SOP - 8. Contractor Assignment and Selection Process

Contractor Assignment

The Department assigns work for State-funded discharges to a Contractor in accordance with  Chapter 62-772, Florida Administrative Code and the Agency Term Contracts Assignment Process.  The assignment process allows for work to be directly assigned to competitively procured Agency Term Contractors (ATCs) through the Contractor Selection Formula (CSF) or through one of the following:

1. The ATC can receive a direct assignment for continuing scope (Select "SCOPE" as the assignment type in the Schedule of Pay Items (SPI) module in Storage Tank and Contamination Monitoring Database (STCM), if:
   • the ATC was previously assigned work under a Purchase Order (Under the Agency Term Contract or an Invitation to Bid) or a Low Scored Site Initiative Work Order, and
   • acceptable performance was achieved per the Contractor Performance Evaluation form, and
   • the scope is < $325,000 including contingent funding, and
   • if the previous work was Low Scored Assessment (LSA) and the receipt date of the Final Deliverable for the LSA Purchase Order (PO) was < 3 years ago.
2. The ATC can receive a direct assignment for a cost share (Select "SHARE" as the assignment type in the SPI module in STCM), if:
   • the Owner/Responsible Party has a cost share of 25% or more. (i.e. AC (Advanced Cleanup), PCPP (Petroleum Cleanup Participation Program), etc.), and
   • an Owner/Responsible Party subject to the executed cost share agreement identified the ATC on an approved Cost Share Contractor Recommendation Sheet, and
   • the ATC has a valid contract in the same region as the site.
3. The ATC can receive a direct assignment for an executed Conditional Closure Agreement (CCA) (Select "COND" as the assignment type in the SPI module in STCM), if:
   • the Owner/Responsible Party has a fully executed and filed Conditional Closure Declaration of Interim Restrictive Covenant, and
   • the Owner/Responsible Party identified the ATC in Attachment B of the CCA, and
   • the ATC has a valid contract in the same region as the site.
4. The Department reserves the right to direct assign an ATC in the same region for sites located in transportation facilities subject to Transportation Security Administration or United States Government security requirements (Select "SECUR" as the assignment type in the SPI module in STCM).
5. The Department reserves the right to direct assign an ATC for sites funded under Advanced Cleanup Redevelopment (Select "ACR" as the assignment type in the SPI module in STCM).
6. If a scope is > $325,000 and does not qualify for assignment under "SHARE", "SECUR" or "ACR" then the scope will be offered through the eQuote process (Select "QUOT2" as the assignment type in the SPI module in STCM).
7. All other sites will have an ATC with a valid contract in the same region identified through the Contractor Selection Formula (CSF) (Select "CSF" as the assignment type in the SPI module in STCM).

Contractor Selection Formula (CSF)

The CSF is used to randomly identify an eligible ATC to assign the work. The CSF algorithm is intended to provide an unbiased mechanism for selecting from among those ATCs that have an active contract in the region. This formula has evolved over time and currently includes rankings based on the weighted sum of the contract rate schedule (CRS), the average CPE scores (utilizing only categories 1 through 6) for the past 2 years, and percentage of eligible closures based on assigned sites (CLP). The details of the CSF can be found on the ATC Work Assignment and Contractor Selection. 

eQuotes

Scopes of work with Schedule of Pay Items (SPI) greater than $325,000 cannot be direct assigned to an ATC Contractor unless it is a cost share site with the owner portion 25% or greater, a Conditional Closure Agreement or Advanced Cleanup Redevelopment. Generally, this situation arises for Source Removal (SR) or Remedial Action Construction (RAC) scopes of work. Scopes of work cannot be split or phased to avoid the eQuote threshold. Scopes of work for remedial action construction must include 1 quarter of operation & maintenance (O&M). Scopes of work for source removal must include necessary resurfacing and well re-installation.

Contractors can negotiate their SPI contract unit rates down to bring the PO cost below the $325,000 threshold (including the contingent funding pay item) to retain the site as a direct assignment. Site Managers must be extra diligent to verify that the scope of work includes all necessary pay items including the 4 quarters of monitoring or O&M because change orders/RFC which would bring the total cost above $325,000 may not be approved.

Once it is determined that the total cost of the scope of work is greater than $325,000 (including contingent funding), the eQuote Specialist will coordinate the preparation of the eQuote in MyFloridaMarketPlace (MFMP). All eligible ATC contractors in the region will be invited to participate and bid for the project. The award will be made to the low responsive and responsible bid.

More information regarding eQuotes can be found at SOP – 24. eQuotes.

Funding work outside of the Agency Term Contracts

1. Low-Scored Site Initiative (LSSI) for sites scored 29 and lower, in which the LSSI Applicant responsible for the eligible petroleum discharge(s) uses the Low-Scored Site Initiative Application & Contractor Selection Sheet to select a qualified Contractor pursuant to Chapter 62-772, F.A.C., Procurement Procedures for the Department of Environmental Protection’s (FDEP) Petroleum Restoration Program (PRP) to implement a LSSI assessment and/or remediation at the site. If the applicant is not the real property owner, a copy of the responsible party agreement with the property owner or other documentation demonstrating the applicant’s responsible party status must be submitted with this application.
2. The Department has contracts for Forensic analysis.  These contracts are used when a specific site needs a forensic analysis of contamination and for verification sampling of performance based cleanup contracts.  If you have a site with either of these needs, work with your Team Leader to request this work to be performed by a Contractor with a Forensic and Other Technical Services contract. See SOP – 22. Environmental Forensic Site Investigation and Other Technical Support Services Contract.
3. The Department may, at its discretion, post a project on the Vendor Bid System to be awarded for work as an Invitation to Bid. Agency Term Contractors can bid on this work, but it is not limited to ATCs nor is the work issued under the ATC.

Responsible Party (RP) Option to Reject one Agency Term Contractor

Pursuant to Chapter 62-772, F.A.C., the responsible party has the option to reject one of the agency term contractors prior to assignment of work.  The RP may select YES on the site access agreement to indicate that they wish to exercise the option to reject an ATC.  If they select YES, then the Site Assignment Specialist will email the identified ATC information to the RP prior to assigning the site to the ATC.  If the Department does not receive notification from the RP that they reject the ATC, then the site is offered to the ATC.  If the RP rejects the ATC, then the next identified ATC is offered the site.

Current Real Property Owner vs. Responsible Party

The current real property owner will be confirmed with the county property appraiser’s office during the Site Access Agreement solicitation, Contractor Recommendation or Contractor Selection verification process. If the current real property owner listed in STCM is not accurate, the Administrative Services Contractor will forward the correct information to the Storage Tank Regulation Section with a request to update STCM. If someone other than the current property owner has the responsibility for performing the cleanup, then a copy of the legal document that requires a party to complete cleanup and a written interpretation of that document must be provided to the FDEP. 

The LSSI Application requires the current property owner’s signature even if a RP is submitting the application. A RP agreement is required with the submittal in these cases. 

The Cost Share Site Contractor Recommendation Sheet must be submitted by the party to the executed cost share (either the current real property owner or RP). This is confirmed through review of the executed cost share agreement. An RP agreement is not required to be submitted if the party to the cost share is the real property owner. If the current Real Property Owner is not the person responsible for completing the cleanup, then the RP should complete the form and submit it along with a copy of the legal agreement between them and the current Real Property Owner that details their cleanup responsibility. Responsible party agreements with former Real Property Owners will not be accepted without a signed letter from the current Real Property Owner which indicates that they either concur with the responsible party agreement or do not object to the Responsible Party selecting the contractor.

Changing Contractors

When a contractor has an executed PO, they will continue to complete the assigned scope to the degree appropriate, prior to moving forward with a new contractor identified in a Contractor Recommendation or Contractor Selection Form. If the current scope of work in the executed purchase order is no longer appropriate the Site Manager and Team Leader can discuss with the current ATC an appropriate end to the current PO.

The Site Manager should not issue an additional Purchase Order (PO) to an existing Contractor after they have become aware that a Conditional Closure Application (CCA) has been received and is being processed.  Additionally, a Request for Change to add work to an existing PO should not be approved. With the knowledge that the new endpoint will be conditional closure, Site Managers should review the scope of the current PO to determine if changes are warranted. 

Once a Site Manager has become aware of poor performance on the project based on the Contractor Performance Evaluation, they should not issue an additional Purchase Order (PO) to that contractor at that facility. The Cost Share Site Contractor Recommendation Sheet, Conditional Closure Agreement and Agency Term Contracts Assignment Process all indicate an ATC may be removed from a site based on poor performance. 

Return to: PRP Site Manager Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) webpage.