U.S. DOT Ready to Overhaul DBE Program

What’s happening: The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) released an “interim final rule” (IFR) Sept. 30 detailing its intentions to revise the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program.

The planned changes are consistent with a May court filing, in which U.S. DOT is proposing to settle a lawsuit challenging the program by eliminating race- and gender-based DBE goals on federal-aid highway and transit projects. While the judge in that case has not yet approved the proposed settlement, the Department is now moving to enact its key terms.

What’s in it: The changes include the end of presumptions of disadvantage based race or gender. Every existing DBE firm—estimated at 41,000 nationwide—must be reevaluated and can apply for recertification under new case-by-case standards.

ARTBA has prepared an initial summary of the proposed changes and background on the issue for its members. It is unclear how several of these provisions will apply to existing contracts or procurements. ARTBA will seek clarity on this and related issues.

What’s next: The changes take effect when the agency formally publishes the IFR in the Federal Register, which is expected Friday, Oct. 3. The Department will take public comments 30 days after, and ARTBA urges all interested members to submit them.

Finally, it should be noted that Congress will have an opportunity to further revise the DBE program as part of surface transportation reauthorization legislation due a year from now.

If you have questions or concerns about DBE program implementation, please contact Rich Juliano or Prianka Sharma.