USDOT proposes rule changes on DBE program

DC News - Published Aug 02, 2022

The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Biden-Harris Administration have jointly issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (or NPRM) relating to Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and Airport Concession DBE (ACDBE) program regulations. These notices are part of the process by which federal agencies update their rules and regulations.

Some of the changes contained within the NPRM include: increasing the personal net worth limit for DBEs and ACDBEs to $1.6 million, from its current cap of $1.32 million, and excluding retirement assets from net worth; expediting and simplifying the process of interstate certification for DBEs and ACDBEs; expanding reporting requirements for information collected by USDOT; requires all DBE programs to have mechanisms for ensuring prompt payment for subcontractors; and expanding the categories of information UCP DBE directories are required to allow DBEs to list (if they so choose) to include such things as pre-qualifications, capability statements, bonding coverage, and other information.

USDOT is inviting comment on the NPRM from all interested parties. Comments may be submitted to the Federal Register at https://www.regulations.gov/docket/DOT-OST-2022-0051/document and will be received up until September 19th, 2022.

"These critical updates would help ensure that small and disadvantaged businesses continue to have a fair chance to compete for federally assisted contracts," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a statement.

Read the press release from USDOT at https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/biden-harris-administration-usdot-propose-improvements-disadvantaged-business. Read a summary of the NPRM at https://www.transportation.gov/dbe-rulemaking/summarypage.