REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL June 2, 2016 FROM: THOMAS C. ESQUEDA, Director Department of Public Utilities BY: ROSA LAU-STAGGS, Wastewater Manager-Environmental Services Department of Public Utilities - Wastewater Management Division SUBJECT ..Title Reject all bids received for the purchasing of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry instrument for the Wastewater Management Division Laboratory (Bid File No. 3468) (Council District 3) ..Body RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends rejection of all bids received for the purchasing of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry instrument for the Wastewater Management Division Laboratory. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Staff recommends that Council reject all bids received for the purchasing of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry instrument for the Wastewater Management Division Laboratory. The lowest bid was 35% below the Budget Allocation, but did not meet bid specifications. BACKGROUND The Wastewater Management Division (WMD) requested replacement of one PerkinElmer Inductively Couple Plasma Mass Spectrophotometer (ICP-MS) for FY16 for the WMD Laboratory Services (Laboratory). The WMD Laboratory is a state certified laboratory (ELAP) that performs testing of environmental samples to meet monitoring and reporting requirements of the Fresno-Clovis Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility (RWRF) and the North Fresno Wastewater Treatment Facility (NFWTF). In addition, the Laboratory provides services to other DPU divisions, such as Water and Solid Waste. The Laboratory utilizes multiple instruments to analyze constituents found in water, groundwater, wastewater, sludge, and biosolids to meet regulatory reporting requirements and for process control. The ICP-MS is the instrument of choice to determine low levels of heavy metals in environmental samples, specifically to the parts per billion (PPB) or parts per trillion (PPT) levels. Environmental regulations, specifically those related to water and wastewater require analytical instruments and procedures able to detect heavy metals at very low levels which can be done with the ICP-MS. The existing ICP-MS is over 10 years old. It has had practically all its parts replaced, including the mass-flow controller for the nebulizer gas, and it is currently unable to adjust the argon gas flow to the nebulizer, which is critical for reliable results. The City invited bidders for the purchase of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry instrument. The bid specifications requested that the instrument use collision mode technology to achieve maximum removal of interference without losing target analyte sensitivity. Four bidders presented their products. However, after detailed review of their proposals, it was determined that there were issues with each proposal. ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS For purpose of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the rejection of all bids is not a "project" under the CEQA Guidelines section 15378. LOCAL PREFERENCE Local preference was not considered because the rejection of all bids does not include a bid or award of a construction or services contract. FISCAL IMPACT The rejection of all bids will result in no financial impact to the Sewer Enterprise Fund. This replacement instrument was budgeted and approved to be purchased on the FY16 WMD budget. Attachment: Evaluation of Bid Proposals for Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry - Bid File No. 3468