BILL ANALYSIS S.B. 1058 By: West (Bosse) 05-17-95 Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND Various state and federal laws require the Texas Department of Transportation (department) to perform environmental and cultural assessment of construction sites. Lacking a sufficient number of staff members with the requisite expertise, the department routinely procures these technical services from outside sources. The department is authorized to choose technical expert services from an engineering firm pursuant to the Professional Services Procurement Act, from other state agencies pursuant to the Interagency Cooperation Act, or from the lowest bidder under the purchase of service provisions in Section 3, Article 601b, V.T.C.S. These statutes restrict the pool from which the department may select providers of certain scientific services. The Interagency Cooperation Act effectively limits the department's choice to university personnel, and the Professional Services Procurement Act limits the department's choice to the experts who are on the staff of engineering firms or to often costly subcontractors chosen by the firm. Although Article 601b permits access to a wide range of providers, selection must be based on the fees charged, rather than on the provider's qualifications or expertise. There is no provision in current law under which the department can directly access technical experts who work independently and are not affiliated with universities or engineering firms. PURPOSE As proposed, S.B. 1058 authorizes the Texas Department of Transportation to use competitive sealed proposals to procure the services of a technical expert to conduct an environmental or cultural assessment required by law for a transportation project within the authority or jurisdiction of the department. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is granted to the Texas Department of Transportation in SECTION 1 (Article 6674i-5(g), Chapter 1, Title 116, V.T.C.S.) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 1, Title 116, V.T.C.S., by adding Article 6674i-5, as follows: (a) Authorizes the Texas Department of Transportation (department) to follow a procedure using competitive sealed proposals to procure the services of a technical expert to conduct an environmental or cultural assessment required by law for a transportation project within the authority or jurisdiction of the department. (b) Requires the department to first determine that competitive sealed bidding or informal competitive bidding is not practical or is disadvantageous to the state. (c) Requires the department to solicit proposals by following the same notice procedure it uses in procuring services under the Professional Services Procurement Act, Government Code, Section 2254.001 et seq. (d) Requires the proposals to be opened so as to avoid disclosure of the contents to competing offerors during negotiation. Requires all proposals submitted to be open for public inspection after the contract is awarded, with an exception. (e) Authorizes the department to discuss acceptable or potentially acceptable proposals with offerors in order to assess the person's ability to meet the requirements. Authorizes the department to permit the offeror to revise the proposal in order to obtain the best final offer after the submission of a proposal but before making an award. Prohibits the department from disclosing any information derived from proposals submitted in conducting discussions. Requires the department to provide each offeror with an equal opportunity for discussion and revision. (f) Requires the department to make an award to the offeror with the most advantageous proposal to the state, but requires the department to refuse all offers if none are acceptable. Requires the contract to state the basis on which the award is made. (g) Authorizes the department to adopt rules for the implementation of this article. SECTION 2. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage. SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE ACTION Pursuant to a public notice announced from the House Floor on May 17, 1995, in accordance with House Rules, the House Committee on Transportation met in a formal meeting on the House Floor, at Desk 22, on Wednesday, May 17, 1995, and was called to order by the Chairman, Representative Clyde Alexander at 12:20 p.m. The Chair laid out S.B. 1058 by West/Bosse. Representative Uher moved that the Committee report S.B. 1058, without amendments, to the full House with the recommendation that it do pass. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Ayes (6), Nayes (0), Absent (3), Present not voting (0).