Toxic Reduction Task Force

The Toxic Reduction Task Force was created per Executive Order 515 to provide guidance and assist agencies in identifying and eliminating purchases of products containing toxic chemicals.

Who is the Commonwealth’s Toxics Reduction Task Force?

To facilitate implementation of Executive Order 515, establishing an Environmental Purchasing Policy for all Commonwealth Executive Departments, an interagency Toxics Reduction Task Force was established with oversight and leadership by the Operational Services Division and the Office of Technical Assistance and Technology, and consisting of staff from:

• Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)

• Department of Public Health (DPH)

• Division of Labor Standards (DLS)

• Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI)

An Advisory Board to the Task Force also is comprised of individuals from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the Department of Energy Resources and the Department of Environmental Protection to oversee the establishment of the group’s annual goals and to work with the Task Force when needed to provide assistance in implementing the directives of the Executive Order. 

Goals and Objectives

EO 515 requires all Commonwealth Executive Departments to reduce their impact on the environment and enhance public health by procuring Environmentally Preferable Products (EPP) and services "whenever such products and services are readily available, perform satisfactorily, and represent the best value to the Commonwealth". The Executive Order represents a transition from simply identifying and qualifying environmentally preferable products that state agencies should buy, to requiring their purchase by state agencies when appropriate. The goals and objectives of the Task Force are to:

1. Communicate the change in product requirements to affected and relevant state agency staff
2. Select priority focus areas
3. Determine (within those priority areas) whether agencies are purchasing EPPs
4. Ensure that available EPPs could successfully substitute for conventional items without diminution in effectiveness or value
5. Provide assistance to state agencies in understanding the value of purchasing and using EPPs where acceptability of such products is not immediate, and
6. Allow for flexibility in special cases where EPPs may not meet agency needs

Priority Focus Products and Areas

The Task Force has identified the following priority focus areas:

• Cleaning Supplies and Janitorial Services: Find additional information on the Green Cleaning Products, Programs, Equipment and Supplies webpage
• Products with Per- and Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS): Find additional information in the PFAS Free Buying Guide

Alternative Approval

Toxics Reduction Task Force Alternative Approval, April, 2016: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Toxics Reduction Task Force and the FAC118 Environmentally Preferable Products, Programs, Equipment and Supplies Strategic Sourcing Team (SST) have approved the following standards for use in the FAC118 Environmentally Preferable Products, Programs, Equipment and Supplies contract.

Toxics Reduction Task Force Alternative Approval Form: This form is to be completed and submitted by vendors for an alternative product/service/technology review.

Toxics Reduction Task Force Progress Reports

The Toxics Reduction Task Force Annual Progress Reports provide updates on the progress made by the interagency Task Force to implement the directives of Executive Order 515.

Annual Reports

• FY23 Toxics Reduction Task Force Annual Report
• FY22 Toxics Reduction Task Force Annual Report (found in the FY22 EPP Annual Report on p.15)
• FY21 Toxics Reduction Task Force Annual Report (found in the FY21 EPP Annual Report on p.11)
• FY20 Toxics Reduction Task Force Annual Report (found in the FY20 EPP Annual Report on p.10)
• FY19 Toxics Reduction Task Force Annual Report (found in the FY19 EPP Annual Report on p.6)
• FY17-FY18 Toxics Reduction Task Force Annual Report (found in the FY17 - FY18 EPP Annual Report on p.18)
• 2016 Calendar Year Report of the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Toxics Reduction Task Force
• 2015 Calendar Year Report of the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Toxics Reduction Task Force
• 2014 Calendar Year Report of the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Toxics Reduction Task Force
• Fiscal Year 2013 Progress Report on the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Program
• 2012 Toxics Reduction Task Force Progress Report
• 2011 Toxics Reduction Task Force Progress Report