§ 143-129.2. Construction, design, and operation of solid waste management and sludge management facilities. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 143‑129.2. Construction, design, and operation of solid waste management and sludgemanagement facilities.

(a)        All terms relatingto solid waste management and disposal as used in this section shall be definedas set forth in G.S. 130A‑290, except that the term "unit of localgovernment" also includes a sanitary district created under Part 2 ofArticle 2 of Chapter 130A of the General Statutes, an authority created underArticle 1 of Chapter 162A of the General Statutes, a metropolitan seweragedistrict created under Article 5 of Chapter 162A of the General Statutes, and acounty water and sewer district created under Article 6 of Chapter 162A of theGeneral Statutes. As used in this section, the term "sludge managementfacility" means a facility that processes sludge that has been generatedby a municipal wastewater treatment plant for final end use or disposal butdoes not include any component of a wastewater treatment process or facilitythat generates sludge.

(b)        To acknowledge thehighly complex and innovative nature of solid waste and sludge managementtechnologies for processing mixed solid waste and sludge generated by water andwastewater treatment facilities, the relatively limited availability ofexisting and proven proprietary technology involving solid waste and sludgemanagement facilities, the desirability of a single point of responsibility forthe development of facilities and the economic and technical utility ofcontracts for solid waste and sludge management which include in their scope combinationsof design, construction, operation, management and maintenance responsibilitiesover prolonged periods of time and that in some instances it may be beneficialto a unit of local government to award a contract on the basis of factors otherthan cost alone, including but not limited to facility design, operationalexperience, system reliability, energy production efficiency, long‑termoperational costs, compatibility with source separation and other recyclingsystems, environmental impact and operational guarantees. Accordingly, andnotwithstanding other provisions of this Article or any local law, a contractentered into between a unit of local government and any person pursuant to thissection may be awarded in accordance with the following provisions for theaward of a contract based upon an evaluation of proposals submitted in responseto a request for proposals prepared by or for a unit of local government.

(c)        The unit of localgovernment shall require in its request for proposals that each proposal to besubmitted shall include all of the following:

(1)        Information relatingto the experience of the proposer on the basis of which said proposer purportsto be qualified to carry out all work required by a proposed contract; theability of the proposer to secure adequate financing; and proposals for projectstaffing, implementation of work tasks, and the carrying out of allresponsibilities required by a proposed contract.

(2)        A proposal clearlyidentifying and specifying all elements of cost which would become charges tothe unit of local government, in whatever form, in return for the fulfillmentby the proposer of all tasks and responsibilities established by the requestfor the proposal for the full lifetime of a proposed contract, including, asappropriate, but not limited to, the cost of planning, design, construction,operation, management and/or maintenance of any facility; provided, that theunit of local government may prescribe the form and content of the proposal andthat, in any event, the proposer must submit sufficiently detailed informationto permit a fair and equitable evaluation of the proposal.

(3)        Any otherinformation as the unit of local government may determine to have a materialbearing on its ability to evaluate any proposal in accordance with thissection.

(d)        Proposals receivedin response to a request for proposals may be evaluated on the basis of atechnical analysis of facility design, operational experience of the technologyto be utilized in the proposed facility, system reliability and availability,energy production balance and efficiency, environmental impact and protection,recovery of materials, required staffing level during operation, projection ofanticipated revenues from the sale of energy and materials recovered by thefacility, net cost to the unit of local government for operation andmaintenance of the facility for the duration of time to be established in therequest for proposals and upon any other factors and information that the unitof local government determined to have a material bearing on its ability toevaluate any proposal, which factors were set forth in said request forproposal.

(e)        The unit of localgovernment may make a contract award to any responsible proposer selectedpursuant to this section based upon a determination that the selected proposalis more responsive to the request for proposals and may thereupon negotiate acontract with said proposer for the performance of the services set forth inthe request for proposals and the response thereto, the determination shall bedeemed to be conclusive. Notwithstanding other provisions of this Article orany local law, a contract may be negotiated and entered into between a unit oflocal government and any person selected as a responsible proposer hereunderwhich may provide for, but not be limited to, the following:

(1)        A contract, lease,rental, license, permit or other authorization to design, construct, operateand maintain a solid waste or sludge management facility upon such terms andconditions, for such consideration, and for such duration, not to exceed 40years, as may be agreed upon by the unit of local government and the person.

(2)        Payment by the unitof local government of a fee or other charge to the person for acceptance,processing, recycling, management and disposal of solid waste or sludge.

(3)        An obligation on thepart of a unit of local government to deliver or cause to be delivered to asolid waste or sludge management facility guaranteed quantities of solid wastesor sludge.

(4)        The sale,utilization or disposal of any form of energy, recovered material or residueresulting from the operation of any solid waste or sludge management facility.

(f)         Except forauthorities created pursuant to Article 22 of Chapter 153A of the GeneralStatutes, the construction work for any facility or structure that is ancillaryto a solid waste or sludge management facility and that does not involvestorage and processing of solid waste or sludge or the separation, extraction,and recovery of useful or marketable forms of energy and materials from solidwaste at a solid waste management facility shall be procured throughcompetitive bidding procedures described by G.S. 143‑128 through 143‑129.1.Ancillary facilities include but are not limited to roads, water and sewerlines to the facility limits, transfer stations, scale houses, administrationbuildings, and residue and bypass disposal sites. (1983, c. 795, ss. 4, 8.1;2005‑176, s. 1; 2007‑131, s. 3.)