2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-SEVEN - Public Service (§§ 1 — 2641) › PART V - Regulation of Public Services (§§ 2601 — 2641) › Chapter 91 - Public-Private Partnerships Act (§§ 2601 — 2623) › § 2607 - Partnership Committee

(a) Creation of partnerships.— The Authority shall create a Partnership Committee for each Partnership which the former has determined to be appropriate; however, in the case of small scale projects, the provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall apply. The Committee shall be constituted by (1) the President of the Bank or his delegate; (2) the officer of the partnering government entity directly concerned with the project or his delegate; (3) one (1) member of the Board of Directors of the partnering government entity or, in the case of government entities with no Board of Directors, the Secretary of the Department to which such partnering government entity is attached, or his delegate or an official thereof with specialized knowledge in the kind of project object of the selected for Partnership by the Board of the Authority; and (4) two (2) officials from any government entity chosen by the Board of Directors of the Authority for their knowledge and experience in the kind of project object of the Partnership under consideration. The total number of members of the Partnership Committee shall constitute a quorum for all purposes, and the decisions of the Committee shall be made by an extraordinary majority of its members. Partnership Committee members may not be affiliated with or have a direct or indirect financial interest in any proponent or contractor. Members of the Board of Directors may not be affiliated to or have a direct or indirect financial interest with any contractor. This prohibition shall be extended to all members of the Board of the Authority for a period of five (5) years after having ceased functions. This prohibition shall be extended to all employees of the Authority and apply to Partnership Committee members for a period of two (2) years. If within the term established above, any member of the Board of the Authority who has resigned from office wishes to obtain a dispensation from the restriction established herein, such member shall request such dispensation from the office-holding members of the Board of the Authority, who shall evaluate such request and may only grant it unanimously, upon evaluation and a positive recommendation from the Government Ethics Office of Puerto Rico. In the event of a conflict of interest, the Partnership Committee member thus affected shall strictly abide by the provisions of §1857d of Title 3, known as the “Puerto Rico Government Ethics Act of 2011”, entitled “Duty to Report Situations Involving Potential Unethical Actions or Conflicts of Interest”. If the Government Ethics Office were to conclude that the self-disqualification mechanism is available for the situation consulted, the member thus affected shall be substituted while such conflict persists by a member of the Board of Directors of the Authority or of the partnering government entity or by another official of the Bank or of the partnering government entity, as designated by the Board of Directors of the Authority.
(b) Standing Committee on Small Scale Projects.— A Standing Committee on Small Scale Projects shall be appointed to handle all small scale projects, as well as to determine priority projects for which the establishment of a partnership is advisable. Said Committee shall be composed of five (5) members, to wit, the Secretary of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce or his representative, the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works or his representative, the Executive Director of the Infrastructure Financing Authority or his representative; the Commissioner of Municipal Affairs or his representative, and the chief executive of the partnering government entity directly concerned with said project or his representative. Members of the Standing Committee on Small Scale Partnerships shall constitute a quorum by a simple majority for all purposes, including decision making. As provided in § 2608(g) of this title, small scale projects shall not require the final approval of the Governor, except when the approval of the Governor is required by constitutional mandate, and once approved as priority projects shall only return to the Board for final approval. Except as provided in this section, all other provisions of this chapter or the applicable regulations regarding the Partnership Committee, its functions, and powers shall equally apply to the Standing Committee on Small Scale Projects, and any reference to the Partnership Committee in other sections of this chapter or the applicable regulations, except as otherwise expressly provided, shall be deemed to be a reference to the Standing Committee on Small Scale Projects; Provided; further, That the Authority may approve regulations in connection with the operation, administration, and functioning of the Standing Committee on Small Scale Projects.
(c) In the event a project proposal, other than for the delegation of the existing operations, functions, services or responsibilities of any government entity, whose estimated cost, at the time the proposal is submitted to the Authority, including a reasonable item for potential change orders in the execution of a project, exceeds fifty-five million dollars ($55,000,000) but does not exceed one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000), the Board of Directors of the Authority may carry out a preliminary evaluation of the project and determine whether a Partnership Committee would be created in accordance with subsection (a) of this section, or the project shall be submitted to the Standing Committee on Small Scale Projects in accordance with subsection (b) of this section. The decision of the Board of Directors to such effect shall be duly grounded in writing.
(d) Functions of the Partnership Committee.— The Partnership Committee shall have the following functions:
(1) To approve documents as required by the procedures for qualification, the request for proposals, the evaluation and selection for the partnership.
(2) To evaluate potential contractors and pre-qualify those most suitable to participate as proponents.
(3) To evaluate the proposals submitted and select that which is or those which are best in each case, pursuant to the procedures provided in this chapter.
(4) To engage in or supervise the negotiation of the terms and conditions of the partnership contract.
(5) To contract on behalf of the Authority or request that the Bank contract advisors, experts or consultants with the knowledge necessary to assist the Partnership Committee and the Authority in the adequate discharge of its functions.
(6) To keep a book of minutes.
(7) To prepare a report on the entire procedure leading to the establishment of a partnership, including a copy of the studies set forth in § 2606(b) of this title; a description of the government objectives and social welfare goals of the partnerships; details of the process of pre-qualification of suitable proponents, of the requests for proposals, and of the selection of the proposal and the chosen proponent; the reasons for which a particular proponent was chosen; and a summary of the most important aspects of the partnership contract. This report shall be submitted for the approval of the Board of Directors of the partnering government entity. In the case of partnering government entities with no Board of Directors, said report shall be submitted to the head of the entity or to the Secretary of the Department to which such partnering government entity is attached, to the Board of Directors of the Authority, and to the Governor or the executive official onto whom he/she delegates. Furthermore, this report shall be filed with the Office of the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate, as provided for in this chapter. Likewise, this report shall be published over the Internet.
(8) To oversee proper compliance with the regulations and procedures established for the negotiation and award of partnership contracts.
(9) Whenever deemed convenient, the Partnership Committee may establish one (1) or various technical evaluation committees to provide technical or specialized assistance and advice to the Partnership Committee.
History —June 8, 2009, No. 29, § 8; Dec. 19, 2014, No. 237, § 5.