The purpose of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to seek collaboration in the development of at least four solicitations that will be used to identify and develop pay-for-performance (or pay-for-success) initiatives for ecosystem restoration in Puget Sound.

The Puget Sound Partnership (PSP; the Partnership) is the Washington state agency tasked with leading the restoration and protection of the Puget Sound ecosystem and salmon recovery by convening hundreds of partners, such as Tribes; federal, state, and local governments; and non-governmental and private sector organizations, toward shared goals. The Partnership handles the Puget Sound National Estuary Program (NEP) and leads the implementation of NEP initiatives.

The Partnership is tasked with mobilizing funding for Puget Sound protection and restoration, including innovative financing mechanisms. Pay-for-performance contracts have a record of delivering results quicker, with cost savings, and with the security that public investment goes towards demonstrable results on the landscape. Pay-for-performance is a procurement financing mechanism in which the following occurs:
• Investors provide upfront capital to implement or scale outcomes-based projects,
• Contractors deliver predetermined environmental outcomes through performance targets in the contract valued by the government and the public, and 
• The government pays the contractor (who in turn repays investors) once outcomes are verified.

PSP is seeking expertise in conservation finance, which offers a model that ties funding for conservation to project outcomes, incentivizing the achievement of objectives and project implementation. PSP will use this model to partner with a contractor in the development of four solicitations based on pay-for-performance that will serve to test, model, and pilot pay-for-performance in the Puget Sound region.

PSP Website: Puget Sound Partnership - Fiscal Notifications

WEBS: WEBS -search for 2025-181 or by the title "Pay-for-Performance in Puget Sound Restoration"