§103D-1002  Hawaii products.  (a)  Apurchasing agency shall review all specifications in a bid or proposal forpurchase of Hawaii products where these products are available.

(b)  All invitations for bids and requests forproposals shall:

(1)  Include a description of the products that arelisted in the Hawaii products list established pursuant to this section, whichmay be used to complete the scope of work specified in the invitation for bidsor request for proposals; or

(2)  Allow as part of the offer, self-certificationthat the Hawaii products qualify for preference;

provided that the offer may be evaluated along withany other published criteria in the solicitation, including but not limited toconsiderations such as specific nutritional content or its equivalent, timingof delivery, quality or freshness, and past performance, if applicable.

All Hawaii products in any bid or request forproposal shall be made available for inspection, or additional information maybe requested to verify that the Hawaii product meets the minimumspecifications.

(c)  All persons submitting bids or proposalsto claim a Hawaii products preference shall designate in their bids whichindividual product and its price is to be supplied as a Hawaii product.

(d)  Where a bid or proposal contains bothHawaii and non-Hawaii products, then for the purpose of selecting the lowestbid or purchase price only, the price or bid offered for a Hawaii product itemshall be decreased by subtracting ten per cent for class I Hawaii product itemsbid or offered, or fifteen per cent for class II Hawaii product items bid oroffered.  The lowest total bid or proposal, taking the preference intoconsideration, shall be awarded the contract unless the bid or offer providesfor additional award criteria.  The contract amount of any contract awarded,however, shall be the amount of the bid or price offered, exclusive of thepreferences.

(e)  Upon receipt and approval of applicationfor Hawaii products preference, the administrator shall include within theHawaii products list, the names of producers and manufacturers in the State whoare authorized to supply locally manufactured soil enhancement products tostate agencies under subsection (k).  The administrator of the stateprocurement office shall maintain and distribute copies of the list to thepurchasing agencies of the various governmental agencies.

(f)  Any person not on the Hawaii products listdesiring a preference pursuant to this section shall certify the Hawaii productwhen submitting a response to a solicitation; provided that the personcertifies under penalty of sanctions that the offered Hawaii products meet therequirements for the preference.

The procurement officer may request additionalinformation deemed necessary to qualify a product and shall have solediscretion in determining qualification for the preference.

Any offeror whose product is deemed notqualified for the preference may appeal by filing a written request forreexamination of facts to the procurement officer.  Upon determining that theofferor is qualified for the preference, the procurement officer shall notifythe administrator and the administrator shall place the offeror on the Hawaiiproducts list.

(g)  Solicitations shall contain a provisionnotifying offerors who request application of the preference that in the eventof any change that materially alters the offeror's ability to supply Hawaiiproducts, the offeror shall immediately notify the chief procurement officer inwriting and the parties shall enter into discussions for the purposes ofrevising the contract or terminating the contract for convenience.

(h)  Nothing in this section shall limit,restrict, or preclude a Hawaii product from any preferences, set-asides, orcriteria that may be applied under section 103D-906, and this section shalloperate instead to mutually enhance the purpose of this section and section103D-906.

(i)  This section shall not apply whenever itsapplication will disqualify any governmental agency from receiving federalfunds or aid.

(j)  Any purchase made or any contract awardedor executed in violation of this section shall be void and no payment shall bemade by any purchasing agency on account of the purchase or contract.

(k)  For the purposes of this section,"soil enhancement product" means any nonchemical soil preparation,conditioner, or compost mixture designed to supplement aeration or add organic,green waste, or decaying matter to the soil; provided that the term does notinclude any plant fertilizer intended to stimulate or induce plant growththrough chemical means.  All state agencies shall include in theirsolicitations, when required, the soil enhancement products identified on theHawaii products list pursuant to subsection (e). [L 1994, c 186, pt of §1; am L1996, c 228, §2; am L 1997, c 352, §16; am L 2009, c 175, §6]