Request for Proposals. The Authority shall initiate a procurement by competitive sealed proposals by issuing a request for proposals that includes: Information concerning proposal submission requirements, including the date, time, and place for submission of proposals; Evaluation factors and the relative importance of each; A statement of the required scope of work or scope of services and performance schedule; and Such other information or requirements as the Authority may determine necessary. Preproposal Conferences. The Authority may conduct preproposal conferences and require the attendance by offerors. Amendments to Requests for Proposals. The Authority may amend a request for proposals by: Publishing the amendment in the same manner that the Authority published the request for proposals; and Delivering the amendment to all prospective offerors known by the Authority to have either received the request for proposals or expressed an interest in the request for proposals. A prospective offeror who receives delivery of an amendment from the Authority shall acknowledge receipt of the amendment. Proposal Modification and Withdrawal. An offeror may modify or withdraw a proposal before proposals are due by submitting written notice of modification or withdrawal to the Authority. Receipt and Opening of Proposals. Proposals and modifications of proposals received by the Authority shall be held in a secure place until proposals are due. The Authority may open proposals at any time after proposals are due. The Authority may not: Open proposals publicly; or Disclose the contents of a proposal to any person other than a person responsible for evaluating or reviewing the proposal before procurement contract award. A proposal, withdrawal of proposal, or modification of proposal, received after proposals are due, is late and may only be considered as provided for bids under Regulation .07E of this chapter. Proposal Evaluation. The Authority shall evaluate proposals: Using the evaluation factors set forth in the request for proposals; and For a determination of which proposal is most advantageous to the Authority. Technical proposals and price proposals shall be evaluated independently. The Authority may establish a technical evaluation committee to evaluate proposals and make a recommendation of contract award to the Authority. The technical evaluation committee may include members who are not employees of the Authority. Discussions. As used in this section and in §E of this regulation, a “qualified offeror” is an offeror who submits a proposal in response to a request for proposals that the Authority determines is reasonably susceptible of being selected for award of the procurement contract. The Authority may conduct discussions with a qualified offeror to: Assure that the offeror has full understanding of the Authority’s requirements; Assure that the Authority had full understanding of the offeror’s proposal and ability to perform; Negotiate the best price or other contract terms for the Authority; or Facilitate a procurement contract that is most advantageous to the Authority, taking into consideration price and other relevant evaluation factors set forth in the request for proposals. The Authority shall treat qualified offerors fairly and equally with respect to opportunity for discussions. Best and Final Offers. The Authority may request that each qualified offeror submit a best and final offer if the Authority determines that it is in the Authority’s best interest to do so. The Authority may: Require more than one series of submissions of best and final offers; and Engage in discussions on a best and final offer in accordance with §D of this regulation. If the Authority requests more than one submission of best and final offers and an offeror does not submit an offer in response to a request, the offeror’s immediate previous offer shall be considered by the Authority as the offeror’s best and final offer unless the offeror submits a timely notice of withdrawal of that immediate previous offer. Procurement Contract Award. After completing all discussions and evaluations, the the Authority shall: Determine which proposal is most advantageous to the Authority; Award the procurement contract based on the determination; and After award, promptly notify all unsuccessful offerors. Debriefing of Unsuccessful Offerors. If a procurement contract is awarded on some basis other than price alone, an unsuccessful offeror may, within 10 days of the unsuccessful offeror’s receipt of notification of the award, submit to the Authority a written request for a debriefing from the Authority. A debriefing shall: Be conducted by an employee of the Authority who is familiar with the Authority’s evaluation and determination on the procurement; Be limited to discussion of the unsuccessful offeror’s proposal and the Authority’s evaluation of the proposal; Be factual and consistent with the evaluation of the unsuccessful offeror’s proposal; and Provide information on areas in which the Authority considered the unsuccessful offeror’s technical proposal to be weak, deficient, or less competitive. A debriefing may not include: Discussion of a competing offeror’s proposal; or Discussion or dissemination of the thoughts, notes, or rankings of individual members of an evaluation committee.