The U.S. Department of Transportation's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program has its origins with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which states that "No person in the United States shall, on the grounds of race, color or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefit of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." Predecessors to the DBE program came into existence in the 1970s. With the Surface Transportation Assistance Act, signed into law on January 6, 1983, Congress enacted the first DBE statutory provision. Congress has reauthorized and amended DOT's program many times since then. As Congress made clear in the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), Public Law 114-94, approved December 4, 2015:
(A) while significant progress has occurred due to the
establishment of the disadvantaged business enterprise
program, discrimination and related barriers continue to
pose significant obstacles for minority- and women-owned
businesses seeking to do business in federally assisted surface
transportation markets across the United States;
(B) the continuing barriers described in subparagraph
(A) merit the continuation of the [U.S. Department of Transportation's] disadvantaged business
enterprise program;
(C) Congress has received and reviewed testimony and
documentation of race and gender discrimination from
numerous sources, including congressional hearings and
roundtables, scientific reports, reports issued by public and
private agencies, news stories, reports of discrimination
by organizations and individuals, and discrimination lawsuits,
which show that race- and gender-neutral efforts
alone are insufficient to address the problem;
(D) the testimony and documentation described in
subparagraph (C) demonstrate that discrimination across
the United States poses a barrier to full and fair participation
in surface transportation-related businesses of women
business owners and minority business owners and has
impacted firm development and many aspects of surface
transportation-related business in the public and private
markets; and
(E) the testimony and documentation described in
subparagraph (C) provide a strong basis that there is a
compelling need for the continuation of the disadvantaged
business enterprise program to address race and gender
discrimination in surface transportation-related business.
DOT's DBE regulations are set out in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 49, Part 26 (titled "Participation by Disadvantaged Business Enterprises in Department of Transportation Financial Assistance Programs"). The objectives of DOT's DBE regulations are:
(a) To ensure nondiscrimination in the award and administration of DOT-assisted contracts in the [U.S.] Department [of Transportation]'s highway, transit, and airport financial assistance programs;
(b) To create a level playing field on which DBEs can compete fairly for DOT-assisted contracts;
(c) To ensure that the [U.S.] Department [of Transportation]'s DBE program is narrowly tailored in accordance with applicable law;
(d) To ensure that only firms that fully meet [49 CFR Part 26's] eligibility standards are permitted to participate as DBEs;
(e) To help remove barriers to the participation of DBEs in DOT-assisted contracts;
(f) To promote the use of DBEs in all types of federally-assisted contracts and procurement activities conducted by recipients;
(g) To assist the development of firms that can compete successfully in the marketplace outside the DBE program; and
(h) To provide appropriate flexibility to recipients of Federal financial assistance in establishing and providing opportunities for DBEs.
As a recipient of federal-aid highway and federal transit funds authorized under numerous acts (most recently the FAST Act), ODOT is required to comply with DOT's DBE regulations. As a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) primary recipient and a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recipient receiving more than $250,000 in FTA funds in a federal fiscal year, ODOT must also have a DBE program, a signed and dated DBE policy statement, a DBE liaison officer, and prompt payment mechanisms, among other requirements. ODOT's DBE program objectives mirror those of the U.S. Department of Transportation. ODOT's DBE policy statement is available at the beginning of its DBE Program Plan, which sets out the mechanisms ODOT uses to ensure compliance with DOT's DBE regulations.
ODOT's DBE activities are centered in its Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program in the Office of Business & Economic Opportunity, but many other ODOT divisions and offices share responsibility for various aspects of DBE compliance.