DOT Seeks To Alter DBE Regulations

The U.S. Dept. of Transportation has proposed changes to its requirements for disadvantaged-business enterprises (DBEs), which include firms owned by women and minorities. DOT’s longstanding goal is to have at least 10% of highway and other construction funds go to DBEs.

DOT says its plan, published in the Federal Register on May 10, would make it easier for a firm to be certified a DBE in more than one state. The proposal aims to make state agencies more accountable by requiring those that do not meet DBE targets to examine why that happened and come up with ways to achieve the goals. The proposal also would boost the limit on a DBE owner’s net worth to $1.3 million, from $750,000. That cap hasn’t changed since 1989. Comments on the proposal are due on July 9.

Pam Hunter McFarland was a Senior Editor of ENR and her expertise was: Sourcebooks, Environment, Labor

Tom Ichniowski has been writing about the federal government as ENR’s Washington Bureau Chief since the George H.W. Bush administration, and he has covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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