Minister of Fisheries and Environment, the Honourable Kevin J. MacAdam today announced the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the P.E.I. Waste Watch Management Project will be available for prospective bidders to review as of July 15th. The Department of Fisheries and Environment intends to select a private sector proponent to receive a certificate of franchise, allowing it to operate a utility that will own the waste processing sites and manage residential waste hauling in the province. Mr. MacAdam announced in February an RFP would be developed to solicit bids from potential proponents for this project.
"A significant amount of detailed work has gone into development of the RFP and, judging by the interest already expressed, I anticipate receiving a number of bids on the project," said Mr. MacAdam. "Islanders have high expectation of their waste management system and our role is to ensure they receive value for their money," continued the Minister.
For those interested in reviewing the main body of the RFP, it will be available shortly on the web pages of the PEI Department of Fisheries and Environment at http://www.gov.pe.ca/fe. To formally bid on the project and to obtain the entire RFP package, prospective bidders must pay a fee of $500 and formally register with the Project Manager for the Waste Watch Management Project at the PEI Department of Fisheries and Environment. The entire text and attachments will be forwarded to bidders, once this fee is received. The Project Manager, Diane Griffin, can be contacted at (902) 368-5205 and is located at the PEI Department of Fisheries and Environment, 4th floor, Jones Building, 11 Kent Street, P.O. Box 2000, Charlottetown, PE, C1A 7N8.
The scope of the project will include full implementation of the "Prince Edward Island Waste Management Strategy" which was announced in April of 1997. The Government is also interested in exploring the sale of intellectual property rights of the Waste Watch program to other jurisdictions to further enhance the "eco-image" of Prince Edward Island and to generate a source of revenue. The Utility will operate in the same manner as other utilities and all fees and rates must be approved by the Island Regulatory and Appeal Commission (IRAC). The role of the Island Waste Management Commission after the new Utility begins operation will be determined in conjunction with the Department of Fisheries and Environment.
Objectives of the project include:
1. To create a privately owned public Utility for solid waste management in PEI.
2. To follow the Waste Watch source separation model which is currently operating in the East Prince region of the province.
3. To achieve a waste diversion target of at least 65 percent to exceed the national goal established by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment.
4. To privatize solid waste management operations in PEI and allow the Department of Fisheries and Environment to regulate the waste management industry in regard to environmental protection, and IRAC to regulate prices and service quality.
5. To eliminate provincial government liability for waste disposal and waste site management.
6. To transfer to the private sector existing assets and responsibility for capital expenditures for the construction of a new waste management site, if required, and the purchase of solid waste and compost carts for the province-wide implementation of Waste Watch.
7. To phase in the project to achieve the December 31, 1999 deadline for Island-wide implementation of Waste Watch.
8. To ensure a uniform affordable province-wide fee for the collection and disposal of waste for all residential households.
Registered bidders have until September 11th, 1998 to submit proposals. It is expected that the preferred proponent will be announced in mid October with the new Utility to commence operation as of January 1, 1999.