DBE Participation Reports, Studies, Publications

Governor Brown signed Senate Bill (SB) 1 (Beall, Chapter 5, Statutes of 2017), the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, into law on April 28, 2017, which invests $54 billion over the next decade to improve and maintain California’s transportation infrastructure and significantly expands the scope of opportunities available for small businesses to participate on Caltrans’ contracts. On July 21, 2017, Governor Brown signed a budget trailer bill, SB 103 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 95, Statutes of 2017), which established additional provisions for various transportation programs.

SB 103 requires Caltrans to develop an outreach plan by January 1, 2019, to increase procurement opportunities for new and limited contracting small business enterprises owned by certain disadvantaged groups. Caltrans has prepared a Small Business Outreach Plan and Implementation Report in accordance with SB 103. The report is currently being finalized and will be available in due course.

Disparity Study

The DBE program ensures that federally assisted contracts for highway, transit and aviation projects are made available for small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. The program is administered by the three modal administrations (i.e., FHWA, FTA, and FAA) with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) maintaining a significant stewardship role for the program. Implementation of the DBE program is guided by USDOT regulations found at 49 CFR Part 26 (Part 23 for airport concessions).

• Additional Disparity Study Information

Caltrans is required by the federal government to set an overall DBE goal that they must either meet, or show that they used good faith efforts to meet, annually. This goal is in the form of a percentage of federal funds apportioned annually and is calculated based upon the relative availability of DBE firms as compared to all firms in the relevant geographic market area.

Resources

• 2016 FHWA Memorandum on Goal Setting
• 2015 FHWA Memorandum on Goal Setting (PDF)
• 2013 FHWA Memorandum on Goal Setting
• US DOT Tips for Goal Setting

Monthly Contract Award (MCA)

The MCA is the compilation of the Division of Engineering Services-Office Engineer (DES-OE), Division of Procurement and Contracts (DPAC), Division of Local Assistance (DLA), Division of Transportation Planning (DOTP), Design-build (DB), and Contract Management General Contracting (CMGC) federal-aid contract award information, as reported to the Office of Civil Rights (OCR). The report provides tracking of Caltrans’ DBE commitment, contract goals, and number and dollar value of contracts awarded throughout the current federal fiscal year.

District Contracts Awarded (DCA)

The DCA is a monthly report that captures contract award information for Caltrans’ federally-funded major construction projects in each district in the current federal fiscal year to date, including the number of contracts that have a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise as a prime contractor. It also notes how many major construction contracts in each district have been awarded by Good Faith Effort, and which contracts have exceeded the contract goal by various amounts. 

Commitment At Award (CAA)

The CAA is a monthly report which identifies contracts awarded to prime contractors/consultants and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) subcontractors/subconsultants, as shown on commitment forms, for each federal-aid contract awarded in the current federal fiscal year. The CAA breaks down DBE subcontractors/subconsultants by ethnicity/gender and the dollar amount for each group.

For questions regarding DBE reporting, please contact

Name: Aisha Copeland
Email: DASSO.Requests@dot.ca.gov
Phone: 916-639-6395

Caltrans maintains various monthly reports during the state and federal fiscal years, as well as produces annual reports, known as Annual Element reports, to update stakeholders on accomplishments achieved and goals set for the next fiscal year.