[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 8, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 15910-15911]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-7904]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
49 CFR Part 26
[Docket No. OST-2009-0081]
RIN 2105-AD76
Disadvantaged Business Enterprise; Overall Goal Schedule and
Substitution
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary (OST), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).
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SUMMARY: This notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) would propose to
improve administration of the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE)
program by calling upon recipients of DOT financial assistance to
transmit overall goals to the Department for approval every three
years, rather than annually.
DATES: Comments on this proposed rule must be received by July 7, 2009.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by the agency name and
DOT Docket ID Number OST-2009- ) by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov and
follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Docket Management Facility: U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building Ground
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET,
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: 202-493-2251.
Instructions: You must include the agency name (Office of the
Secretary, DOT) and Docket number (OST- 2009- ) for this notice at the
beginning of your comments. You should submit two copies of your
comments if you submit them by mail or courier. Note that all comments
received will be posted without change to www.regulations.gov including
any personal information provided and will be available to internet
users. You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the
Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477) or you may
visit http://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.
Docket: For internet access to the docket to read background
documents and comments received, go to www.regulations.gov. Background
documents and comments received may also be viewed at the U.S.
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., Docket
Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington,
DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert C. Ashby, Deputy Assistant
General Counsel for Regulation and Enforcement, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, Room
W94-302, 202-366-9310, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The current DBE rule (49 CFR part 26) requires recipients to submit
overall goals for review by the applicable DOT operating administration
on August 1 of each year. The process of setting annual overall goals
can be time-consuming, particularly given the requirements for public
participation by the recipient. The Department's experience has been
that many goals are submitted after the August 1 date, and the
Department's workload involved in reviewing annual goals from 52 state
departments of transportation and hundreds of transit authorities and
airports has often resulted in delays in the Department's response to
recipients' submissions.
In the Department's 2005 airport concessions disadvantaged business
enterprise (ACDBE) regulation (49 CFR part 23), the Department
established a staggered three-year schedule for the submission by
airports of ACDBE goals. The purpose of this provision was to better
manage the workloads of both airports and the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA). This approach appears to have been successful in
achieving that objective, and we are now proposing to establish a
similar system for Part 26 DBE goals. We seek comment on whether such a
system should, like its Part 23 counterpart, permit operating
administrations to grant program waivers for different schedules that
recipients suggest.
Under the proposal, each Part 26 recipient would submit an overall
goal every three years, based on a schedule established by the
operating administrations. Some recipients would submit a goal in
August 2009, as per the existing requirement. Others would not submit
an overall goal until August 2010, and others not until August 2011.
With respect to airports, FAA would arrange the schedule so that an
airport would not have to submit both a Part 23 and Part 26 goal in the
same year. The Department seeks comment on the concept of submitting
DBE goals every three years as well as the proposed schedules for
submission. We also seek comment on whether the rule should provide for
annual reviews of goals or adjustments for new opportunities, similar
to what is provided in section 23.45 of the airport concessions DBE
rule.
Regulatory Analyses and Notices
The Department has determined that this action is not considered a
significant regulatory action for purposes of Executive Order 12866 or
the Department's regulatory policies and procedures. The NPRM would
ease administrative burdens on recipients by reducing the frequency of
overall goal submissions and would improve protections for DBE
subcontractors by requiring recipient approval of certain contracting
actions.
The NPRM would affect some small entities, easing administrative
burdens related to goal submission on any recipients that are
considered small entities and enhancing contracting process protections
for DBEs, which are small entities. However, the economic effects of
these changes on small entities are negligible. For that reason, the
Department certifies that the NPRM, if made final, would not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
The Department has analyzed this proposed action in accordance with
the principles and criteria contained in Executive Order 13132, and has
determined that the proposed amendments are consistent with the
Executive Order and that no consultation is necessary. This NPRM does
not propose information collection requirements covered by the
Paperwork Reduction Act.
List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 26
Administrative practice and procedures, Airports, Civil rights,
Government contracts, Grant programs--transportation, Highways and
roads, Mass transportation, Minority business, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
[[Page 15911]]
Issued at Washington DC this 25th day of March 2009.
Ray LaHood,
Secretary of Transportation.
For reasons discussed in the preamble, the Department of
Transportation proposes to amend Title 49 of the Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 26, as follows:
1. The authority citation for 49 CFR part 26 is amended to read as
follows:
Authority: 23 U.S.C. 324; 42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.; 49 U.S.C.
1615, 47107, 47113, 47123; Public Law 105-59, sec. 1101(b).
2. Revise Sec. 26.45(f)(1) to read as follows:
Sec. 26.45 How do recipients set overall goals?
* * * * *
(f)(1) If you set overall goals on a fiscal year basis, you must
submit them to the applicable DOT operating administration by August 1
at three-year intervals, based on a schedule established by the FAA,
FTA, or FHWA, as applicable, and posted on that agency's Web site.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. E9-7904 Filed 4-7-09; 8:45 am]
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