New Category for Commercial Market Services: Green and Recycling-related services – Final Follow Up Notice

On July 30, 2013, Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (FPI) posted a notice in the Federal Business Opportunities ( FedBizOpps ). In this notice, FPI announced its proposal to establish an additional category of service which FPI will perform outside the Federal Market. In furtherance of the Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (FPI) Board of Directors' directive to seek and pursue the creation of inmate work opportunities without mandatory source, this notice announces the final decision of the FPI Board of Directors to approve an additional type of commercial service, that of services in conjunction with recycling initiatives. The July 30th notice stated that in September of 1998, FPI received approval from its Board of Directors and legal concurrence from the U.S. Department of Justice to provide commercial market services (CMS) in four specific service areas. The areas include: 1) work that is currently being performed outside the United States; 2) services with a recognized labor shortage that causes companies to outsource work to foreign countries; 3) new services that a company otherwise intends to contract outside the United States; and 4) services that were performed by non-Federal Bureau of Prisons inmates (such as District of Columbia inmates) for non-Federal agencies. On August 25, 2005, FPI requested and received approval from its Board of Directors for two additional categories in the area of commercial market services: 5) service work for state and local governments and 6) service work that would be economically unfeasible to perform without the availability of inmate labor. In May, 2013, FPI received approval of its plan from the Board of Directors, subject to comment, to establish a seventh commercial market service category, that of services in conjunction with recycling initiatives. This new authority will assist FPI's goal to create more green jobs for inmates. It will also allow FPI to provide a viable option in the commercial market for products that may otherwise be disposed in landfills. The previous notice explained that, as with other FPI CMS projects, there will be no displacement of United States workers as a result of FPI's work, nor will any potential partnership hinder the development of the domestic market. This new category of commercial market services will allow FPI to assume a more prominent role in supporting environmentally-friendly green initiatives, thereby strengthening its public stewardship role, while simultaneously creating more skills training opportunities for inmates. FPI received no comments from any interested party regarding this proposed service, during the open comment period. Therefore, the FPI Board of Directors has given its final approval for FPI to establish a seventh commercial market service category, that of services in conjunction with recycling initiatives. Interested parties have a right to raise questions at any time with FPI's Board of Directors. Any correspondence should be addressed to: Chief, Marketing, Research, and Corporate Support, Federal Prison Industries, Inc., 320 First Street, NW, Washington, DC 20534.