SPEED Act - Permit Type: CAFO

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is procuring services under the Streamlining Permits for Economic Expansion & Development (SPEED) Program, established by Act No. 54 of 2024, to engage qualified professionals to conduct expedited reviews of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) permits on a rolling, indefinite basis. The procurement seeks professional engineers, land surveyors, geologists, and landscape architects to review PAG-12 NPDES General Permits and Individual NPDES permits for CAFO operations, with key deliverables including identification of permit application deficiencies within specified timeframes, preparation of draft deficiency letters with regulatory citations, development of Fact Sheets sealed by professional engineers or geologists, drafting of public notices for the Pennsylvania Bulletin, and preparation of public comment responses. Qualified professionals must possess a valid professional license in engineering, geology, surveying, or landscape architecture; demonstrate five years of relevant CAFO permitting experience in Pennsylvania; and possess advanced working knowledge of federal NPDES regulations, the Clean Water Act, Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law, and applicable regulations. The contract will be awarded for an initial two-year term with potential renewal for three additional one-year terms. Initial deficiency reviews must be completed within 20 percent of the total review timeframe specified in Project Work Orders, with additional reviews (maximum of two tolling periods) completed within 10 percent of the timeframe. Bids must be submitted electronically to RA-EPSPEED@pa.gov by September 30, 2026, with the IFB title clearly stated in the subject line; bidders will be contacted on a rolling basis with two business days to respond with willingness to quote and five business days to provide quotes after receiving permit applications. Questions regarding bidding procedures should be directed to Brian Franklin, DEP Chief of Contracts, Procurement & Bonding, at 717.787.2471 or brfranklin@pa.gov.

Bidders may be individuals or business entities meeting DEP's qualification criteria; small business designations and certifications are available through the PRISM Compliance Portal for Small Businesses, Small Diverse Businesses, and Veteran Business Enterprises, with eligible businesses required to register as vendors in the Pennsylvania Supplier Portal and obtain a six-digit SAP number. There are no incumbent vendors or current contractors identified in this procurement, as the SPEED Program represents an expansion of third-party review services under newly enacted legislation. Qualified professionals cannot have criminal convictions for environmental crimes or fraud-related offenses, cannot have had professional licenses revoked within the past ten years, and cannot have performed services for the permit applicant within three years of the permit application submission date; all professionals assigned to projects must certify absence of conflicts of interest. Compensation under this contract is entirely funded by permit applicants rather than Commonwealth funds, with costs determined on a project-by-project basis through individual Project Work Orders; no work volume is guaranteed to contractors, and engagement decisions rest solely with individual permit applicants' selection through acceptance or rejection of quotes. Contractors must submit binding fully burdened hourly rates for each resource category on the Cost Sheet, which will be posted publicly by DEP; no administrative, per diem, or travel expenses will be compensated, and all anticipated costs must be incorporated into the hourly rates. Professional liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence is required, and contractors must comply with all applicable federal and state laws, including nondiscrimination provisions and contractor integrity requirements.