, agencies shall prioritize the most cost-effective low-emission options available.
  • In January 2019, Governor Inslee announced that he was directing all state agencies “to purchase EVs in applicable vehicle categories unless they can prove that an EV option in the market place does not meet the operational needs of the agency” and that the Washington State Electric Vehicle Fleets Initiative set a new, more aggressive goal of “at least 50% of all new state passenger vehicle purchases are electric vehicles by 2020.” Note: Seek DES Fleet input when using. Read the EO 21-04 Zero Emission Vehicles for more information.

Laws, rules, and executive orders

These laws, rules, and executive orders are the basis for these specifications: