Chemical and Material Risk Management Program

DoD Risk Management

This rule proposes to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to address requirements for minimizing the use of hexavalent chromium in items purchased by DoD. The rule prohibits the delivery of items containing hexavalent chromium under DoD contracts unless an exception applies or has been authorized by the Government. On April 8, 2009, the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics) issued a memorandum establishing policy for the minimization of hexavalent chromium use throughout DoD. The rule allows for the codification of the policy outlined in the April 8, 2009, memorandum for the acquisition community to effectively implement the guidance in contract requirements. This rule adds a new DFARS subpart and a corresponding contract clause to address requirements for minimizing the use of hexavlent chromium in items purchased by DoD. The rule enables DoD to comply with the requirements established in Executive Orders 13514 and 13423 to reduce the use of toxic and hazardous substances. Further, the rule is timely and necessary to provide industry guidance and policy to adopt substitutes for hexavalent chromium. Non-hexavalent chromium processes should be less costly due to the use of less hazardous materials and related control and disposal cost.

This factsheet highlights the emerging issues related to hexavalent chrome and actions that DoD employees and contractors can take to minimize risks

4-10 This Spring, 2010 article was published with the permission of CorrDefense, a publication focused on protecting military vehicles and equipment.

A study on the regulatory consideration for chromium prepared by NASAs Principal Center for Regulatory Risk Analysis and Communication. The report concludes that because of its relatively heavy regulatory burden, hardware designs incorporating hexavalent chromium may face future materials obsolescence risks if vendors should become unwilling or unable to supply parts or other products containing or manufactured using hexavalent chromium.

Ratheon submission to get substitute for Hex Chrome qualified by DoD