Project Information

Bid Title

pH Waiver for Deicing Products and the Qualified Products List

Issuing Agency

State Government of Minnesota

Location

Minnesota

Published Date

Dec 3, 2025

Closing Date

Dec 16, 2025

Government Level

State & Local

Status

Closed

Original Source

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Project Description

pH Waiver for Deicing Products and the Qualified Products List

Brief Description: MnDOT requests responses for a Clear Roads project that will develop guidance to help determine the appropriate pH range for deicing products included on the Clear Roads Qualified Products List (QPL), in particular those products with a high organic compound content. Products with pH levels that are outside of an acceptable range can be a significant safety risk, leading to corrosion in highway infrastructure and environmental pollution. The goal of this project is to help Clear Roads determine the appropriate pH range for deicing products listed on the QPL.

Date posted: 11/04/2025
Due date: 12/16/2025

• RFP Part A
• RPF Part B
• Addendum #1
• Questions
• DBE Special Provisions

Attachment Preview

State of Minnesota

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)

PART A: INSTRUCTIONS AND CONTENT

pH Waiver for Deicing Products and the Qualified Products List

MnDOT Contract Number: 1061193

Date Posted: 11/04/2025

1. Responses must be received not later than 2:00 PM, Central Time 12/16/2025. Late responses will not be

considered.

2. This document is available in alternative formats for persons with disabilities by calling Michael Friberg at 651-

366-4683 or for persons who are hearing, or speech impaired by calling the Minnesota Relay Service at 1-800-

627-3529. For other information on disability rights and protections, contact MnDOT’s Americans with

Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator.

3. As of July 1, 2025, certain terms are unenforceable in state contracts. See Session Laws, 2025 Regular Session,

Chapter 39, Article 2, Sec. 45.

Minnesota’s Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

The State of Minnesota is committed to diversity and inclusion in its public procurement process. The goal is to

ensure that those providing goods and services to the State are representative of our Minnesota communities

and include businesses owned by minorities, women, veterans, and those with substantial physical disabilities.

Creating broader opportunities for historically under-represented groups provides for additional options and

greater competition in the marketplace, creates stronger relationships and engagement within the State’s

communities, and fosters economic development and equality.

To further this commitment, the Department of Administration operates a program for Minnesota-based small

businesses owned by minorities, women, veterans, and those with substantial physical disabilities. For additional

information on this program, or to determine eligibility, please call 651-296-2600 or go to

www.mmd.admin.state.mn.us/mn02001.html.

SPECIAL NOTICE: This is a request for proposal. It does not obligate MnDOT to award a contract or complete the

proposed program, and MnDOT reserves the right to cancel this RFP if it is considered in its best interest.

(CSS/CM Last Updated: 09/10/2025)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Request For Proposal Content

SECTION 1 - INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPONDERS ......................................................................................................... 4

SECTION 2 - SUMMARY OF PROJECT SCOPE ............................................................................................................ 5

SECTION 3 – PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ............................................................. 6

SECTION 4 – PROPOSAL CONTENT & SUBMISSION.................................................................................................. 8

SECTION 5 – EVALUATION PROCEDURE AND CRITERIA ..........................................................................................13

SECTION 6 – TERMS & GENERAL REQUIREMENTS ..................................................................................................14

Request For Proposal Required Forms and Declarations (see PART B, posted seperately)

1. Attachment 1: Responder Declarations

2. Attachment 2: Exceptions to MnDOT's Terms and Conditions

3. Attachment 3: Responder Forms

a. Workforce and Equal Pay Declaration Form

b. Conflicts of Interest Checklist and Disclosure Form

c. Resident Vendor Form

d. Federal Disclosure Form to Report Lobbying (Standard Form-LLL)

THE BALANCE OF THIS PAGE HAS BEEN INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

(CSS/CM Last Updated: 09/10/2025)

2

SECTION 1 – INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPONDERS

Steps for

Completing Your

Response

Follow the steps below to complete your response to this RFP:

Step 1: Read the solicitation documents and ask questions, if any

Step 2: Write your Proposal and complete the required Forms in Part B of this RFP

Step 3: Submit your Proposal

Incomplete

Submittals

A Proposal must be submitted along with any required additional documents. Incomplete

Proposals that materially deviate from the required format and content may be rejected.

How to Ask

Questions

STEP 1 – READ THE SOLICITATION DOCUMENT & ASK QUESTIONS, IF ANY

The Instructions for Questions and Answers section is in this link to Section 3.

The contact person for questions is:

Michael Friberg, Contract Administrator

Consultant Services

Michael.friberg@state.mn.us

How to Write

your Response

Where to Send

Your Response

The MnDOT Contract Number and RFP title must be included in the subject line of the email

Questions must be emailed to the contact by 2:00 p.m. Central Time on 11/25/2025.

Other personnel are not authorized to answer questions regarding this RFP.

STEP 2 – WRITE YOUR RESPONSE

The Proposal Content section is in this link to Section 4. Prepare a written response and supply

all requested content. Proposals must address the requested information and documents

detailed in Section 4 or be disqualified as non-responsive.

All Proposals submitted in response to this RFP will be public information under the Minnesota

Data Practices Act, Minnesota Statutes Chapter 13 once the evaluation process is complete.

Make sure to review and sign your Proposal and include all necessary Part B Attachments.

STEP 3 –SUBMIT YOUR RESPONSE

Proposals must be electronically submitted to:

Michael Friberg, Contract Administrator

Michael.friberg@state.mn.us

Include the MnDOT Contract No. 1061193 and pH Waiver for Deicing Products and the

Qualified Products List in the subject line of the email. You must copy:

ProfessionalTechnicalContractForms.dot@state.mn.us on the email.

Proposals must be received not later than 2:00 PM, Central Time, on 12/16/2025. Late

responses will not be considered.

You will receive a confirmation email from MnDOT after submission. If you do not, please

email the Contract Administrator above to ensure your response was received.

(CSS/CM Last Updated: 09/10/2025)

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By signing and submitting a Proposal, you are making a binding legal offer for the period of

time listed here. This Condition of Offer is discussed in more detail in the Terms & General

Requirements section, in this link to Section 6 (13).

SECTION 2 –SUMMARY OF PROJECT SCOPE

1. Project Overview and Goals

This project has been developed by Clear Roads. Clear Roads is an ongoing pooled fund research project aimed at

rigorous testing of winter maintenance materials, equipment and methods for use by highway maintenance crews. Clear

Roads will fund and oversee the contract for this project in coordination with MnDOT. For more information, visit

www.clearroads.org.

MnDOT requests responses for a Clear Roads project that will develop guidance to help determine the appropriate pH

range for deicing products included on the Clear Roads Qualified Products List (QPL), in particular those products with a

high organic compound content. Products with pH levels that are outside of an acceptable range can be a significant

safety risk, leading to corrosion in highway infrastructure and environmental pollution.

The Clear Roads QPL assists transportation agencies in choosing and purchasing winter maintenance products by

evaluating and establishing specifications for products that emphasize safety, environmental preservation, infrastructure

protection, cost-effectiveness and performance. The main goals of the Clear Roads QPL are to:

1. Protect infrastructure and the environment by minimizing the introduction of pollution into the environment

through use of appropriate criteria to evaluate products for listing.

2. Level the playing field for manufacturers by providing consistent review and listing processes, including the

development and publication of standard specifications.

3. Treat all submittals equitably by minimizing exceptions and ensuring transparency when exceptions occur.

Currently the lowest pH threshold listed in the QPL specifications document is 6.0 and the highest pH threshold is10. The

QPL describes a waiver request process for deicing products that do not meet the pH requirements due to high organic

compound content. The intent of this research is to determine if exemptions are warranted and under what

circumstances.

Research completed for this project will help Clear Roads determine whether it should consider a different pH range for

deicing products on the QPL, particularly those products with a higher organic content. In addition, investigators will

determine whether other criteria should be considered as part of the evaluation of high-organic content products with a

low pH. Recommendations from this research could potentially increase the number of available deicing products on the

QPL, improving the winter maintenance operations of transportation agencies through competitive pricing and other

factors while ensuring structural and environmental safety. The research will also help to identify products that should

be removed from the QPL.

As a result of this project, a standard set of procedural tests will be developed for identifying appropriate pH levels that

can be used to evaluate products going forward to determine whether a product can be placed on the QPL.

(CSS/CM Last Updated: 09/10/2025)

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2. Scope of Work and Deliverables

The goal of this project is to help Clear Roads determine the appropriate pH range for deicing products listed on the QPL.

If the research confirms that pH is not the only qualifying factor for some winter maintenance products, particularly

those with a low pH associated with organic material, investigators will develop a process to determine risks to highway

infrastructure and the environment that are separate from pH, allowing a waiver to be considered.

Investigators will review the literature, including the one provided to better understand the effects of low/high pH on

the corrosive/caustic impacts to highway infrastructure; and to the environment, including water quality and aquatic

plants and animals. Following this review, a selection of deicing products that have low pH, with and without a high

content of organic material, will be tested to distinguish how an organic-inducing low pH might differ from a low pH

based on other factors. Investigators should also consider and recommend, if appropriate, other criteria that should be

tested in addition to pH, as well as other testing practices that may be beneficial to determine if deicing products with

low/high pH are problematic. Findings of product testing and pH results will be presented to illustrate the impacts of

winter maintenance products with a low or high pH on infrastructure and the environment. In addition, methods will be

developed that effectively evaluate low pH products for waiver eligibility, if appropriate.

Finally, the report will include concluding remarks related to the current validity (?) of the specifications and whether pH

specifications should be modified for certain products or categories, or whether a pH waiver process should be

considered and what it would entail.

The QPL Subcommittee is responsible for maintaining the product specifications and recommending any significant

changes to the TAC for approval. The outcome of this research will help inform the committee as to necessary

specifications.

Tasks

Responders should detail their approach to this project and outline the steps they would take to achieve the project’s

goals and anticipated deliverables.

Anticipated Deliverables

The following is a list of deliverables expected to be provided by the successful responder:

1. Kick-off teleconference at the start of the project to review project tasks and goals, and discuss the plans for all

of the tasks.

2. Check-in teleconferences with Clear Roads to review deliverables as appropriate.

3. Review of relevant literature to determine the impact of organics in lowering the pH, how this organic-inducing

low pH might differ from low pH based on other factors and impacts of low pH on highway infrastructure and the

environment. In addition, the meaning of “weak” in low pH products will be defined and methods established to

determine if a low pH is weak. Additionally, a review should consider the effects of high pH on infrastructure and the

environment.

4. Summary of current product test results, including product names, categories, pH values/ranges.

5. Testing methodology developed to test products with a non-conforming pH associated with high organic

material to determine potential impacts to infrastructure and the environment.

6. Summary of findings documenting the implementation of the test method developed in the previous task to

determine the impact to infrastructure and environment.

7. Checklist or methodology (a process or workflow) that will evaluate high organic content products to make sure

they meet the intent of the QPL.

8. Final report documenting the research methodology and findings, the testing protocols and the methodology for

evaluating high organic content products for eligibility. The report will include an executive summary, conclusions and

recommendations.

9. Virtual webinar summarizing project findings.

(CSS/CM Last Updated: 09/10/2025)

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Commodity Codes

• NAICS 541330Engineering Services
• NAICS 541611Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
• NAICS 541690Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services

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