California’s annual Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) goal is 17.6 percent for Federal Fiscal Years 2019 through 2021. As of May 31, 2021, Caltrans’ year to date DBE commitment at award was 15.2 percent, which is 2.4 percent short of the overall State DBE goal. Part 26.51 (f)(2) in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations states “If you determine that you will fall short of your overall goal, then you must make appropriate modifications in your use of race-neutral and/or race-conscious measures to allow you to meet the overall goal.”
Caltrans’ 2016 DBE Program Plan states: “DBE contract goals are calculated for each project based on subcontracting opportunities and DBE availability, and includes a factor to account for an abundance of DBE firms.” The Caltrans Office of Civil Right (OCR) has discussed goal setting recommendations. OCR has reviewed existing DBE goal setting methodology and the previous DBE contract goal data for districts. OCR has analyzed the average overall DBE contract goal, the total number of contracts with a DBE goal, the number of Good Faith Efforts evaluations and the number of certified DBEs.
After evaluating and analyzing the existing and previous DBE data, OCR issued the following temporary guidance to increase the DBE goal for the rest of the current year.
When the Exhibit 9-D: Contract Goal Methodology is sent to OCR for review and approval, OCR may modify the reduction factor from 80 percent to 100 percent. This modification will be on a contract by contract, district by district basis. When local agencies set DBE goals for their contracts, they will still use the factor of 80 percent. The DBE goal setting methodology remains unchanged.
It is estimated that by modifying the reduction factor, the DBE goal can be increased by 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent. It is anticipated that these changes will assist the Department in achieving its annual DBE goal of 17.6 percent.
Please refer to the attached Memo from OCR for further details.
