ENVIRONMENTAL PROCEDURES.docx

September 15, 1999 Revised <Insert Date>

SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC)

Environmental Remediation Procurement Procedures

Definitions

Definitions of Terms used in these procedures:

1. Assessment means the process of collection environmental data for the purpose of determining the extent, severity and potential for migration of chemicals of concern, and may include the interpretation of data and/or the determination and evaluation of potential risks posed by said chemicals of concern to human health and/or the environment.

2. Corrective Action means those activities conducted to reduce or eliminate concentrations of chemicals of concern. These activities may include but are not limited to removal of free product or contaminated soil; vapor extraction; in-situ and ex-situ groundwater treatment; installation of caps, slurry walls, or liners; bioremediation; and intrinsic processes.

3. Defined Scope of Work means any assessment or corrective actions where the requirements and specifications are outlined.

4. Environmental Remediation means any activity necessary to assess and/or perform corrective action on soils, ground water and surface waters affected by chemicals of concern.

Contract Documents and Order of Precedence: The procedures outlined below shall be superseded as follows, (a) Any contract resulting from a solicitation shall consist of the following documents: (1) a Record of Negotiations, if any, executed by you and the Procurement Officer, (2) the solicitation, as amended, (3) documentation of clarifications [11-35-1520(8)] or discussions [11-35-1530(6)] of an offer, if applicable, (4) your offer, (5) any statement reflecting the State's final acceptance (a/k/a "award"), and (6) purchase orders. These documents shall be read to be consistent and complimentary. Any conflict among these documents shall be resolved by giving priority to these documents in the order listed above.

Purpose: These procedures are hereby established to procure services effectively and efficiently for environmental remediation projects.

Scope: These procedures apply to the direct procurement of environmental remediation services by DHEC, as authorized by the Federal Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA), the State Underground Petroleum Environmental Response Bank Act (SUPERB), and the South Carolina Hazardous Waste Management Act (SCHWMA). Under these authorities, DHEC is authorized procure environmental remediation services to investigate and clean-up releases to the environment. In the SUPERB program, UST site owner or operators have the option to utilize the services procured directly by DHEC or obtain services independently. These procedures do not affect payment from the SUPERB account to UST owners or operators or contractors retained by UST owners or operators.

For any amendments to an environmental remediation project, DHEC shall negotiate a change order with the successful offeror. A change order modifies one or more of the following: scope, time, or cost. All documentation regarding all solicitations, including change orders, will be maintained within the procurement file, and maintained in accordance with the South Carolina Procurement Code.

I. PROCEDURES FOR PROJECTS WHERE THE SCOPE OF WORK IS DEFINED.

Per South Carolina Procurement Code & Regulations (SCCP), § 11-35-1550 Small Purchases, DHEC shall award contracts for environmental remediation services for small purchases up to $100,000.00, using the small purchasing parameters illustrated below. These projects normally fall within the Underground Storage Tank and Dry-cleaning programs where the source and nature of the contamination are known and shall only address services which require 365 days or less from to complete the total of required services contracted.

A. SMALL PURCHASES (up to $100,000.00). These procedures apply to the procurement of environmental remediation services which are not predicted to exceed $100,000.00. These procurements shall not be artificially divided to constitute a small purchase under this section. In estimating the total dollar amount, include all costs, excluding S.C. Sales Tax. Limited only to the Environmental Remediation Procedures and UST Management Division (UST), the grievance procedures (see section IV) do not apply to any purchases made using the small purchase procedures. Once a contract is established using the Small Purchase category procedure outlined below, additional projects of similar scope may be added as long as the contract is still in effect and the vendor agrees to the additional work at the prices quoted in the original contract. The additional work shall not increase the total purchase amount above the $100,000.00 ceiling, and the total validity of the contract, which begins on the date of the purchase order, shall not exceed one year regardless of any additional work added to the purchase order.

Competition requirements for small purchases:

COMPETITION AND NOTICE REQUIREMENTS

*Any fraction of less than one cent shall be rounded up to the penny to determine the appropriate requirements.

** If published in SCBO, only one bona fide written quote for a responsible bidder is needed

AWARD AND GRIEVANCES

⸷Contract formation is not delayed after notice of award. DHEC does not have to wait for the grievance period to expire before allowing the awarded vendor to start performance.

B. PROCEDURES FOR PROJECTS WHERE THE SCOPE OF WORK IS DEFINED ($100,000.01 AND ABOVE). In alignment with the South Carolina Consolidated Procurement Code & Regulations (SCCP), § 11-35-1510, for purchases of commodities or services with a total potential value of greater than $100,000.01, DHEC’s Division of Procurement Services shall determine which sourcing method is best utilized to solicit for environmental remediation services and ensure the method utilized is most practicable or advantageous to the state and the Underground Storge Tank Management Division, Bureau of Land and Waste Management. A single Invitation for Bid (IFB) may be used for projects which can be grouped together and competitively bid. For contracts which have been established using one of the competitive sealed proposal additional projects similar in scope may be added as long as the contract is still in effect and the vendor/s agree to the additional work at the prices quoted in the original contract. Separate vendor lists for underground storage tank remediation and dry-cleaning remediation may be established and retained given there are certification requirements for each program which are established by statute and or regulation.

Further, unless otherwise provided by law, all contracts must be awarded by competitive sealed bidding, pursuant to Section 11-35-1520 (Competitive sealed bidding), except as illustrated in the SCCP, and provided in:

(3) § 11-35-1525 (Fixed Priced Bidding)

(4) § 11-35-1528 (Competitive Best Value Bidding)

(5) § 11-35-1529 (Competitive Online Bidding)

(6) § 11-35-1530 (Competitive Sealed Proposals)

(8) § 11-35-1540 (Negotiations After Unsuccessful Competitive Sealed Bidding)

(10) § 11-35-1560 (Sole Source Procurements)

(11) § 11-35-1570 (Emergency Procurements)

C. SCCP EXCLUSIONS SPECIFIC ONLY TO ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES. The following is a list of solicitation criteria which differs from and supersedes South Carolina Procurement Code, and ONLY pertains to procurements for Environmental Remediation.

§11-35-1520. Competitive sealed bidding (Invitation for Bid (IFB)).

(6) Bid Acceptance and Bid Evaluation: Bids shall be accepted unconditionally without alteration or correction, except as otherwise authorized in these procedures. Each solicitation shall clearly set forth all evaluation criteria.

(7) Withdrawal or Correction of Offer: Offers may be withdrawn by written notice received at any time before the exact time set for opening. A bid may be withdrawn in person by a bidder or its authorized representative if, before the exact time set for opening, the identity of the person requesting withdrawal is established and the person signs a receipt for the bid. Except as otherwise provided by regulation, all decisions to permit the correction or withdrawal of bids must be supported by written determination of appropriateness made by the DHEC Director of Procurement Services or their designee. Each written determination must document that a bid correction is in order, that a mistake in bid is clearly evident, and that the correction of said error shall not affect unit rates included in the bid.

(9) Tie Bids. If two or more bidders are tied in price while otherwise meeting all of the required conditions, awards are determined as follows.

a. If there a South Carolina firm tied with an out-of-state firm, the award must be made automatically to the South Carolina firm.

b. Tie bids involving South Carolina firms must be resolved in favor of the South Carolina firm located in the same taxing jurisdiction as the project location.

c. Tie bids involving South Carolina firms in the same taxing jurisdiction as the project location must be resolved by the flip of a coin in the office of the DHEC Director of Procurement Services witnessed by all interested parties. The same procedures shall apply where both firms are outside of the taxing jurisdiction of the project location.

(10) Award: Unless there is a compelling reason to reject bids, notice of an award, or and intended award of a contract, based on method of procurement, shall be given by posting such notice specified in the solicitation documents. All solicitations and awards which are subject to the offeror or contractor’s right to grievance (see section VI) must contain the appropriate language which notifies offerors of the grievance procedures. Notices of award shall be posted at the following address: http://www.procurement.sc.gov.

(+) Negotiations After Unsuccessful Competitive Bidding. In addition to the code and regulations pertaining to Invitation for Bid, the following is added. When bids received pursuant to an Invitation for Bid exceeds available funds as certified by the appropriate fiscal officer, and it is determined in writing by the DHEC Director of Procurement Services or their designee, that time or other circumstances may not permit the delay required to resolicit competitive sealed bids, a contract may be negotiated pursuant to this section, provided that:

a. Each responsible bidder who submitted a bid under the original solicitation is notified of the determination and is given reasonable opportunity to negotiate

b. The negotiated price is lower than the lowest rejected bid by any responsible and responsive bidder under the original solicitation

c. The negotiated price is the lowest negotiated price offered by any responsible and responsive offeror.

(11) Request for Qualifications (RFQ): a. Prior to soliciting bids, the authorized DHEC procurement officer may issue a request for qualifications from prospective offerors. Such a request shall contain, at a minimum, the general scope of work, a description of the environmental remediation equipment, the processes or services to be solicited by the competitive bidding process, the deadline for submitting information and how prospective offerors may apply for consideration. The request shall require information only on the qualifications, experience, and ability to perform the requirements of the contract. b. After receipt of the responses to the Request for Qualifications from prospective offerors, the perspective offerors shall be ranked from most to least qualified based on the information submitted. Bids shall then be solicited from at least the top two prospective offerors by means of a competitive sealed bid (Invitation for Bid or “IFB”). The determination regarding how many bids to solicit or the failure of a prospective offeror to be selected is not grounds for grievance under Section IV of these procedures.

(+) Negotiations After Unsuccessful Competitive Bidding. In addition to the code and regulations pertaining to Invitation for Bid, the following is added. When bids received pursuant to an Invitation for Bid exceeds available funds as certified by the appropriate fiscal officer, and it is determined in writing by the DHEC Director of Procurement Services or their designee, that time or other circumstances may not permit the delay required to resolicit competitive sealed bids, a contract may be negotiated pursuant to this section, provided that:

a. Each responsible bidder who submitted a bid under the original solicitation is notified of the determination and is given reasonable opportunity to negotiate

b. The negotiated price is lower than the lowest rejected bid by any responsible and responsive bidder under the original solicitation

c. The negotiated price is the lowest negotiated price offered by any responsible and responsive offeror.

DHEC Division of Procurement Services, Bureau of Business Management / 301 Gervais St. / Columbia, SC. 29201 UST Management Division, Bureau of Land and Waste Management / 2600 Bull St. / Columbia, SC 29201 image1.png