Connecticut 2022 Regular Session

Connecticut Senate Bill SB00475 Latest Draft

Bill / Comm Sub Version Filed 04/13/2022

                             
 
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General Assembly  Substitute Bill No. 475  
February Session, 2022 
 
 
 
AN ACT CONCERNING STATE AGENCY PROCUREMENT OF 
RECYCLABLE PRODUCTS.  
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General 
Assembly convened: 
 
Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 4a-59 of the 2022 supplement to 1 
the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2 
thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 3 
(c) All open market orders or contracts shall be awarded to (1) the 4 
lowest responsible qualified bidder, the qualities of the articles to be 5 
supplied, their conformity with the specifications, their suitability to the 6 
requirements of the state government and the delivery terms being 7 
taken into consideration and, at the discretion of the Commissioner of 8 
Administrative Services, life-cycle costs and trade-in or resale value of 9 
the articles may be considered where it appears to be in the best interest 10 
of the state, (2) the highest scoring bidder in a multiple criteria bid, in 11 
accordance with the criteria set forth in the bid solicitation for the 12 
contract, or (3) the proposer whose proposal is deemed by the awarding 13 
authority to be the most advantageous to the state, in accordance with 14 
the criteria set forth in the request for proposals, including price and 15 
evaluation factors. Notwithstanding any provision of the general 16 
statutes, [to the contrary,] each state agency awarding a contract 17 
through competitive negotiation shall include price as an explicit factor 18 
in the criteria in the request for proposals and for the contract award. In 19  Substitute Bill No. 475 
 
 
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considering past performance of a bidder for the purpose of 20 
determining the "lowest responsible qualified bidder" or the "highest 21 
scoring bidder in a multiple criteria bid", the commissioner shall 22 
evaluate the skill, ability and integrity of the bidder in terms of the 23 
bidder's fulfillment of past contract obligations and the bidder's 24 
experience or lack of experience in delivering supplies, materials, 25 
equipment or contractual services of the size or amount for which bids 26 
have been solicited. In determining the lowest responsible qualified 27 
bidder for the purposes of this section for contracts awarded on or after 28 
October 1, 2022, the commissioner [may] shall give a price preference of 29 
up to ten per cent for [(A)] the purchase of goods made with recycled 30 
materials or the purchase of recyclable or remanufactured products. [if 31 
the commissioner determines that such preference would promote 32 
recycling or remanufacturing.] As used in this subsection, "recyclable" 33 
means able to be collected, separated or otherwise recovered from the 34 
solid waste stream for reuse, or for use in the manufacture or assembly 35 
of another package or product, by means of a recycling program which 36 
is reasonably available to at least seventy-five per cent of the state's 37 
population, "remanufactured" means restored to its original function 38 
and thereby diverted from the solid waste stream by retaining the bulk 39 
of components that have been used at least once and by replacing 40 
consumable components and "remanufacturing" means any process by 41 
which a product is remanufactured. [; (B)] In determining the lowest 42 
responsible qualified bidder for the purposes of this section, the 43 
commissioner may give a price preference of up to ten per cent for (A) 44 
the purchase of motor vehicles powered by a clean alternative fuel; [(C)] 45 
(B) the purchase of motor vehicles powered by fuel other than a clean 46 
alternative fuel and conversion equipment to convert such motor 47 
vehicles allowing the vehicles to be powered by either the exclusive use 48 
of clean alternative fuel or dual use of a clean alternative fuel and a fuel 49 
other than a clean alternative fuel. As used in this subsection, "clean 50 
alternative fuel" means natural gas, electricity, hydrogen or propane 51 
when used as a motor vehicle fuel; or [(D)] (C) the purchase of goods or 52 
services from a micro business, except that, in the case of a veteran-53 
owned micro business, the commissioner may give a price preference of 54  Substitute Bill No. 475 
 
 
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up to fifteen per cent. As used in this subsection, "micro business" means 55 
a business with gross revenues not exceeding three million dollars in the 56 
most recently completed fiscal year, "veteran-owned micro business" 57 
means a micro business of which at least fifty-one per cent of the 58 
ownership is held by one or more veterans and "veteran" has the same 59 
meaning as provided in section 27-103. All other factors being equal, 60 
preference shall be given to supplies, materials and equipment 61 
produced, assembled or manufactured in the state and services 62 
originating and provided in the state. Except with regard to contracts 63 
that may be paid for with United States Department of Transportation 64 
funds, if any such bidder refuses to accept, within ten days, a contract 65 
awarded to such bidder, such contract may be awarded to the next 66 
lowest responsible qualified bidder or the next highest scoring bidder in 67 
a multiple criteria bid, whichever is applicable, and so on until such 68 
contract is awarded and accepted. Except with regard to contracts that 69 
may be paid for with United States Department of Transportation funds, 70 
if any such proposer refuses to accept, within ten days, a contract 71 
awarded to such proposer, such contract shall be awarded to the next 72 
most advantageous proposer, and so on until the contract is awarded 73 
and accepted. There shall be a written evaluation made of each bid. This 74 
evaluation shall identify the vendors and their respective costs and 75 
prices, document the reason why any vendor is deemed to be 76 
nonresponsive and recommend a vendor for award. A contract valued 77 
at one million dollars or more shall be awarded to a bidder other than 78 
the lowest responsible qualified bidder or the highest scoring bidder in 79 
a multiple criteria bid, whichever is applicable, only with written 80 
approval signed by the Commissioner of Administrative Services and 81 
by the Comptroller. The commissioner shall post on the department's 82 
Internet web site all awards made pursuant to the provisions of this 83 
section. 84 
Sec. 2. Section 4a-67a of the general statutes is repealed and the 85 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 86 
(a) The Commissioner of Administrative Services shall, whenever 87  Substitute Bill No. 475 
 
 
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practicable, make efforts to increase state procurement of goods that 88 
contain recycled materials and products that are recyclable or 89 
remanufactured, as defined in subsection (c) of section 4a-59, as 90 
amended by this act. Such efforts [may] shall include: (1) Requiring 91 
replies to state agency bid specifications to include a statement of 92 
postconsumer and secondary waste content; (2) establishing minimum 93 
goals for state purchase of white bond and other paper with specified 94 
postconsumer and secondary waste content and a schedule for the 95 
accomplishment of such goals; (3) requiring bids to be accompanied by 96 
statements assessing the ability of the materials to be recycled or 97 
products to be recycled or remanufactured and assessing the extent to 98 
which there are established recycling programs which would facilitate 99 
recycling or remanufacturing; (4) authorizing the Department of 100 
Administrative Services to substitute similar but different paper 101 
products to meet agency orders if the substitute has a higher 102 
postconsumer waste content; (5) requiring the Department of 103 
Administrative Services to revise a specification to eliminate 104 
requirements which favor virgin over recycled materials unless there is 105 
a compelling reason for the specification; (6) requiring the commissioner 106 
to investigate and report to the Municipal Solid Waste Recycling 107 
Advisory Council opportunities for purchase of materials containing 108 
postconsumer waste; and (7) requiring the state to utilize two-sided 109 
copies, whenever possible, to reduce paper waste. 110 
(b) The Commissioner of Administrative Services shall post on the 111 
department's Internet web site information regarding the department's 112 
efforts to increase state procurement of goods that contain recycled 113 
materials and products that are recyclable or remanufactured. 114 
(c) The Commissioner of Administrative Services shall revise the 115 
specifications for products and materials purchased by the state for 116 
which the United States Environmental Protection Agency has 117 
guidelines for minimum recycled content to incorporate such minimum 118 
guidelines. Such specifications shall favor recycled, recyclable or 119 
remanufactured products and materials where such products or 120  Substitute Bill No. 475 
 
 
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materials are available.  121 
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following 
sections: 
 
Section 1 October 1, 2022 4a-59(c) 
Sec. 2 October 1, 2022 4a-67a 
 
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:   
The title was changed. 
 
GAE Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO