(a) All purchases of, and contracts for, supplies, materials, equipment and contractual services by any state contracting agency, except purchases and contracts made pursuant to the provisions of § 4e-23, shall be awarded by one of the following methods, unless otherwise authorized by law:

(1) Competitive sealed bidding;

(2) Competitive sealed proposals;

(3) Small purchase procedure;

(4) Sole source procurement;

(5) Emergency procurements; or

(6) Waiver of bid or proposal requirement for extraordinary conditions.

(b) Not later than June 1, 2010, the State Contracting Standards Board shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to define each of the methods listed in subsection (a) of this section, establish the circumstances in which each such method shall be used by state contracting agencies, and establish the processes and criteria by which purchases and contracts shall be awarded in accordance with each such method.