Washington, DC Environmental Rules: Sustainable Procurement (2026)

D.C. Code § 8-1031.04a covers requirements for District facilities and agencies within the Solid Waste Management chapter of Title 8. Subsection (d) directs that 'District agencies shall maximize the purchase of Environmentally Preferable Products or Services,' a term defined by cross-reference to D.C. Code § 2-351.04(30), the District's procurement code. The same section requires every District facility and agency to separate waste consistent with § 8-1031.03 and to maximize diversion from landfill or incineration through reduction, reuse, repair, donation, recycling and composting (subsection (a)). Each agency must designate a person responsible for compliance who ensures employees and janitorial staff are trained annually on source-separation requirements and that recycling, composting and trash receptacles are provided (subsection (b)).

The Department of Public Works (DPW) collects information annually from each agency on how it satisfies these duties and folds a summary, including the list of designated compliance staff, into the annual report required under § 8-1031.13 (subsection (c)). The green-purchasing duty was added to the chapter by D.C. Law 23-211 § 2(e) in 2021, layering a procurement standard on top of the existing waste-diversion mandate rather than creating a standalone green-purchasing statute. Because the obligation runs to District agencies and facilities themselves, it does not reach private contractors except to the extent an agency's own purchasing decisions are covered.