ITB-1342 Purchase of Mitigation Credits

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), District One, is seeking to procure mitigation credits to offset wetland impacts for State Road (SR) 31 from SR 80 to SR 78 in the South Florida Water Management District's Regulatory Tidal Caloosahatchee Basin. The specific procurement involves purchasing 1.13 credits of Saltwater Forested, 7.08 credits of Freshwater Forested, and 5.35 credits of Freshwater Herbaceous mitigation credits. Vendors must possess valid state and/or federal mitigation banking permits, with credits acceptable to regulatory agencies including the South Florida Water Management District, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The bid evaluation will be conducted using the Uniform Mitigation Assessment Method (UMAM), with the Department purchasing credits from the lowest bidder or combination of bidders to meet project needs. Vendors must provide current credit ledgers and permits, and the solicitation is structured as a 24-month term contract with no guaranteed quantity of mitigation credits. The bid is due on May 29, 2025, at 9:00 AM, with a public bid opening at 11:00 AM and an intended award posting at 2:00 PM on the same day.

The procurement does not specify explicit set-aside designations or restrictions for disadvantaged enterprises. The contract allows for purchasing credits from multiple vendors if a single vendor cannot provide all required credits, which may create opportunities for smaller or diverse mitigation credit providers. While no incumbent vendors are mentioned, the solicitation includes provisions for reserving excess credits for future FDOT projects and requires vendors to maintain updated regulatory ledgers. The contract provides flexibility for the Department to purchase credits as needed, with vendors directly owning or controlling the credits and able to provide both state and federal credits. Although a specific award value is not disclosed, the procurement is structured to meet the wetland mitigation requirements for the SR 31 project (Financial Project Number 441942-2) within the Caloosahatchee Basin, suggesting a procurement aligned with the specific environmental mitigation needs of the transportation infrastructure project.