(a) The Director will award commercial services contracts through a competitive selection process. The Director will issue a request for proposals inviting responses for consideration by the Director. The request for proposals will describe the terms and conditions of the proposed commercial services contract and the procedures the Director will follow to negotiate and award the commercial services contract.

(b) The terms and conditions of the request for proposals and the proposed commercial services contract are not final until the Director awards the commercial services contract.

(c) The solicitation process may include one or more phases, such as a request for qualifications followed by or in concert with a request for more detailed information through a request for proposals. The process could also include interviews with respondents and a negotiation phase.

(d) If the entity that will become the operator is not established at the time of submission of a response, the response must contain assurances satisfactory to the Director that the entity that will become the operator will be a qualified entity as of the date of the award of the commercial services contract and otherwise have the ability to carry out the commitments made in the response.