Florida Senate - 2022                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 398
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì316282(Î316282                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
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       The Committee on Transportation (Hooper) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Subsection (3) of section 206.46, Florida
    6  Statutes, is amended to read:
    7         206.46 State Transportation Trust Fund.—
    8         (3) Unless otherwise specified in the General
    9  Appropriations Act, each fiscal year, at least a minimum of 15
   10  percent but not more than 25 percent of all state revenues
   11  deposited into the State Transportation Trust Fund, excluding
   12  state revenues used for matching federal grants, shall be
   13  committed annually by the department for public transportation
   14  projects in accordance with chapter 311, ss. 332.003-332.007,
   15  chapter 341, and chapter 343.
   16         Section 2. Section 337.025, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   17  read:
   18         337.025 Innovative transportation projects; department to
   19  establish program.—
   20         (1) The department may establish a program for
   21  transportation projects demonstrating innovative techniques of
   22  highway and bridge design, construction, maintenance, and
   23  finance which have the intended effect of measuring resiliency
   24  and structural integrity and controlling time and cost increases
   25  on construction projects. Such techniques may include, but are
   26  not limited to, state-of-the-art technology for pavement,
   27  safety, and other aspects of highway and bridge design,
   28  construction, and maintenance; innovative bidding and financing
   29  techniques; progressive design-build contracts; accelerated
   30  construction procedures; and those techniques that have the
   31  potential to reduce project life cycle costs. To the maximum
   32  extent practical, the department must use the existing process
   33  to award and administer construction and maintenance contracts.
   34  When specific innovative techniques are to be used, the
   35  department is not required to adhere to those provisions of law
   36  that would prevent, preclude, or in any way prohibit the
   37  department from using the innovative technique. However, before
   38  using an innovative technique that is inconsistent with another
   39  provision of law, the department must document in writing the
   40  need for the exception and identify what benefits the traveling
   41  public and the affected community are anticipated to receive.
   42  The department may enter into no more than $120 million in
   43  contracts awarded annually for the purposes authorized by this
   44  section.
   45         (2) The annual cap on contracts provided in subsection (1)
   46  does not apply to:
   47         (a) Turnpike enterprise projects.
   48         (b) Progressive design-build contracts for complex, high
   49  risk projects with a minimum contract value of $250 million Low
   50  bid design-build milling and resurfacing contracts.
   51         Section 3. Subsection (7) of section 337.11, Florida
   52  Statutes, is amended to read:
   53         337.11 Contracting authority of department; bids; emergency
   54  repairs, supplemental agreements, and change orders; combined
   55  design and construction contracts; progress payments; records;
   56  requirements of vehicle registration.—
   57         (7)(a) If the department determines that it is in the best
   58  interests of the public, the department may combine the design
   59  and construction phases of a building, a major bridge, a limited
   60  access facility, or a rail corridor project into a single
   61  contract. Such contract is referred to as a design-build
   62  contract.
   63         (b)If the department determines that it is in the best
   64  interests of the public, the department may combine the design
   65  and construction phases of a project into a single contract and
   66  select the design-build firm in the early stages of a project to
   67  ensure that the design-build firm is part of the collaboration
   68  and development of the design as part of a step-by-step
   69  progression through construction. Such contract is referred to
   70  as a progressive design-build contract. For progressive design
   71  build contracts, the selection and award processes must include
   72  a two-phase process. For phase one, the department shall
   73  competitively award the contract to a design-build firm based
   74  upon qualifications. For phase two, the design-build firm shall
   75  competitively bid construction trade subcontractor packages and,
   76  based upon these bids, negotiate with the department a fixed
   77  firm price or guaranteed maximum price that meets the project
   78  budget and scope as advertised in the request for
   79  qualifications.
   80         (c) Design-build contracts and progressive design-build
   81  contracts may be advertised and awarded notwithstanding the
   82  requirements of paragraph (3)(c). However, construction
   83  activities may not begin on any portion of such projects for
   84  which the department has not yet obtained title to the necessary
   85  rights-of-way and easements for the construction of that portion
   86  of the project has vested in the state or a local governmental
   87  entity and all railroad crossing and utility agreements have
   88  been executed. Title to rights-of-way shall be deemed to have
   89  vested in the state when the title has been dedicated to the
   90  public or acquired by prescription.
   91         (d)(b) The department shall adopt by rule procedures for
   92  administering design-build contracts and progressive design
   93  build contracts. Such procedures shall include, but not be
   94  limited to:
   95         1. Prequalification requirements.
   96         2. Public announcement procedures.
   97         3. Scope of service requirements.
   98         4. Letters of interest requirements.
   99         5. Short-listing criteria and procedures.
  100         6. Bid proposal requirements.
  101         7. Technical review committee.
  102         8. Selection and award processes.
  103         9. Stipend requirements.
  104         (e)(c) The department must receive at least three letters
  105  of interest in order to proceed with a request for proposals.
  106  The department shall request proposals from no fewer than three
  107  of the design-build firms submitting letters of interest. If a
  108  design-build firm withdraws from consideration after the
  109  department requests proposals, the department may continue if at
  110  least two proposals are received.
  111         Section 4. Subsection (4) of section 337.14, Florida
  112  Statutes, is amended to read:
  113         337.14 Application for qualification; certificate of
  114  qualification; restrictions; request for hearing.—
  115         (4) If the applicant is found to possess the prescribed
  116  qualifications, the department shall issue to him or her a
  117  certificate of qualification that, unless thereafter revoked by
  118  the department for good cause, will be valid for a period of 18
  119  months after the date of the applicant’s financial statement or
  120  such shorter period as the department prescribes. Submission of
  121  an application does and subsequent approval do not affect
  122  expiration of the certificate of qualification, the ability
  123  factor of the applicant, or the maximum capacity rating of the
  124  applicant. An applicant may submit a written request with a
  125  timely submitted application to keep an existing certificate of
  126  qualification in place until the expiration date. If the request
  127  is approved by the department, the current maximum capacity
  128  rating of the applicant must remain in place until expiration of
  129  the current certificate of qualification. If the department
  130  finds that an application is incomplete or contains inadequate
  131  information or information that cannot be verified, the
  132  department may request in writing that the applicant provide the
  133  necessary information to complete the application or provide the
  134  source from which any information in the application may be
  135  verified. If the applicant fails to comply with the initial
  136  written request within a reasonable period of time as specified
  137  therein, the department shall request the information a second
  138  time. If the applicant fails to comply with the second request
  139  within a reasonable period of time as specified therein, the
  140  application shall be denied.
  141         Section 5. Section 337.168, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  142  read:
  143         337.168 Confidentiality of official estimates, identities
  144  of potential bidders, and bid analysis and monitoring system.—
  145         (1) A document or electronic file revealing the official
  146  cost estimate of the department of a project is confidential and
  147  exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) until the contract
  148  for the project has been executed or until the project is no
  149  longer under active consideration.
  150         (2) A document that reveals the identity of a person who
  151  has requested or obtained a bid package, plan, or specifications
  152  pertaining to any project to be let by the department is
  153  confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) for
  154  the period that begins 2 working days before the deadline for
  155  obtaining bid packages, plans, or specifications and ends with
  156  the letting of the bid. A document that reveals the identity of
  157  a person who has requested or obtained a bid package, plan, or
  158  specifications pertaining to any project to be let by the
  159  department before the 2 working days before the deadline for
  160  obtaining bid packages, plans, or specifications remains a
  161  public record subject to s. 119.07(1).
  162         (3) The bid analysis and monitoring system of the
  163  department is confidential and exempt from the provisions of s.
  164  119.07(1). This exemption applies to all system documentation,
  165  input, computer processes and programs, electronic data files,
  166  and output, but does not apply to the actual source documents,
  167  unless otherwise exempted under other provisions of law.
  168         Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.
  169  
  170  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  171  And the title is amended as follows:
  172         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  173  and insert:
  174                        A bill to be entitled                      
  175         An act relating to transportation projects; amending
  176         s. 206.46, F.S.; revising the requirement for the
  177         annual commitment of State Transportation Trust Fund
  178         revenues for public transportation projects by the
  179         Department of Transportation; amending s. 337.025,
  180         F.S.; providing that the department’s program for
  181         innovative transportation projects may include
  182         progressive design-build contracts; revising contracts
  183         exempt from a specified annual monetary cap on
  184         contracts; amending s. 337.11, F.S.; revising the
  185         department’s authority relating to design-build
  186         contracts; authorizing the department to enter into a
  187         progressive design-build contract if it makes a
  188         certain determination; providing procedures and
  189         requirements for progressive design-build contracts;
  190         exempting progressive design-build contracts from
  191         certain requirements; requiring the department to
  192         adopt rules; amending s. 337.14, F.S.; revising
  193         procedures relating to certificates of qualification
  194         issued by the department to construction contractors
  195         seeking certification to bid on certain contracts;
  196         amending s. 337.168, F.S.; deleting a public records
  197         exemption for certain documents revealing the identity
  198         of a potential bidder; providing an effective date.