Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a)
1) The
following conditions shall apply to all subagreements entered into between the
grantee and any other party and any tier of agreement thereunder for the
furnishing of services, supplies, or equipment necessary to complete the
project for which the grant is awarded, including contracts and subcontracts
for personal and professional services, and for construction and purchase
orders.
2) Definitions
A) "Grant agreement"
The written agreement and amendments thereto between the
Agency and a grantee (applicant) in which the terms and conditions governing
the grant are stated and agreed to by both parties.
B) "Subagreement"
A written agreement between the grantee and another party and
any tier of agreement thereunder for the furnishing of services, supplies, or
equipment necessary to complete the project for which a grant was awarded,
including contracts for personal and professional services and purchase
orders.
C) "Contractor"
The person to whom a subagreement is awarded.
D) "Grantee"
The unit of local government which has been awarded a grant
for planning or construction of a treatment works under the Anti-Pollution Bond
Act.
b) Local preference
Local laws, ordinances, regulations or procedures which are
designed to or operate to give local or in-state bidders or proposers
preference over other bidders or proposers shall not be employed in evaluating
bids or proposals for subagreements under a grant.
c) Competition
It is the policy of the Agency to encourage free and open
competition appropriate to the type of project work to be performed.
d) Profits
Only fair and reasonable profits may be earned by contractors
in subagreements under Agency grants. Profit included in a formally advertised,
competitively bid, fixed price construction contract awarded pursuant to
General Condition Section
360.302,
(Construction Contracts of Grantee) is presumed to be reasonable.
e) Grantee responsibility
The grantee is responsible for the administration and
successful accomplishment of the project for which Agency grant assistance is
awarded. The grantee is responsible for the settlement and satisfaction of all
contractual and administrative issues arising out of subagreements entered into
under the grant in accordance with sound business judgment and good
administrative practice. This includes but is not limited to issuance of
invitations for bids or requests for proposals, selection of contractors,
protests of award, claims, disputes, and other procurement matters. With the
prior written consent of the Agency, these functions may be performed for the
grantee by an individual or firm retained by the grantee for that purpose. Such
an agent acts for the grantee and is subject to all the provisions of the grant
agreement, including these General Conditions, which apply to the
grantee.
f) Privity of
contract
Neither the Agency nor the State of Illinois shall be a party
to any subagreement (including contracts or subcontracts), nor to any
solicitation or request for proposals therefor.
g) General requirements
Subagreements must:
1) Be necessary for and directly related to
the accomplishment of the project work;
2) Be in the form or a bilaterally executed
written agreement (except for small purchases of $10,000 or less);
3) Be for monetary or in-kind consideration;
and
4) Not be in the nature of a
grant or gift.
h)
Documentation
1) Procurement records and
files for purchases in excess of $10,000 shall include the following:
A) Basis for contractor selection;
B) Justification for lack of competition if
competition appropriate to the type of project work to be performed is required
but not obtained; and
C) Basis for
award cost or price.
2)
Procurement documentation as described in Section 360.301(h)(1) above shall be
retained by the grantee or contractors of the grantee for the period of time
required by General Condition Section
360.502, (Audit
and Records) of these General Conditions.
i) Specifications
1) Nonrestrictive specifications
No specification for bids or statement of work in connection
with work performed under this grant shall be written in such a manner as to
contain proprietary, exclusionary, or discriminatory requirements other than
those based upon performance, unless such requirements are necessary to test or
demonstrate a specific thing or to provide for necessary interchangeability of
parts and equipment, or at least two brand names or trade names of comparable
quality or utility are listed and are followed by the words "or equal". The
single base bid method of solicitation for equipment and parts for
determination of a low, responsive bidder may not be utilized. With regard to
materials, if a single material is specified, the applicant must be prepared to
substantiate the basis for the selection of the material.
2) Project specifications shall, to the
extent practicable, provide for maximum use of structures, machines, products,
materials, construction methods, and equipment which are readily available
through competitive procurement, or through standard or proven production
techniques, methods, and processes, except to the extent that advanced
technology may be utilized if approved by the Agency by the issuance of a
construction permit or authorization to construct.
3) Sole source restriction
A specification shall not require the use of structures,
materials, equipment, or processes which are known to be available only from a
sole source, unless such use has been adequately justified in writing by the
grantee's engineer as meeting the minimum needs of the particular
project.
4) Experience
clause restriction
The general use of experience clauses requiring equipment
manufacturers to have a record of satisfactory operation for a specified period
of time or of bonds or deposits to guarantee replacement in the event of
failure is restricted to special cases in which the grantee's engineer
adequately justifies any such requirement in writing. Where such justification
has been made, submission of a bond or deposit shall be permitted in lieu of a
specified experience period, and the period of time for which such bond or
deposit is required may not exceed the experience period specified.
j) Force account work
1) The grantee must secure prior written
approval of the Agency for utilization of the force account method in lieu of
subagreement for any Step 1 or Step 2 work in excess of $10,000 or any Step 3
work in excess of $25,000 unless the force account method is stipulated in the
grant agreement.
2) The Agency's
approval shall be based on its determination that:
A) The grantee possesses the necessary
competence and resources to accomplish the project work; and
B) The work can be accomplished more
economically by the use of the force account method; or
C) Emergency circumstances so
dictate.
k)
No subagreement shall be awarded:
To any person or organization which does not:
1) Have adequate financial resources for
performance, the necessary experience, organization, technical qualifications,
and facilities, or a firm commitment, arrangement, or ability to obtain such
(including proposed subagreements);
2) Have the ability to comply with the
proposed or required completion schedule for the project;
3) Have a satisfactory record of integrity,
judgment, and performance, including in particular any prior performance upon
grants and contracts in the federal and state wastewater treatment plant
construction programs;
4) Have an
adequate financial management system and audit procedure which provides
efficient and effective accountability and control of all property, funds, and
assets;
5) Maintain a standard of
procurement acceptable to the Agency;
6) Maintain a property management system
which provides adequate procedures for the acquisition, maintenance,
safeguarding and desposition of all property; and
7) Conform to the civil rights, equal
employment opportunity, and labor law requirements of these
conditions.
l) Fraud and
other unlawful or corrupt practices
1) The
award and administration of grants by the State of Illinois, and of
subagreements awarded by grantees under those grants, must be accomplished free
from bribery, graft, kickbacks, and other corrupt practices. The grantee bears
the primary responsibility for prevention and detection of such conduct and for
cooperation with appropriate authorities in the prosecution of any such
conduct.
2) The grantee must
effectively pursue available state or local legal and administrative remedies,
and take appropriate remedial action with respect to any allegations or
evidence of such illegality or corrupt practices which are brought to its
attention. The grantee shall advise the Agency immediately when any such
allegation or evidence comes to its attention, and shall periodically advise
the Agency of the status and ultimate disposition of any such matter.
m) Negotiation of subagreements
Negotiation of subagreements (i.e., award of subagreements by
any method other than formal advertising) is authorized if it is impracticable
and infeasible to use formal advertising. Negotiated contracts must be
competitively awarded to the maximum practicable extent. Generally,
procurements may be negotiated by the Applicant if:
1) Public exigency will not permit the delay
incident to advertising (e.g., an emergency procurement);
2) The material or service to be procured is
available from only one person or firm (and, if the procurement is expected to
aggregate more than $10,000, the Agency has given prior approval in
writing);
3) The aggregate amount
involved does not exceed $2,500 (except as provided in paragraph (2) of this
subsection);
4) The procurement is
for personal or professional services, or for any service to be rendered by a
university or other educational institution;
5) No responsive, responsible bids at
acceptable price levels have been received after formal advertising, and the
Agency has given advance written approval;
6) The procurement is for material or
services where the prices are established by law, for technical items or
equipment requiring standardization and interchangeability of parts with
existing equipment, for experimental, developmental or research work, for
highly perishable materials, resale, or for technical or specialized supplies
requiring substantial initial investment for manufacture. Any negotiated
procurement under this paragraph (6) of this subsection, other than for
perishable materials, must be approved in advance by the Agency.
n) Small purchase
1) A small purchase is the procurement of
materials, supplies, and services when the aggregate amount involved in any one
transaction does not exceed $10,000. The small purchase limitation of $10,000
applies to the aggregate total of an order, including all estimated handling
and freight charges, overhead, and profit to be paid under the order. In
arriving at the aggregate amount involved in any one transaction, there must be
included all items which should properly be grouped together. Reasonable
competition shall be obtained.
2)
Subagreements for small purchases need not be in the form of a bilaterally
executed written agreement. Where appropriate, unilateral purchase orders,
sales slips, memoranda of oral price quotations, and the like may be utilized
in the interest of minimizing paperwork. Retention in the purchase files of
these documents and of written quotations received, or references to written
catalogs or printed price lists used, will suffice as the record supporting the
price paid.
