BILL NUMBER:S5185

TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public authorities law, in relation to
procurements by the New York city transit authority and the
metropolitan transportation authority

Purpose:

This bill extends for four years statutory provisions that allow the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the New York City
Transit Authority (NYCT) to procure goods and services in ways that
save time and money and allow NYCT to consider, in certain cases, New
York State content when procuring subway cars.

Summary of provisions:

This bill amends Public Authorities Law (PAL) §§ 126541 and 1209(6) to
extend the sunset of various procurement rules from June 30, 2015 to
June 30, 2019.

Section three of the bill would provide for an immediate effective
date.

Existing law:
              

PAL § 1209 (applicable to NYCT) currently has a sunset date of June
30, 205 for subdivisions 7 through 13, and PAL § 1265-a (applicable to
MTA) currently contains a sunset date of June 30, 2011 that applies to
the entire section

Prior legislative history:

The applicable provisions of law have been extended, for various
periods of time, by prior legislation See Chapter 98 of the Laws of
2011, Chapter 135 of the Laws of 2008, Chapter 136 of the Laws of
2005; Chapter 745 of the Laws of 2004; Chapter 334 of the Laws of
2001; Chapter 256 of the Laws of 1998 Chapter 637 of the Laws of 1996

Statement in support:

Extending the sunset dates for PAL §§ 1265-a and 1209 will permit MTA
and NYCT to continue to use procurement methods, such as competitive
Request for Proposals (RFP), that are critical to procuring complex
systems and major construction contracts. MTA and NYCT use competitive
RFPs on projects that require extensive dialog with proposers prior to
the completion of contract terms and pricing. REPs are useful for
projects that incorporate new technology such as rolling stock,
communications, signaling systems and communication based train
control. Continuing innovations in these fields require the
flexibility provided by the competitive negotiation that is not
available when employing sealed bidding. Many of the new products will
be used to improve MTA's and NYCT's ability to monitor passenger
facilities and react to emergencies. RFPs allow the MIA and NYCT to
evaluate the products that best meet project requirements by accepting
proposals from suppliers and then determining the merits if the


existing provisions of the statutes are not extended, MTA and NYCT
would be forced to procure these projects via sealed bidding - a
method that provides no room for evaluating the innovative and complex
products that would best meet the needs of the public. If the agencies
were limited to the sealed bidding method they would effectively be
precluded from procuring these new technologies.

This extension will also allow NYCT to continue to procure sub-way
cats by competitive REP rather than sealed bids. When such
procurements are not federally funded. New York State content may be
one of the criteria for selection of the awardee.

This extension would also allow MTA to consider a party's status as a
Minority and Woman owned Business Enterprises (MWBE) as one of the
criteria for selection of the awardee

This extension will also allow MIA and NYCT to continue using
Qualified Products Lists (QPLs), which permits various materials,
supplies, and equipment to be standardized to achieve efficiency,
economy, compatibility, and/or maintenance reliability. Placing an
item on a QPL allows MTA and NYCT to quickly obtain critical material
aid equipment that meet exact specifications. When an item is placed
on the QPL, only pre-qualified products of specified manufacturers may
be offered in response to bids for that item. Items on a QPL,
generally require extensive testing to determine that they will be
compatible with existing equipment and/or be able to withstand the
rigors of the subway environment. For example, NYCT has determined
that it requires as much as a year-and-a-half to identify hidden
defects in subway car wheels. Without pre-qualification, it would be
almost impossible to assure a consistent supply of wheels if the
agency must take the time required to both test and procure a required
product Pre-qualification also permits MTA and NYCT to carefully
review suppliers' manufacturing and quality control procedures to
ensure the safety of our passengers The use of pre-qualified product
lists also provides savings in the operating budget because it enables
MIA and NYCT to standardize maintenance materials and equipment to
ensure compatibility thereby reducing the amount of material that must
be purchased and held in inventory and reducing the amount of
maintenance work that must be performed.

Finally, this extension will maintain the existing threshold above
which MIA and NYCT must solicit purchases via sealed bids at $15,000
If this law were not extended the threshold would revert to $10,000
Permitting the threshold to be reduced would delay certain MTA and
NYCT procurements due to the additional administrative requirements of
procuring by sealed bid.

This legislation will affect a critical extension that will ensure
that, among other things, NYCT can continue to properly negotiate
procurements and to use QPLs. Extending the current statutes to June
2019 will allow the MTA to use consistent procurement methods
throughout its 205-2019 capital program

Budget implications:

This bill has no budgetary implications, but will offer cost savings
to the MIA and NYCT


Local Impact:

None