Continued Near Road Air Quality Monitoring Services during construction for North Houston Highway Improvement Project (NHHIP), CSJ 0912-00-146

The Texas Department of Transportation Houston District is soliciting proposals for continued near-road air quality monitoring services during construction of the North Houston Highway Improvement Project (NHHIP), CSJ 0912-00-146, under Solicitation No. 601CT00000006408. The procurement encompasses a comprehensive four-year air quality monitoring contract from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2030, with monitoring systems to be installed and operated at two locations—one in NHHIP Segment 2 and one in NHHIP Segment 3—positioned within 200 feet of the corridor, potentially at Houston ISD schools subject to state approval. The contractor must provide twelve deliverables including monthly progress reports, kickoff and project meetings, air monitoring system site selection and installation, Health and Safety Plan and Quality Assurance Project Plan preparation, database programming for TxDOT website data transmission, weekly field maintenance and sampling operations, monthly data validation, quarterly performance audits, annual reporting, public involvement support, project coordination, and equipment demobilization. The selected contractor must supply their own monitoring equipment for each segment and ensure air monitoring commences one year prior to construction in each segment. Required key staff qualifications include a Field Scientist with an associate or bachelor's degree and experience in EPA-protocol air quality sample collection and equipment maintenance; a Supervisor with a bachelor's degree and demonstrated project management experience on government contracts who must be currently employed by the proposing firm; and an Air Quality Scientist with a bachelor's degree and minimum three air quality studies completed within the past ten years. The evaluation criteria weight qualifications and experience at 90 percent of the overall score, supervisor past performance at five percent, and pricing at five percent. Proposals are due by 12:00 noon on April 2, 2026, with questions due by 5:00 PM on March 12, 2026. All proposals must be submitted electronically via the Bonfire Procurement Portal and must include a signed acknowledgment of Addendum No. 1 attached to the proposal cover sheet.

Addendum No. 1 to the RFP eliminated all Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) compliance requirements, including the previously mandated 26 percent good faith effort goal and associated solicitation methods; however, respondents are encouraged to identify and solicit service-disabled veterans (VetHUBs) as subcontractors. All proposers, whether self-performing or utilizing subcontractors, must complete a Subcontracting Plan with failure to do so resulting in non-compliance determination and proposal rejection. The contract is state-funded with a maximum contract amount of $1,200,000.00, with payment structured on a specified rate basis and no escalation of hourly rates permitted for future years. The budget proposal template accommodates labor costs for Field Scientists, Supervisory/Project Manager positions, Air Quality Scientists, and Clerical staff billed on an hourly basis, plus reimbursable expenses including mileage at $0.725 per mile, lodging at $128.00 per night with 15 percent tax, and meal expenses ranging from $60.00 to $80.00 depending on circumstances. No incumbent contractor or existing infrastructure integration requirements are specified in the solicitation materials. Proposals must include mandatory attachments in specified formats, including a cover sheet with identified subproviders, team commitment letters from all subcontractors on company letterhead executed by authorized signatories, detailed qualifications documentation for the Supervisor, Field Scientist, and Air Quality Scientist positions, firm and team experience responses addressing seven specific questions, and a completed budget proposal template.