Professional emergency response and cleanup activities for all types of environmental hazards on an as needed basis

INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB)
PROCUREMENT NUMBER: RFx3160007908 MDEQ-IFB09112026
TO PROVIDE: Professional emergency response and cleanup activities
for all types of environmental hazards on an as needed basis
ISSUE DATE
September 11, 2026
CLOSING LOCATION
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
700 North State Street
Jackson, MS 39202
Or Electronically in MAGIC
CLOSING DATE AND TIME
October 12, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. CDT
MDEQ BID COORDINATOR
Ms. Aveleka Moore amoore@mdeq.ms.gov
RFx3160007908 MDEQ-IFB09112026 1

SECTION 1 - INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW.....................................................................4
1.1 Purpose..........................................................................................................4
1.1.1 Scope of Services....................................................................................4
1.1.2 Contract Type.........................................................................................5
1.1.3 Term...................................................................................................5
1.2 Bid Acceptance Period and Submission Requirements....................................................5
1.2.1 Confidential Information ..........................................................................10
1.2.2 Bid Submission Period..............................................................................11
1.2.3 Bid Opening .........................................................................................11
1.3 Timeline ........................................................................................................12
1.4 Questions and Requests for Clarification....................................................................12
1.5 Acknowledgement of Amendments........................................................................12
1.6 Expenses Incurred in the Procurement Process ...........................................................13
1.7 Cancellation of Solicitation or Rejection of Individual Bids............................................13
1.7.1 Notice of Cancellation of IFB.....................................................................13
1.8 Registration with the Mississippi Secretary of State ......................................................13
1.9 Registration with MAGIC and PayMode..................................................................13
1.10 Registration with the System for Award Management (SAM)..........................................13
1.11 Certification of Independent Price Determination ........................................................13
1.12 Exclusion or Debarment .....................................................................................14
1.13 Right to Consider Historical Information ..................................................................14
1.14 Approval........................................................................................................14
1.15 Property Rights................................................................................................14
1.16 Contract Rights.................................................................................................14
1.17 Minority and Women Businesses..........................................................................15
SECTION 2 - PROCUREMENT METHODOLOGY....................................................................16
2.1 Restrictions on Communication with MDEQ Staff......................................................16
2.2 Request for Reconsideration of the Terms of the Solicitation..........................................16
2.2.1 Agency Decision on Request for Reconsideration.............................................16
2.3 Minor Informalities and Irregularities.....................................................................17
2.4 Modification or Withdrawal of a Bid.....................................................................17
2.5 Disposition of Bids...........................................................................................17
2.6 Corrections and Clarifications..............................................................................17
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2.7 Bid Evaluation................................................................................................17
2.7.1 Nonconforming Terms and Conditions..........................................................18
2.7.2 Conditioning Bid Upon Other Awards...........................................................18
2.8 Right of Negotiation.........................................................................................18
2.9 Award.........................................................................................................18
2.9.1 Notice of Intent to Award..........................................................................18
2.10 Request for Reconsideration of the Intent to Award....................................................18
2.10.1 Agency Decision for Request for Reconsideration.............................................19
2.11 Notice of Contract Award ...................................................................................20
SECTION 3 - INSURANCE.................................................................................................20
SECTION 4 - MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS TO BE DEEMED RESPONSIBLE..............................21
ATTACHMENT A - BID FORM/RATE SHEET ........................................................................24
ATTACHMENT B - LIST OF PRIOR EXPERIENCE ..................................................................37
ATTACHMENT C - MBE/WBE SOLICITATION......................................................................44
ATTACHMENT D - CERTIFICATION OF AVAILABLE EQUIPMENT..........................................46
ATTACHMENT E - CERTIFICATION OF CORPORATE HEALTH AND SAFETY PROGRAM ...........48
ATTACHMENT F - BIDDER'S STATEMENT OF COMPLIANCE.................................................49
ATTACHMENT G - INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAGIC...................................................................52
ATTACHMENT H - CERTIFICATE OF MS FIRST INITIATIVE COMMITMENT INITIATIVE ............53
ATTACHMENT I - BID BOND ............................................................................................54
ATTACHMENT J - STANDARD CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS.....................................56
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SECTION 1 - INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
1.1 Purpose
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) is seeking sealed bids from
organizations licensed in the State of Mississippi to assist MDEQ, on an as needed basis, with
professional emergency response and cleanup services and activities for all types of environmental
hazards.
1.1.1 Scope of Services
The Bidder shall perform the following services throughout the geographical boundaries of the
State of Mississippi:
A. Effectively and safely respond, in an expeditious manner, to a variety of emergency
incidents/circumstances on land and in water which includes, but is not limited to:
* Provide sufficient personnel and equipment to, at a minimum, contain spills, recover the
contaminant(s) of concern, and clean up gross contamination associated with releases to
the environment;
* Monitoring of a site including air surveillance and environmental sampling where
necessary while following U.S. EPA protocol(s);
* Sample both hazardous and non-hazardous materials;
* Analyze samples or provide twenty-four (24) hour laboratory services;
* Neutralize releases;
* Decontaminate personnel, equipment or structures;
* Remove contaminants from sunken vessels or vessel discharges;
* Transport hazardous or non-hazardous materials, waste, and samples;
* Deploy boom, skimmers, or other spill response equipment as needed to minimize
environmental impacts;
* Excavate areas where hazardous or non-hazardous materials/waste may be buried or
deposited;
* Perform pressure and non-pressure chemical transfers, and
* Perform other related tasks, as needed.
B. Materials encountered that the Bidder must have the ability to remove, sample, analyze, and
dispose of includes: pollutants, oil and any of its derivatives, hazardous substances,
hazardous waste, biomedical waste, chemical or biological warfare agents, solid waste,
unknown materials, or any material that is regulated by MDEQ or the federal government
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which may be a threat to the public health or environment. Due to the emergency nature
associated with responding to incidents involving hazardous materials/pollutants, it is
imperative that any emergency response contractor demonstrate the ability to respond in an
expeditious manner and must be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all 365 days a year
for the duration of the Contract.
C. Perform other emergency response and cleanup activities involving oil, hazardous, or non-
hazardous material/waste as directed by MDEQ.
1.1.2 Contract Type
Compensation for the work performed pursuant to the Contract(s) will be in the form of firm
fixed price, with price adjustment based on provisions of the Contract. The Contractor shall be
paid in accordance with the rates in the Bid Form/Rate Sheet in Attachment A.
Contractor(s) understands that under this IFB and any resulting contract, that they shall provide
services and/or goods on an indefinite-delivery, as-needed basis in accordance with individual
Work Orders issued by MDEQ. MDEQ has no obligation to issue any minimum number of
Work Orders or to request any specific volume, quantity, or amount of work under the IFB or
resulting Contract. Each Work Order shall describe the scope, schedule, and costs for the
services requested in accordance with the Contract. Only Work Orders executed in writing by
MDEQ and by the Contractor shall be binding. Contractor acknowledges and agrees that no
representation, promise, or guarantee of any amount of work is made or implied by this IFB or
the Contract.
1.1.3 Term
The anticipated Period of Performance for the award of a Contract(s) under this IFB is a
maximum five (5) year period.
1.2 Bid Acceptance Period and Submission Requirements
The original bid form shall be signed and submitted in a sealed envelope or package to the MDEQ no
later than the time and date specified for receipt of bids. Timely submission of the bid is the
responsibility of the Bidder. Failure to submit a timely bid may be considered just cause for rejection of
the bid.
The time and date of receipt shall be indicated on the envelope or package by MDEQ when the bid is
received by MDEQ.
Failure to submit a bid with the Bid Form/Rate Sheet provided in Attachment A may be considered just
cause for rejection of the bid. Modifications or additions to any portion of the IFB requirements
provided by the Bidder in response to this IFB (including the Bid Form/Rate Sheet) may be cause for
rejection of the bid.
The bid shall be limited to no more than a total of thirty (30) typed pages including contents pages,
supporting appendices, and resumes. Paper size shall be 8 1/2" x 11". Text shall not be smaller than a
font size of 12. The original bid must be signed by an authorized representative of the Bidder.
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Each page of the bid must be numbered. Multiple page attachments and samples should be numbered
internally within each document and not necessarily numbered in the overall page number sequence of
the entire bid. The intent of this requirement is that the Bidder submit all information in a manner so
that it is clearly referenced and easily located.
MDEQ reserves the right to decide, on a case-by-case basis, whether to reject a bid with modifications
or additions to the requirements of this IFB as non-responsive. As a pre-condition to bid evaluation or
acceptance, MDEQ may request the Bidder to withdraw or modify those portions of the bid deemed
non-responsive that do not affect quality, quantity, price, or delivery of the service.
To prevent opening by unauthorized individuals, the original signed bid, including any and all
attachments, must be submitted in a sealed envelope or package. The outside cover of the package
containing the sealed bid must be labeled:
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
SEALED BID - DO NOT OPEN
RFx3160007908 MDEQ-IFB09112026
Attention: Ms. Aveleka Moore
700 North State Street
Jackson, MS 39202
Bidder's Name:
Bidder's Legal Address:
Certificate of Responsibility No.:
SEALED BID - DO NOT OPEN
Alternatively, electronic bids may be submitted to Mississippi's Accountability System for
Government Information and Collaboration (MAGIC) at RFx Number 3160007908 no later than
the deadline in Section 1.3 of this IFB for the bid submission deadline. Please note that MAGIC is
managed and ran by the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration (DFA).
Technical assistance for electronic submissions is available at mash@dfa.ms.gov. When a bid is
submitted electronically, compliance with exterior bid/quote envelope requirements is
accomplished where inclusion of that same information is set forth in an electronic bid submittal
attachment.
Sealed mailed bids or electronic bids via MAGIC are the only acceptable methods of submission for
this IFB. Please allow enough time when using either option.
The sealed bid package shall include the following items (executed, as applicable, and completed in
full), with section components clearly divided and identified:
A. The written information for a responsibility determination in accordance with Section 4, Minimum
Qualifications to be deemed responsible, in this IFB.
B. A copy of the Bidder's current Certificate of Responsibility issued by the State of Mississippi for the
type of work to be performed under this Invitation for Bids, pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated
31-3-21(1). The Certificate of Responsibility number must be provided on the exterior of the
sealed bid envelope/package, if submitting a written bid, or, provided as an attachment included in
an electronic bid submittal, if submitting an electronic bid. The Bidder must hold/possess, for at
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least 30 days prior to the submission deadline, a valid Certificate of Responsibility issued by the
State of Mississippi Contracting Board as follows:
* Excavation and Grading AND one of the following specialty classifications:
* Hazardous Material Abatement, Clean Up, Removal, or Remediation;
* Hazardous Materials Abatement and Remediation;
* Hazardous Materials;
* Hazardous Waste Cleanup; or
* Hazardous Waste Removal and Control.
C. If the Bidder is a non-resident contractor, Bidder shall provide one of the following, whichever is
applicable:
* a copy of Bidder's current state bidder preference law pertaining to that State's treatment
of non-resident contractors, pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated 31-3-21(3)
OR
* a statement on letterhead and signed by the same person who signs the Bid Form/Rate
Sheet, Attachment A, stating that no preference laws exist in that state.
The state of residency of a contractor shall be the same as the corporate office as reported by the
Mississippi Secretary of State's office, unless any contractor reflecting a foreign corporate office
with the Secretary of State provides a sworn affidavit verifying and stating that it, or its affiliate or
parent company, has maintained a permanent full-time office in Mississippi, including the
address(es) of such office, for at least two (2) full years prior to the bid consistent with the
provisions of Mississippi Code 31-3-21(c), in which case such contractor shall be considered a
resident Bidder.
D. Attachment H. A Certificate of Commitment to Comply with the obligation to provide an
employment plan pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated 31-5-37, which is attached hereto as
Attachment H. A copy of the employment plan form that must be submitted after Contract award is
available from the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, and at the following link on
their website: http://www.mdes.ms.gov/employers/mississippi-first-act-and-public-works-contracts-
employment-plans/.
E. Attachment I. A Bid Bond, found in Attachment I, in the amount of five percent (5%) of the total
bid/contract amount of $3,000,000.00, naming MDEQ as the beneficiary and meeting the
requirements of Section 1.2 of this Invitation for Bids.
F. Attachment B. Provide documentation demonstrating that the Bidder has direct experience in
successfully performing product transfers from highway tank trucks, rail cars, and other fixed-
facility tanks. The Bidder must have the ability to safely and expeditiously transfer acids, caustics,
poisons, flammables, and reactive substances. It is imperative that a MDEQ Contractor have the
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ability to safely perform commodity transfers from a damaged/overturned tank/tankers while being
able to monitor the health and safety of the public and responders.
The Bidder shall provide a record of projects of similar size and scope completed by the Bidder
within the past five (5) years by completing Attachment B, List of Prior Experience. This
information shall include, at a minimum, a summary of eight (8) separate and verifiable projects that
the Bidder was the Primary Contractor on, which have been completed within the last five (5) years.
These project descriptions must include, at a minimum, two (2) successful responses to each of the
following DOT hazardous material classifications: (i) Poison Substance; (ii) Corrosive Substance;
(iii) Flammable Substance; and (iv) Reactive Substance. The Bidder should also include at least one
(1) commodity transfer operation, involving rail, and/or fixed-facility, and/or highway, for each of
the above referenced hazardous material classifications. Information should be provided in written
summary/report form for review.
G. The Bidder must submit a statement listing the abilities, qualifications, and experience of all
persons who would be assigned to provide the required services. The Bidder must submit a statement
listing the personnel with a minimum of experience in hazardous materials emergency response
operations, together with the level of education, training, work experience and a brief description of
the responsibilities, as outlined below:
* Project Manager/ Response Manager: Eight (8) years of experience in hazardous materials
emergency response, including documented experience in transferring hazardous materials from
damaged/overturned highway tank trucks, including gasoline tankers and chemical tankers. The
Bidder must provide documentation indicating that each responding office location has at least
two (2) Project Managers/Response Managers meeting these qualifications. Bidder must
document a minimum of two (2) product transfers from both a gasoline tanker and a chemical
tanker performed by each Project Manager/Response Manager.
* Supervisor: Four (4) years of experience in hazardous materials emergency response, including
one (1) year in management.
* Foreman: Three (3) years of experience in hazardous materials emergency response.
* Equipment Operator: One (1) year of experience in hazardous materials emergency response
H. The Bidder must submit a list of office locations where responses to emergencies will originate
and their physical addresses. The Bidder must have a response office located inside the State of
Mississippi.
I. The Bidder must confirm in writing that it can provide services as the need arises on a twenty-four
(24) hour, 365-day a year basis. The Bidder must have a physically monitored twenty-four (24) hour
telephone number for the purposes of notification. Paging and answering machines do not satisfy this
requirement.
J. The Bidder must certify and supply the following information for all personnel, full or part time,
involved in hazardous material emergency response to demonstrate that they are in compliance with
OSHA Standards (29 C.F.R. 1910.120):
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* HAZWOPER 40 hour training
* HAZWOPER 8 hour refresher, if applicable
* Respirator Fit-Test
* Pre-placement physical
* Annual Physical, if applicable
* Special Physical, if applicable
* Medical Fit-for-Duty Statement, issued by a licensed occupational physician
MDEQ reserves the right to request proof of the physical documentation of these items at any time.
K. Attachment D. The Bidder must confirm, by signing the Certification of Available Equipment,
provided in Attachment D, that it possesses, at each service location, its own equipment to accomplish
emergency activities described above.
L. The Bidder must confirm in writing that it can provide or has the capability to provide the following
Traffic Control Equipment and Requirements. This provision is not a requirement at each service
location. The conditions of this provision must be at a location that is central to the Bidders' area of
coverage. The Bidder must have the capability to provide turn-key traffic control services on an
emergency basis for highway and public road incidents or demonstrate the contractual ability to hire
traffic control services by providing an agreement through a subcontractor located in state or in a
neighboring state. This includes ownership of all traffic cones, barrels, standard highway signs, signals
and signaling devices, and other traffic control devices that may be required by the Mississippi
Department of Transportation (MDOT) to detour traffic through or around a hazardous materials
incident. The Bidder, or its subcontractor, must own all above-referenced equipment and have
sufficient quantity to perform a lane or shoulder closure of up to 1.0 mile in length under both night-
time and day-time conditions. The deployment of traffic control equipment must be in accordance
with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) and MDOT Standard Drawings and
Specifications.
M. Attachment E. The Bidder must certify that they have a Corporate Health and Safety Program as a
requirement for this contract by completing Attachment E, Certification of Corporate Health and
Safety Program. MDEQ reserves the right to request physical documentation of this item at any
time.
N. The Bidder must have a dedicated Corporate Health and Safety Professional responsible for health
and safety issues or demonstrate the contractual ability to hire a Corporate Health and Safety
Professional by providing an agreement through a subcontractor. The Corporate Health and Safety
professional must serve in a position dedicated to health and safety issues. The Bidder must
submit a statement listing the abilities, qualifications, and experience of all persons who would
be assigned to provide the required services. The Bidder must submit a statement listing the
personnel with a minimum of experience in hazardous materials emergency response operations,
together with the level of education, training, work experience and a brief description of the
responsibilities, as outlined below: The individual, or subcontractor, must meet the following
minimum requirements:
* Be a Certified Industrial Hygienist or a Certified Safety Professional AND
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* Have five (5) years of experience as a health and safety manager in the field of
environmental remediation and/or hazardous materials emergency response.
O. The Bidder must provide, in writing, proof of a valid U.S. Coast Guard Oil Spill Response
Organization Classification issued at least thirty (30) days prior to the submission deadline.
P. The Bidder must supply a written report of all the Bidder's violations which have occurred within
the past twelve (12) months of state or federal regulatory programs which have jurisdiction over
emergency response activities (OSHA, State & Federal Department of Transportation (DOT),
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), MDEQ and other similar state and federal programs. This
report should also state the corrective action taken to prevent similar violations. If there are no
violations within the past 12 months, provide a statement stating such with its bid.
Q. The Bidder must submit a list of laboratory names that it utilizes on a regular basis and provide
telephone numbers and addresses for those laboratories that can provide twenty-four (24) hour turn
around service for environmental samples, to include priority pollutants, Total Petroleum
Hydrocarbons, benzene, toluene, ethybenzene, and xylene,etc.
R. The Bidder must provide, in writing, proof of knowledge and/or training in packaging
requirements in accordance with U.S. Department of Transportation regulations for packaging and
transportation of samples and wastes.
S. The Bidder must confirm, in writing, that its employees have knowledge and/or training in EPA
environmental sampling protocols/procedures, to include examples of sampling protocols/procedures
for sampling priority pollutants, BTEX and TPH in surface water, drums and soils.
T. Certificate of Good Standing: Provide proof from Mississippi Secretary of State demonstrating that
the Bidder is in good standing to do business in Mississippi - Such proof is not included in the thirty
(30) page limit of the bid.
U. Acknowledgement of Amendments: The Bidder shall acknowledge receipt of any amendment to
this IFB in writing. The acknowledgement shall be submitted by signing and returning the
amendment with its bid in addition to acknowledging such on the Bid Form/Rate Sheet. Each bidder
shall submit a written acknowledgement MDEQ on or before the submission deadline.
Acknowledgement of Amendments will not be counted as included in the thirty (30) page limit of
the bid.
V. Attachment F. Bidder must provide the statement of compliance as included in Attachment F.
1.2.1 Confidential Information
In addition to the complete unredacted version of the bid, bidder, if claiming certain bid
information as confidential, shall also submit a redacted copy of the bid with information the
bidder deems confidential commercial and financial information and/or trade secrets in
accordance with Mississippi Code Annotated 25-61-9, 75-26-1 through 75-26-19, and/or 79-
23-1, such confidential information being redacted in black.
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