Biobased Markets Program

Section 9002 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act (FSRIA) of 2002, as amended by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act (FCEA) of 2008, and the Agricultural Act of 2014 provides for a preferred procurement program under which Federal agencies are required to purchase biobased products (7 CFR part 3201 (ecfr.gov/current/title-7/subtitle-B/chapter-XXXII/part-3201)), with certain exceptions, and also requires the Secretary of Agriculture to implement a voluntary labeling program (7 CFR part 3202 (ecfr.gov/current/title-7/subtitle-B/chapter-XXXII/part-3202)) that would enable qualifying biobased products to be certified with a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Certified Biobased Product label (Label). These two initiatives together make up the BioPreferred Program, which is currently implemented by the Rural Business Cooperative Service (RBCS or the Agency), an agency of Rural Development (RD) mission area within the USDA. The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 8102) (2018 Farm Bill) reauthorizes the BioPreferred Program and instructs RBCS to create a single approval process through which biobased products may be determined eligible to receive a procurement preference and to be certified to use the Label. RBCS published a proposed rule with comment, 89 FR 4770 (federalregister.gov/documents/2024/01/24/ 2024-00981/biobased-markets-program), on January 24, 2024 to a adopt changes from the 2018 Farm Bill and merge 7 CFR 3201 and 3202 into one streamlined regulation, 7 CFR part 4270. The 60-day comment period closed on March 25, 2024. A workplan for a final rule has been approved for the 2024 Fall Agenda. The final rule, 89 FR 97459 (federalregister.gov/documents/2024/12/09/2024-28431/biobased-markets-program), provides the summary and responses to the comments received as part of the proposed rule with comment process. The final rule does not include revisions based on the comments received during the proposed rule comment period, for which the Agency has provided justification. The final rule includes two (2) technical amendments. There were no comments received during the proposed rule process regarding this information collection package. RBCS BioPreferred program staff and its contractors have been collecting product information under OMB Control Number 0570-0073 to support the preferred Federal procurement program (7 CFR part 3201 (ecfr.gov/current/title-7/subtitle-B/chapter-XXXII/part-3201)) and under OMB Control Number 0570-0071 to support the voluntary labeling program (7 CFR part 3202 (ecfr.gov/current/title-7/subtitle-B/chapter-XXXII/part-3202)). Since there will be one streamline regulation, 7 CFR part 4270, these two (2) OMB Control Numbers will be discontinued. The streamline regulation will receive new OMB Control Number 0570-0083 where RBCS will continue to collect product names, descriptions, availability, performance, environmental and health benefits, and biobased content measurements. RBCS uses this information to identify product categories for preferred Federal procurement, determine eligibility for products to qualify for preferred Federal procurement, and certify products to use the Label. Cooperation in this program by manufacturers and vendors of biobased products is voluntary.

The latest form for Biobased Markets Program expires 2028-01-31 and can be found here.