What are the main differences between a Race Neutral and a Race Conscious DBE program?
Federal regulations require that a recipient of federal highway and transit funds implement an approved DBE program that consists of establishing a statewide DBE utilization goal and using race-neutral means to achieve the goal to the maximum extent possible. Where race-neutral measures prove inadequate to achieve the goal, states are required to use race-conscious measures, such as DBE participation goals for individual contracts. Like many State Transportation Agencies (STA), the Department and its sub recipients (local agencies) have employed race-conscious measures consisting of DBE contract participation goals established on individual contracts. The use of race conscious DBE participation goals on individual contracts meant that where an apparent low bidder failed to meet the goal or to demonstrate “good faith efforts” to do so, its bid was deemed non-responsive and its bid was rejected. In contrast, under a race neutral DBE program, none of the Department’s Federal Aid contracts
