Florida Senate - 2022                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. PCS (353234) for CS for SB 398
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì639566RÎ639566                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                   Comm: WD            .                                
                  02/28/2022           .                                
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       The Committee on Appropriations (Hooper) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Section 334.066, Florida Statutes, is created to
    6  read:
    7         334.066 Implementing Solutions from Transportation Research
    8  and Evaluating Emerging Technologies Living Lab.—
    9         (1)The Implementing Solutions from Transportation Research
   10  and Evaluating Emerging Technologies Living Lab (I-STREET) is
   11  established within the University of Florida.
   12         (2)At a minimum, I-STREET shall:
   13         (a)Conduct and facilitate research on issues related to
   14  innovative transportation mobility and safety technology
   15  development and deployment in this state and serve as an
   16  information exchange and depository for the most current
   17  information pertaining to transportation research, education,
   18  workforce development, and related issues.
   19         (b)Be a continuing resource for the Legislature, the
   20  department, local governments, the nation’s metropolitan
   21  regions, and the private sector in the area of transportation
   22  and related research.
   23         (c)Promote intercampus transportation and related research
   24  activities among Florida universities to enhance the ability of
   25  these universities to attract federal and private sector funding
   26  for transportation and related research.
   27         (d)Provide by July 1, 2023, and each July 1 thereafter, to
   28  the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of
   29  the House of Representatives a comprehensive report that
   30  outlines its clearly defined goals and its efforts and progress
   31  on reaching those goals.
   32         (3)An advisory board shall be created to periodically
   33  review and advise I-STREET concerning its research program. The
   34  board shall consist of nine members with expertise in
   35  transportation-related areas, as follows:
   36         (a)A member appointed by the President of the Senate.
   37         (b)A member appointed by the Speaker of the House of
   38  Representatives.
   39         (c)The Secretary of Transportation or his or her designee.
   40         (d)The Secretary of Economic Opportunity or his or her
   41  designee.
   42         (e)A member of the Florida Transportation Commission.
   43         (f)Four members nominated by the University of Florida’s
   44  College of Engineering and approved by the university’s
   45  president. The College of Engineering’s nominees may include
   46  representatives of the University of Florida, other academic and
   47  research institutions, or private entities.
   48         Section 2. Section 337.025, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   49  read:
   50         337.025 Innovative transportation projects; department to
   51  establish program.—
   52         (1) The department may establish a program for
   53  transportation projects demonstrating innovative techniques of
   54  highway and bridge design, construction, maintenance, and
   55  finance which have the intended effect of measuring resiliency
   56  and structural integrity and controlling time and cost increases
   57  on construction projects. Such techniques may include, but are
   58  not limited to, state-of-the-art technology for pavement,
   59  safety, and other aspects of highway and bridge design,
   60  construction, and maintenance; innovative bidding and financing
   61  techniques; progressive design-build contracts as specified in
   62  subsection (2); accelerated construction procedures; and those
   63  techniques that have the potential to reduce project life cycle
   64  costs. To the maximum extent practical, the department must use
   65  the existing process to award and administer construction and
   66  maintenance contracts. When specific innovative techniques are
   67  to be used, the department is not required to adhere to those
   68  provisions of law that would prevent, preclude, or in any way
   69  prohibit the department from using the innovative technique.
   70  However, before using an innovative technique that is
   71  inconsistent with another provision of law, the department must
   72  document in writing the need for the exception and identify what
   73  benefits the traveling public and the affected community are
   74  anticipated to receive. The department may enter into no more
   75  than $120 million in contracts awarded annually for the purposes
   76  authorized by this section.
   77         (2) If the department determines that it is in the best
   78  interests of the public, the department may combine the design
   79  and construction phases of a project into a single contract and
   80  select the design-build firm in the early stages of a project to
   81  ensure that the design-build firm is part of the collaboration
   82  and development of the design as part of a step-by-step
   83  progression through construction. Such contract is referred to
   84  as a progressive design-build contract. For progressive design
   85  build contracts, the selection and award processes must include
   86  a two-phase process. For phase one, the department shall
   87  competitively award the contract to a design-build firm based
   88  upon qualifications. For phase two, the design-build firm shall
   89  competitively bid construction trade subcontractor packages and,
   90  based upon these bids, negotiate with the department a fixed
   91  firm price or guaranteed maximum price that meets the project
   92  budget and scope as advertised in the request for
   93  qualifications.
   94         (3) The annual cap on contracts provided in subsection (1)
   95  does not apply to:
   96         (a) Turnpike enterprise projects.
   97         (b) Progressive design-build contracts for complex, high
   98  risk projects with a minimum contract value of $400 million Low
   99  bid design-build milling and resurfacing contracts.
  100         Section 3. Section 337.107, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  101  read:
  102         337.107 Contracts for right-of-way services.—
  103         (1) The department may enter into contracts pursuant to s.
  104  287.055 for right-of-way services on transportation corridors
  105  and transportation facilities. Right-of-way services include
  106  negotiation and acquisition services, appraisal services,
  107  demolition and removal of improvements, and asbestos-abatement
  108  services.
  109         (2)For a construction project funded in the first 3 years
  110  of the department’s adopted work program, a landowner with land
  111  contiguous to a limited access facility may be allowed, under a
  112  department-issued permit, to remove vegetation designated to be
  113  removed as part of the construction project on a department
  114  right-of-way in an area associated with a limited access
  115  facility, within the same limits of removal as identified in the
  116  final plans of the project.
  117         Section 4. Present subsections (15) and (16) of section
  118  337.11, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (16)
  119  and (17), a new subsection (15) is added to that section, and
  120  paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (7) of that section are
  121  amended, to read:
  122         337.11 Contracting authority of department; bids; emergency
  123  repairs, supplemental agreements, and change orders; combined
  124  design and construction contracts; progress payments; records;
  125  requirements of vehicle registration.—
  126         (7)(a) If the department determines that it is in the best
  127  interests of the public, the department may combine the design
  128  and construction phases of a building, a major bridge, a limited
  129  access facility, or a rail corridor project into a single
  130  contract. Such contract is referred to as a design-build
  131  contract. Design-build contracts may be advertised and awarded
  132  notwithstanding the requirements of paragraph (3)(c). However,
  133  construction activities may not begin on any portion of such
  134  projects for which the department has not yet obtained title to
  135  the necessary rights-of-way and easements for the construction
  136  of that portion of the project has vested in the state or a
  137  local governmental entity and all railroad crossing and utility
  138  agreements have been executed. Title to rights-of-way shall be
  139  deemed to have vested in the state when the title has been
  140  dedicated to the public or acquired by prescription.
  141         (b) The department shall adopt by rule procedures for
  142  administering design-build contracts, including progressive
  143  design-build contracts. Such procedures shall include, but not
  144  be limited to:
  145         1. Prequalification requirements.
  146         2. Public announcement procedures.
  147         3. Scope of service requirements.
  148         4. Letters of interest requirements.
  149         5. Short-listing criteria and procedures.
  150         6. Bid proposal requirements.
  151         7. Technical review committee.
  152         8. Selection and award processes.
  153         9. Stipend requirements.
  154         (15)Each contract let by the department for performance of
  155  bridge construction or maintenance over navigable waters must
  156  contain a provision requiring marine general liability
  157  insurance, in an amount to be determined by the department,
  158  which covers third-party personal injury and property damage
  159  caused by vessels used by the contractor in the performance of
  160  the work.
  161         Section 5. Subsection (1) of section 337.1101, Florida
  162  Statutes, is amended to read:
  163         337.1101 Contracting and procurement authority of the
  164  department; settlements; notification required.—
  165         (1) When the department, or any entity or enterprise within
  166  the department, determines that it is in the best interest of
  167  the public to resolve a protest filed in accordance with s.
  168  120.57(3) of the award of a contract being procured pursuant to
  169  s. 337.11 or related to the purchase of personal property or
  170  contractual services being procured pursuant to s. 287.057,
  171  through a settlement that requires the department to pay a
  172  nonselected responsive bidder a total sum of $1 million or more,
  173  including any amount paid pursuant to s. 334.049, any amount
  174  paid pursuant to s. 337.11(8) which is not included in the
  175  department’s work program approved by the Legislature as part of
  176  the General Appropriations Act, or any amount paid pursuant to
  177  any other law, the department must:
  178         (a) Document in a written memorandum by the secretary the
  179  specific reasons that such settlement and payment to a
  180  nonselected responsive bidder is in the best interest of the
  181  state. The written memorandum must be included and maintained in
  182  the department’s permanent files concerning the procurement and
  183  must include:
  184         1. A description of the property rights, patent rights,
  185  copyrights, trademarks, or the engineering design or other
  186  design work that the department will acquire or retain as a
  187  result of such settlement; and
  188         2. The specific appropriation in the existing General
  189  Appropriations Act which the department intends to use to
  190  provide such payment.
  191         (b) Provide prior written notification to the President of
  192  the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the
  193  Senate and House of Representatives minority leaders, the chair
  194  and vice chair of the Legislative Budget Commission, and the
  195  Attorney General at least 5 business days, or as soon thereafter
  196  as practicable, before the department makes the settlement
  197  agreement final. Such written notification must include the
  198  written memorandum required pursuant to paragraph (a).
  199         (c) Provide, at the time settlement discussions regarding
  200  any such payment have begun in earnest, written notification of
  201  such discussions to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of
  202  the House of Representatives, the Senate and House of
  203  Representatives minority leaders, the chair and vice chair of
  204  the Legislative Budget Commission, and the Attorney General.
  205         Section 6. Subsections (1), (4), and (7) of section 337.14,
  206  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  207         337.14 Application for qualification; certificate of
  208  qualification; restrictions; request for hearing.—
  209         (1) Any contractor desiring to bid for the performance of
  210  any construction contract in excess of $250,000 which the
  211  department proposes to let must first be certified by the
  212  department as qualified pursuant to this section and rules of
  213  the department. The rules of the department must address the
  214  qualification of contractors to bid on construction contracts in
  215  excess of $250,000 and must include requirements with respect to
  216  the equipment, past record, experience, financial resources, and
  217  organizational personnel of the applying contractor which are
  218  necessary to perform the specific class of work for which the
  219  contractor seeks certification. Any contractor who desires to
  220  bid on contracts in excess of $50 million and who is not
  221  qualified and in good standing with the department as of January
  222  1, 2019, must first be certified by the department as qualified
  223  and must have satisfactorily completed two projects, each in
  224  excess of $15 million, for the department or for any other state
  225  department of transportation. The department may limit the
  226  dollar amount of any contract upon which a contractor is
  227  qualified to bid or the aggregate total dollar volume of
  228  contracts such contractor is allowed to have under contract at
  229  any one time. Each applying contractor seeking qualification to
  230  bid on construction contracts in excess of $250,000 shall
  231  furnish the department a statement under oath, on such forms as
  232  the department may prescribe, setting forth detailed information
  233  as required on the application. Each application for
  234  certification must be accompanied by audited, certified
  235  financial statements prepared in accordance with generally
  236  accepted accounting principles and auditing standards by a
  237  certified public accountant licensed in this state or another
  238  state. The audited, certified financial statements must be for
  239  the applying contractor and must have been prepared within the
  240  immediately preceding 12 months. The department may not consider
  241  any financial information of the parent entity of the applying
  242  contractor, if any. The department may not certify as qualified
  243  any applying contractor who fails to submit the audited,
  244  certified financial statements required by this subsection. If
  245  the application or the annual financial statement shows the
  246  financial condition of the applying contractor more than 4
  247  months before the date on which the application is received by
  248  the department, the applicant must also submit interim audited,
  249  certified financial statements prepared in accordance with
  250  generally accepted accounting principles and auditing standards
  251  by a certified public accountant licensed in this state or
  252  another state. The interim financial statements must cover the
  253  period from the end date of the annual statement and must show
  254  the financial condition of the applying contractor no more than
  255  4 months before the date that the interim financial statements
  256  are received by the department. However, upon the request of the
  257  applying contractor, an application and accompanying annual or
  258  interim financial statement received by the department within 15
  259  days after either 4-month period under this subsection shall be
  260  considered timely. An applying contractor desiring to bid
  261  exclusively for the performance of construction contracts with
  262  proposed budget estimates of less than $2 $1 million may submit
  263  reviewed annual or reviewed interim financial statements
  264  prepared by a certified public accountant. The information
  265  required by this subsection is confidential and exempt from s.
  266  119.07(1). The department shall act upon the application for
  267  qualification within 30 days after the department determines
  268  that the application is complete. The department may waive the
  269  requirements of this subsection for projects having a contract
  270  price of $500,000 or less if the department determines that the
  271  project is of a noncritical nature and the waiver will not
  272  endanger public health, safety, or property.
  273         (4) If the applicant is found to possess the prescribed
  274  qualifications, the department shall issue to him or her a
  275  certificate of qualification that, unless thereafter revoked by
  276  the department for good cause, will be valid for a period of 18
  277  months after the date of the applicant’s financial statement or
  278  such shorter period as the department prescribes. Submission of
  279  an application does and subsequent approval do not affect
  280  expiration of the certificate of qualification, the ability
  281  factor of the applicant, or the maximum capacity rating of the
  282  applicant. An applicant may submit a written request with a
  283  timely submitted application to keep an existing certificate of
  284  qualification in place until the expiration date. If the request
  285  is approved by the department, the current maximum capacity
  286  rating of the applicant must remain in place until expiration of
  287  the current certificate of qualification. If the department
  288  finds that an application is incomplete or contains inadequate
  289  information or information that cannot be verified, the
  290  department may request in writing that the applicant provide the
  291  necessary information to complete the application or provide the
  292  source from which any information in the application may be
  293  verified. If the applicant fails to comply with the initial
  294  written request within a reasonable period of time as specified
  295  therein, the department shall request the information a second
  296  time. If the applicant fails to comply with the second request
  297  within a reasonable period of time as specified therein, the
  298  application shall be denied.
  299         (7) A “contractor” as defined in s. 337.165(1)(d) or his or
  300  her “affiliate” as defined in s. 337.165(1)(a) qualified with
  301  the department under this section may not also qualify under s.
  302  287.055 or s. 337.105 to provide testing services, construction,
  303  engineering, and inspection services to the department. This
  304  limitation does not apply to any design-build, including
  305  progressive design-build, prequalification under s. 337.11(7)
  306  and does not apply when the department otherwise determines by
  307  written order entered at least 30 days before advertisement that
  308  the limitation is not in the best interests of the public with
  309  respect to a particular contract for testing services,
  310  construction, engineering, and inspection services. This
  311  subsection does not authorize a contractor to provide testing
  312  services, or provide construction, engineering, and inspection
  313  services, to the department in connection with a construction
  314  contract under which the contractor is performing any work.
  315  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, for
  316  a project that is wholly or partially funded by the department
  317  and administered by a local governmental entity, except for a
  318  seaport listed in s. 311.09 or an airport as defined in s.
  319  332.004, the entity performing design and construction
  320  engineering and inspection services may not be the same entity.
  321         Section 7. Section 337.168, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  322  read:
  323         337.168 Confidentiality of official estimates, identities
  324  of potential bidders, and bid analysis and monitoring system.—
  325         (1) A document or electronic file revealing the official
  326  cost estimate of the department of a project is confidential and
  327  exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) until the contract
  328  for the project has been executed or until the project is no
  329  longer under active consideration.
  330         (2) A document that reveals the identity of a person who
  331  has requested or obtained a bid package, plan, or specifications
  332  pertaining to any project to be let by the department is
  333  confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) for
  334  the period that begins 2 working days before the deadline for
  335  obtaining bid packages, plans, or specifications and ends with
  336  the letting of the bid. A document that reveals the identity of
  337  a person who has requested or obtained a bid package, plan, or
  338  specifications pertaining to any project to be let by the
  339  department before the 2 working days before the deadline for
  340  obtaining bid packages, plans, or specifications remains a
  341  public record subject to s. 119.07(1).
  342         (3) The bid analysis and monitoring system of the
  343  department is confidential and exempt from the provisions of s.
  344  119.07(1). This exemption applies to all system documentation,
  345  input, computer processes and programs, electronic data files,
  346  and output, but does not apply to the actual source documents,
  347  unless otherwise exempted under other provisions of law.
  348         Section 8. Subsection (3) of section 338.165, Florida
  349  Statutes, is amended to read:
  350         338.165 Continuation of tolls.—
  351         (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
  352  department, including the turnpike enterprise, shall index toll
  353  rates on existing toll facilities to the annual Consumer Price
  354  Index or similar inflation indicators. Toll rate adjustments for
  355  inflation under this subsection may be made no more frequently
  356  than once a year and must be made no less frequently than once
  357  every 10 5 years as necessary to accommodate cash toll rate
  358  schedules. Toll rates may be increased beyond these limits as
  359  directed by bond documents, covenants, or governing body
  360  authorization or pursuant to department administrative rule.
  361         Section 9. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.
  362  
  363  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  364  And the title is amended as follows:
  365         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  366  and insert:
  367                        A bill to be entitled                      
  368         An act relating to transportation; creating s.
  369         334.066, F.S.; establishing the Implementing Solutions
  370         from Transportation Research and Evaluating Emerging
  371         Technologies Living Lab (I-STREET) within the
  372         University of Florida; specifying the duties of I
  373         STREET; requiring I-STREET to annually provide the
  374         Governor and the Legislature with a certain report;
  375         requiring the creation of a certain advisory board;
  376         specifying the composition and duties of the board;
  377         amending s. 337.025, F.S.; providing that the
  378         Department of Transportation’s program for innovative
  379         transportation projects may include progressive
  380         design-build contracts; authorizing the department to
  381         enter into a progressive design-build contract if it
  382         makes a certain determination; providing procedures
  383         and requirements for progressive design-build
  384         contracts; revising contracts exempt from a specified
  385         annual monetary cap on contracts; amending s. 337.107,
  386         F.S.; authorizing certain landowners to remove certain
  387         vegetation on department rights-of-way under specified
  388         circumstances; amending s. 337.11, F.S.; revising the
  389         department’s authority relating to design-build
  390         contracts; requiring the department to adopt
  391         procedures for administering progressive design-build
  392         contracts; requiring that contracts let by the
  393         department for performance of bridge construction or
  394         maintenance over navigable waters contain certain
  395         insurance requirements; amending s. 337.1101, F.S.;
  396         revising the calculation of a certain settlement paid
  397         to a nonselected responsive bidder which requires the
  398         department to maintain certain records and provide
  399         certain notices to the Legislature and Attorney
  400         General; amending s. 337.14, F.S.; revising a dollar
  401         limit of proposed budget estimates of construction
  402         contracts for which an applying contractor may submit
  403         certain financial statements; revising procedures
  404         relating to certificates of qualification issued by
  405         the department to construction contractors seeking
  406         certification to bid on certain contracts; exempting
  407         progressive design-build prequalifications from a
  408         certain restriction on contractors and their
  409         affiliates; amending s. 337.168, F.S.; deleting a
  410         public records exemption for certain documents
  411         revealing the identity of a potential bidder; amending
  412         s. 338.165, F.S.; revising the interval and
  413         circumstances under which the department must adjust
  414         rates on existing toll facilities for inflation;
  415         providing an effective date.