RFI_%20Safety_Footwear_40100-51641.pdf

STATE OF TENNESSEE

TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

FOR

EMPLOYEE SAFETY FOOTWEAR PROGRAM

RFI # 40100-51641

February 17, 2026

1. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE:

The State of Tennessee, Department of Transportation issues this Request for Information (“RFI”) for the purpose of assessing the ability of Respondents to meet the State security requirements of a future solicitation for an Employee Safety Footwear Program. We appreciate your input and participation in this process.

2. BACKGROUND:

The Department of Transportation is seeking a vendor to manage the employee safety shoe program for approximately 2,500 field staff. Eligible employees will be given an allotment annually for footwear, and the Contractor will perform all logistical and administrative work to provide the employees with approved safety footwear. The Contractor must be able to provide services on site and online including collecting size/style information, coordinating order placement, receiving, and distributing the footwear, troubleshooting of any issues with ordering, shipping, receiving, and payment of the footwear.

TDOT issues this RFI to gather information from safety footwear vendors to understand the Respondent’s ability or describing Respondent’s inability to comply with the requirements set forth in Attachment A.

3. COMMUNICATIONS:

3.1. Please submit your response to this RFI to:

Kenneth Weaver, Procurement and Contracts Division Tennessee Department of Transportation Tennessee Tower, 11th floor 312 Rosa L Parks Ave, Nashville, TN 37243 TDOT.RFP@tn.gov mailto:TDOT.RFP@tn.gov

3.2. Please feel free to contact the Tennessee Department of Transportation with any questions regarding this RFI. The main point of contact will be:

Kenneth Weaver, Procurement and Contracts Division Tennessee Department of Transportation Tennessee Tower, 11th floor 312 Rosa L Parks Ave, Nashville, TN 37243 TDOT.RFP@tn.gov

3.3. Please reference RFI # 40100-51726 with all communications to this RFI.

4. RFI SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

EVENT

TIME

(Central Time Zone)

DATE

(all dates are State business days)

1. RFI Issued February 17, 2026

2. RFI Response Deadline February 26, 2026

5. GENERAL INFORMATION:

5.1. Responding to this RFI is a prerequisite for responding to any future solicitations related to this project. Responses to this RFI will not create any contract rights and responses to this RFI will become property of the State.

5.1.1.1. All Respondents will be required to provide a signed written response from their legal counsel, or Chief Executive Officer, either confirming Respondent’s ability or describing Respondent’s inability to comply with the requirements set forth in Attachment A.

5.1.1.2. The specific Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) periods referenced in the Information Technology Security Requirements clause of Attachment A will be negotiated and determined between the vendor and the State for the particular contract based on the priority of the service.

5.2. The information gathered during this RFI is part of an ongoing procurement. In order to prevent an unfair advantage among potential respondents, the RFI responses will not be available until after the completion of evaluation of any responses, proposals, or bids resulting from a Request for Qualifications, Request for Proposals, Invitation to Bid or other procurement method. In the event that the state chooses not to go further in the procurement process and responses are never evaluated, the responses to the procurement including the responses to the RFI, will be considered confidential by the State.

mailto:TDOT.RFP@tn.gov

5.3. The State will not pay for any costs associated with responding to this RFI.

6. INFORMATIONAL FORMS:

The State is requesting the following information from all interested parties. Attachment A are being provided as information only for the Respondent to provide an informed response. Please fill out the following forms:

RFI #40100-51726

TECHNICAL INFORMATIONAL FORM

1. RESPONDENT LEGAL ENTITY NAME:

2. RESPONDENT CONTACT PERSON:

Name, Title:

Address:

Phone Number:

Email:

3. Provide a signed written response from either the legal counsel, Chief Executive Officer, or their authorized designee legally empowered to bind the respondent to the provisions of the solicitation and resulting contract (if awarded), either confirming the Respondent’s ability or describing the Respondent’s inability to comply with the requirements outlined in Attachment A.

4. If Contactor cannot meet the following requirement specified in Attachment A, “The Contractor shall ensure that all State Data is housed in the continental United States, inclusive of backup data. All State data must remain in the United States, regardless of whether the data is processed, stored, in-transit, or at rest. Access to State data shall be limited to US-based (onshore) resources only,” provide the name of the host country(ies) where any data may be processed or stored, in-transit, or at rest.

Attachment A

Notable Terms and Conditions Requirements:

(This Attachment does not represent all State of Tennessee contractual Terms and Conditions, but reflects those the State requires acknowledgement of the Respondent’s ability, or inability, to comply with to determine inclusion in a future procurement for the services referenced in this

RFI).

E.1. Personally Identifiable Information. While performing its obligations under this Contract, Contractor may have access to Personally Identifiable Information held by the State (“PII”). For the purposes of this Contract, “PII” includes “Nonpublic Personal Information” as that term is defined in Title V of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 or any successor federal statute, and the rules and regulations thereunder, all as may be amended or supplemented from time to time (“GLBA”) and personally identifiable information and other data protected under any other applicable laws, rule or regulation of any jurisdiction relating to disclosure or use of personal information (“Privacy Laws”). Contractor agrees it shall not do or omit to do anything which would cause the State to be in breach of any Privacy Laws. Contractor shall, and shall cause its employees, agents and representatives to: (i) keep PII confidential and may use and disclose PII only as necessary to carry out those specific aspects of the purpose for which the PII was disclosed to Contractor and in accordance with this Contract, GLBA and Privacy Laws; and (ii) implement and maintain appropriate technical and organizational measures regarding information security to: (A) ensure the security and confidentiality of PII; (B) protect against any threats or hazards to the security or integrity of PII; and (C) prevent unauthorized access to or use of PII.

Contractor shall immediately notify State: (1) of any disclosure or use of any PII by Contractor or any of its employees, agents and representatives in breach of this Contract; and (2) of any disclosure of any PII to Contractor or its employees, agents and representatives where the purpose of such disclosure is not known to Contractor or its employees, agents and representatives. The State reserves the right to review Contractor's policies and procedures used to maintain the security and confidentiality of PII and Contractor shall, and cause its employees, agents and representatives to, comply with all reasonable requests or directions from the State to enable the State to verify or ensure that Contractor is in full compliance with its obligations under this Contract in relation to PII. Upon termination or expiration of the Contract or at the State’s direction at any time in its sole discretion, whichever is earlier, Contractor shall immediately return to the State any and all PII which it has received under this Contract and shall destroy all records of such PII.

The Contractor shall report to the State any instances of unauthorized access to or potential disclosure of PII in the custody or control of Contractor (“Unauthorized Disclosure”) that come to the Contractor’s attention. Any such report shall be made by the Contractor within twenty-four

(24) hours after the Unauthorized Disclosure has come to the attention of the Contractor.

Contractor shall take all necessary measures to halt any further Unauthorized Disclosures. The Contractor, at the sole discretion of the State, shall provide no cost credit monitoring services for individuals whose PII was affected by the Unauthorized Disclosure. The Contractor shall bear the cost of notification to all individuals affected by the Unauthorized Disclosure, including individual letters and public notice. The remedies set forth in this Section are not exclusive and are in addition to any claims or remedies available to this State under this Contract or otherwise available at law. The obligations set forth in this Section shall survive the termination of this Contract.

E.2. Information Technology Security Requirements (State Data, Audit, and Other Requirements).

a. The Contractor shall protect State Data as follows:

(1) The Contractor shall ensure that all State Data is housed in the continental United States, inclusive of backup data. All State data must remain in the United States, regardless of whether the data is processed, stored, in-transit, or at rest. Access to State data shall be limited to US-based (onshore) resources only.

All system and application administration must be performed in the continental United States.

Configuration or development of software and code is permitted outside of the United States.

However, software applications designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by persons owned or controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of, a foreign adversary, which the U.S. Secretary of Commerce acting pursuant to 15 CFR 7 has defined to include the People’s Republic of China, among others are prohibited. Any testing of code outside of the United States must use fake data. A copy of production data may not be transmitted or used outside the United States.

(2) The Contractor shall encrypt Confidential State Data at rest and in transit using the current version of Federal Information Processing Standard (“FIPS”) 140-2 or 140-3 (or current applicable version) validated encryption technologies. The State shall control all access to encryption keys. The Contractor shall provide installation and maintenance support at no cost to the State.

(3) The Contractor and any Subcontractor used by the Contractor to host State data, including data center vendors, shall be subject to an annual engagement by a licensed CPA firm in accordance with the standards of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“AICPA”) for a System and Organization Controls for service organizations (“SOC”) 2 Type 2 examination. The scope of the SOC 2 Type 2 examination engagement must include the Security, Availability, Confidentiality, and Processing Integrity Trust Services Criteria. In addition, the Contractor services that are part of this Contract, including any processing or storage services, must be included in the scope of the SOC 2 Type 2 examination engagement(s).

(4) The Contractor must annually review its SOC 2 Type 2 examination reports. Within 30 days of receipt of the examination report, or upon request from the State or the Comptroller of the Treasury, the Contractor must provide the State or the Comptroller of the Treasury a non-redacted copy of the Contractor’s SOC 2 Type 2 examination report(s). The Contractor must review the annual SOC 2 Type 2 examination reports for each of its Subcontractors and must also assist the State or Comptroller of the Treasury with obtaining a non-redacted copy of any SOC examination reports for each of its Subcontractors, including data centers used by the Contractor to host or process State data.

If the Contractor’s SOC 2 Type 2 examination report includes a modified opinion, meaning that the opinion is qualified, adverse, or disclaimed, the Contractor must share the SOC report and the Contractor’s plan to address the modified opinion with the State or the Comptroller of the Treasury within 30 days of the Contractor’s receipt of the SOC report or upon request from the State or the Comptroller of the Treasury. If any Subcontractor(s) SOC 2 Type 2 examination report includes a modified opinion, the Contractor must assist the State or Comptroller of the Treasury with obtaining the Subcontractor(s) SOC report and the Subcontractor(s) plan to address the modified opinion.

The Contractor must have a process for correcting control deficiencies that were identified in the SOC 2 Type 2 examination, including follow-up documentation providing evidence of such corrections. Within 30 days of receipt of the examination report, or upon request from the State or the Comptroller of the Treasury, the Contractor must provide the State or the Comptroller of the Treasury with a corrective action plan and evidence of correcting the control deficiencies. The Contractor must require each of its Subcontractors, including data centers used by the Contractor to host State data, to have a process for correcting control deficiencies identified in their SOC examination reports and must assist the State or

Comptroller of the Treasury with obtaining a corrective action plan and obtaining evidence of correcting control deficiencies identified in Subcontractor(s) SOC reports.

No additional funding shall be allocated for these examinations as they are included in the Maximum Liability of this Contract.

(5) Contractor shall be certified to host Payment Card Industry (“PCI”) data in accordance with the current version of PCI DSS (“Data Security Standard”), maintained by the PCI Security Standards Council.

(6) The Contractor must annually perform Penetration Tests and Vulnerability Assessments against its Processing Environment per the NIST 800-115 definition. “Processing Environment” shall mean the combination of software and hardware on which the Application runs. “Application” shall mean the computer code that supports and accomplishes the State’s requirements as set forth in this Contract. “Penetration Tests” shall be in the form of attacks on the Contractor’s computer system, with the purpose of discovering security weaknesses which have the potential to gain access to the Processing Environment’s features and data.

The “Vulnerability Assessment” shall be designed and executed to define, identify, and classify the security holes (vulnerabilities) in the Processing Environment. The Contractor shall allow the State, at its option, to perform Penetration Tests and Vulnerability Assessments on the Processing Environment. The Contractor shall provide a letter of attestation on its processing environment that penetration tests and vulnerability assessments has been performed on an annual basis and taken corrective action to evaluate and address any findings.

In the event of an unauthorized disclosure or unauthorized access to State data, the State Strategic Technology Solutions (STS) Security Incident Response Team (SIRT) must be notified and engaged by calling the State Customer Care Center (CCC) at 615-741-1001.

Any such event must be reported by the Contractor within twenty-four (24) hours after the unauthorized disclosure has come to the attention of the Contractor.

(7) If a breach has been confirmed a fully un-modified third-party forensics report must be supplied to the State and through the STS SIRT. This report must include indicators of compromise (IOCs) as well as plan of actions for remediation and restoration. Contractor shall take all necessary measures to halt any further Unauthorized Disclosures.

(8) Upon State request, the Contractor shall provide a copy of all Confidential State Data it holds.

The Contractor shall provide such data on media and in a format determined by the State

(9) Upon termination of this Contract and in consultation with the State, the Contractor shall destroy, and ensure all subcontractors shall destroy, all Confidential State Data it holds (including any copies such as backups) in accordance with the current version of National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) Special Publication 800-88. The Contractor shall provide a written confirmation of destruction to the State within ten (10) business days after destruction.

b. Minimum Requirements:

(1) The Contractor and all data centers used by the Contractor to host State data, including those of all Subcontractors, must comply with the State’s Enterprise Information Security Policies as amended periodically. The State’s Enterprise Information Security Policies document is found at the following URL: https://www.tn.gov/finance/strategic-technology-solutions/strategic-technology-solutions/sts-security-policies.html.

(2) The Contractor agrees to maintain the Application so that it will run on a current, manufacturer-supported Operating System. “Operating System” shall mean the software that https://www.tn.gov/finance/strategic-technology-solutions/strategic-technology-solutions/sts-security-policies.html https://www.tn.gov/finance/strategic-technology-solutions/strategic-technology-solutions/sts-security-policies.html supports a computer's basic functions, such as scheduling tasks, executing applications, and controlling peripherals.

(3) If the Application requires middleware or database software, Contractor shall maintain middleware and database software versions that are always fully compatible with current versions of the Operating System and Application to ensure that security vulnerabilities are not introduced.

(4) In the event of drive/media failure, if the drive/media is replaced, it remains with the State and it is the State’s responsibility to destroy the drive/media, or the Contractor shall provide written confirmation of the sanitization/destruction of data according to NIST 800-88.

c. Business Continuity Requirements. The Contractor shall maintain set(s) of documents, instructions, and procedures which enable the Contractor to respond to accidents, disasters, emergencies, or threats without any stoppage or hindrance in its key operations (“Business Continuity Requirements”).

Business Continuity Requirements shall include:

(1) “Disaster Recovery Capabilities” refer to the actions the Contractor takes to meet the Recovery

Point and Recovery Time Objectives defined below. Disaster Recovery Capabilities shall meet the following objectives:

i. Recovery Point Objective (“RPO”). The RPO is defined as the maximum targeted period in which data might be lost from an IT service due to a major incident:

TWENTY-FOUR (24) HOURS

ii. Recovery Time Objective (“RTO”). The RTO is defined as the targeted duration of time and a service level within which a business process must be restored after a disaster (or disruption) in order to avoid unacceptable consequences associated with a break in business continuity:

FORTY-EIGHT (48) HOURS

(2) The Contractor and the Subcontractor(s) shall maintain a documented Disaster Recovery plan and shall share this document with the State when requested. The Contractor and the Subcontractor(s) shall perform at least one Disaster Recovery Test every three hundred sixty-five

(365) days. A “Disaster Recovery Test” shall mean the process of verifying the success of the restoration procedures that are executed after a critical IT failure or disruption occurs. The Disaster Recovery Test shall use actual State Data Sets that mirror production data, and success shall be defined as the Contractor verifying that the Contractor can meet the State’s RPO and RTO requirements. A “Data Set” is defined as a collection of related sets of information that is composed of separate elements but can be manipulated as a unit by a computer. The Contractor shall provide written confirmation to the State after each Disaster Recovery Test that its Disaster Recovery Capabilities meet the RPO and RTO requirements.

(3) The Contractor shall maintain a Security Management Certification from the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (“FedRAMP”). A “Security Management Certification” shall mean written confirmation from FedRAMP that FedRAMP has assessed the Contractor’s information technology Infrastructure, using a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services, and has certified that the Contractor meets FedRAMP standards. Information technology “Infrastructure” shall mean the Contractor’s entire collection of hardware, software, networks, data centers, facilities and related equipment used to develop, test, operate, monitor, manage and/or support information technology services. The Contractor shall provide proof of current certification annually and upon State request. No additional funding shall be allocated for these certifications, authorizations, or audits as these are included in the Maximum Liability of this Contract.

E.3. Comptroller Audit Requirements.

When requested by the State or the Comptroller of the Treasury, the Contractor must provide the State or the Comptroller of the Treasury with a detailed written description of the Contractor’s information technology control environment, including a description of general controls and application controls. The Contractor must also assist the State or the Comptroller of the Treasury with obtaining a detailed written description of the information technology control environment for any third or fourth parties, or Subcontractors, used by the Contractor to process State data and/or provide services under this Contract.

Contractor will maintain and cause its Subcontractors to maintain a complete audit trail of all transactions and activities in connection with this Contract, including all information technology logging and scanning conducted within the Contractor’s and Subcontractor’s information technology control environment. Upon reasonable notice and at any reasonable time, the Contractor grants the State or the Comptroller of the Treasury with the right to audit the Contractor’s information technology control environment, including general controls and application controls. The audit may include testing the general and application controls within the Contractor’s information technology control environment and may also include testing general and application controls for any third or fourth parties, or Subcontractors, used by the Contractor to process State data and/or provide services under this Contract. The audit may include the Contractor’s and Subcontractor’s compliance with the State’s Enterprise Information Security Policy and all applicable requirements, laws, regulations, or policies.

Upon reasonable notice and at any reasonable time, the Contractor and Subcontractor(s) agree to allow the State, the Comptroller of the Treasury, or their duly appointed representatives to perform information technology control audits of the Contractor and all Subcontractors used by the Contractor. Contractor will provide to the State, the Comptroller of the Treasury, or their duly appointed representatives access to Contractor and Subcontractor(s) personnel for the purpose of performing the information technology control audit. The audit may include interviews with technical and management personnel, physical or virtual inspection of controls, and review of paper or electronic documentation.

The Contractor must have a process for correcting control deficiencies that were identified in the State’s or Comptroller of the Treasury’s information technology audit. For any audit issues identified, the Contractor and Subcontractor(s) shall submit a corrective action plan to the State or the Comptroller of the Treasury which addresses the actions taken, or to be taken, and the anticipated completion date in response to each of the audit issues and related recommendations of the State or the Comptroller of the Treasury. The corrective action plan shall be provided to the State or the Comptroller of the Treasury upon request from the State or Comptroller of the Treasury and within 30 days from the issuance of the audit report or communication of the audit issues and recommendations. Upon request from the State or Comptroller of the Treasury, the Contractor and Subcontractor(s) shall provide documentation and evidence that the audit issues were corrected.

Each party shall bear its own expenses incurred while conducting the information technology controls audit.

E.4. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use and Compliance Requirements. The Contractor agrees that any product, service, or solution incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI), including Generative AI (GenAI), procured under this Agreement shall comply fully with the State of Tennessee’s

Enterprise Artificial Intelligence Policy (Policy 200-POL-007), available at:

https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/finance/artificial-intelligence/Enterprise_Artificial_Intelligence_Policy.pdf

The Contractor further agrees to the following:

a. Data Privacy and Security

Contractor shall not use, access, store, transmit, or process any State Data—including but not limited to confidential, privileged, personally identifiable information (PII), protected health information (PHI), Payment Card Industry (PCI) data, criminal justice information (CJIS), federal tax information (FTI), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) data, Social Security Administration (SSA) data, Family Education Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA) data, or internal communications—through any AI tools or platforms unless:

(1) The AI tool is explicitly approved in writing by the State.

(2) The tool is operated within a secure State-controlled or approved environment.

b. Prohibition on Model Training

Contractor shall not use State Data to train, fine-tune, or otherwise improve AI models, unless expressly authorized in writing by the State and in accordance with Policy No.

200-OL-007.

c. Transparency and Accountability

Contractor shall clearly disclose when AI tools are used in providing services or generating content on behalf of the State. Contractor is responsible or the accuracy, reliability, and appropriateness of all AI-generated outputs.

d. Use of Approved Tools Only

Only State-approved AI platforms, systems, or services may be used in the performance of this contract. Use of public, consumer, or non-State-managed AI platforms (e.g., ChatGPT, Google Gemini, etc.) with State Data is strictly prohibited unless authorized in writing.

e. Ongoing Compliance and Risk Mitigation

Contractor shall ensure continued compliance with evolving State and federal regulations related to AI. The State reserves the right to audit or review AI usage under this Contract at any time.

f. Indemnification

Contractor shall further indemnify and hold harmless the State in accordance with the Hold Harmless section of this Agreement for any unauthorized disclosure, misuse, or compromise of State Data resulting from AI-related processing that violates this Contract or State policy.

E.5. Americans with Disabilities Act. The Contractor must comply with the Americans with Disabilities

Act (ADA) of 1990, as amended, including implementing regulations codified at 28 CFR Part 35 https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/finance/artificial-intelligence/Enterprise_Artificial_Intelligence_Policy.pdf https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/finance/artificial-intelligence/Enterprise_Artificial_Intelligence_Policy.pdf

"Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in State and Local Government Services" and at 28 CFR Part 36 "Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Public Accommodations and Commercial Facilities," and any other laws or regulations governing the provision of services to persons with a disability, as applicable. For more information, please visit the ADA website:

http://www.ada.gov.

http://www.ada.gov/