POLICIES AND REGULATIONS
SMART was created through legislation, Public Act 204, enacted by the Michigan Legislature and signed into law by the Governor in 1974. SMART receives funding from the federal government, via the Federal Transit Administration, the State of Michigan, via the Department of Transportation, and the counties of Macomb, Oakland and Wayne. As a public agency and because of the multiple funding sources, SMART is governed by all of these same entities.
The procurement function at SMART must comply with FTA Circular 4220.1F, State law, Section 17 of P.A. 204, as amended, and policy as set forth by SMART’s Board of Directors in Board Policy Number 1, Contracting Policy. These governing documents are provided for your reference.
The General Counsel of the Authority shall review all contracts of the Authority to assure their sufficiency as to form, compliance with laws and regulations, terms of applicable grant contracts, and to otherwise protect the best interest of the Authority. The Manager of Procurement is responsible to the General Manager for ensuring compliance with all of the requirements set forth in these governing documents. All of the requirements do not apply to each solicitation issued by the Procurement Department. In addition, the requirements of each document differ in many respects.
The professional staff in SMART’s Procurement Department is responsible for knowing which requirements apply and for reconciling any conflict among the multiple requirements. Refer to the Contact Listing for the Procurement Department should you wish to speak to someone regarding policies and regulations.
Interested Parties that believe they have been aggrieved by a solicitation or the award of any resulting contract may file a written notice of protest with the General Manager of SMART and shall serve the copies upon the General Counsel. The General Manager or his designee shall hear and determine the merits of said protest, and shall advise all competitors that a protest has been filed. The General Manager may receive evidence and legal arguments from any interested party, but shall not be bound by the rules of evidence nor formal procedure. Unless otherwise directed by the General Manager, issues will be judged on the basis of written evidence and written arguments. All documents received by the General Manager shall be stamped with the date and time received and logged into the protest file folder. The General Manager shall promptly issue his findings and conclusions to the protesting party, and shall advise the Board of Directors and other interested parties.
Issues addressing the adequacy of Proposals or requests for Proposals, including without limitation the pre-award procedure, the instructions, general conditions and specifications and scope of work must be received by the General Manager no later than eight (8) calendar days prior to the time set for receipt of Proposals. Thereafter, such issues are deemed waived by all interested parties. When the General Manager decides that a protest lacks merit, all interested parties shall be so advised, in writing, and the evaluation and award process will continue. Notice of decision is served upon all interested parties by certified mail.
Notice of protest against an award must be received by the General Manager within five (5) days immediately following the award. When notice of protest against the award is received prior to the execution of the contract for the relevant procurement, and the Board of Directors has not made a finding that the procurement is urgently needed or performance will be unduly delayed, or delay will result in harm to SMART, the execution of the contract will be deferred until the General Manager decides that the protest is meritorious. If the General Manager decides that the protest lacks merit, the contract will be executed after five (5) days have elapsed commencing with the first day following the date of the General Manager's decision. The General Manager's decision must be in writing and is final. Notice of decision is served upon all interested parties by certified mail.
Review of protests by the FTA will be limited to a determination as to whether or not the grantee has a written protest procedure or fails to follow its procedures. Protest to the FTA is governed by the procedures outlined in FTA Circular 4220.1F, Chapter 1.
In addition, any protests by an interested party regarding this procurement shall be made in accordance with any and all applicable state or local law, ordinance and/or regulation. After such administrative remedies have been exhausted, an interested party may file a protest with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation pursuant to the procedures provided in FTA C 4220.1F. Alleged violations of certain federal requirements provide a separate complaint procedure. See, for example, Buy America Requirements, 49 CFR 661 (Section 661.15) and Participation by Disadvantaged Business Enterprise in Department of Transportation Programs, 49 CFR 23 (Section 23.73).
Failure to comply with the above protest procedures will render a protest untimely and/or inadequate and shall result in its rejection.
REQUIRED CLAUSES
SMART was created through legislation, Public Act 204, enacted by the Michigan Legislature and signed into law by the Governor in 1974. SMART receives funding from the federal government, via the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the State of Michigan, via the Department of Transportation (MDOT), and the counties of Macomb, Oakland and Wayne. As a public agency and because of the multiple funding sources, SMART is governed by all of these same entities.
The procurement function at SMART must comply with FTA Circular (C) 4220.1F, State law, Section 17 of P.A. 204, as amended, and policy as set forth by SMART’s Board of Directors in Board Policy Number 1, Contracting Policy. Section 3 of the FTA C 4220.1F lists nine references which are the foundation of the circular. Although not specifically listed in Section 3, the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) is a reference by inference in Section 10, Sub-section d, Federal Cost Principles. Direct reference to required clauses can be found in sections 5.e., 15 and 16 of the circular. Lastly, required clauses are stipulated throughout the circular.
“Governing Documents” provides a listing of the federally required and other model contract clauses along with a reference and other helpful information. The “Matrix Guide” has been provided simply as a guide to assist in the applicability of the many clauses. As a guide, this matrix is not meant to be a complete and accurate list and can not be relied upon to satisfy the legal and regulatory requirements of any procurement action.
The Manager of Procurement is responsible to the General Manager for ensuring compliance with all of the requirements set forth in these governing documents. The professional staff in SMART’s Procurement Department is responsible for knowing which requirements apply and for reconciling any conflict among the multiple requirements. Refer to the Contact Listing for the Procurement Department should you wish to speak to someone regarding contract clauses.
Matrix Guide Governing Documents