(a) Applicants must follow applicable state laws and regulations in procuring consultant and contractor services and must ensure that those services are obtained from qualified independent consultants and contractors.

(b) Applicants must obtain at least three written, competitive, responsive proposals or bids with detailed cost estimates that include unit prices and quantities for response actions contracted for on or after the effective date of this article, and to be performed by licensed contractors within the meaning of Business and Professions Code, division 3, chapter 9, section 7000 et seq. Applicants must obtain at least three written proposals with detailed cost estimates that include unit prices and quantities for response actions contracted for on or after the effective date of this article, and to be performed by professional geologists within the meaning of Business and Professions Code, division 3, chapter 12.5, section 7800 et seq. or by professional engineers within the meaning of Business and Professions Code, division 3, chapter 7, section 6700 et seq. The requisite bids or proposals must conform to the workplans and corrective action plans prepared pursuant to California Code of Regulations, title 23, division 3, chapter 16, article 11.

(c) Local governmental entities shall comply with applicable public contract requirements including the requirements of Public Contract Code, division 2, part 3, section 20100 et seq.

(d) Applicants are not required to submit proposals or bids when they initially file an application, but the Board will not normally enter into a grant agreement with applicants for any work for which multiple proposals or bids are required until the proposals or bids are submitted to the Board. The Board may waive the three-bid or -proposal requirement if the Board finds that the requirement is unnecessary, unreasonable, or impossible to comply with under the circumstances pertaining to a particular application.