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Caltrans released a letter to “All Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program Stakeholders” mid-afternoon on Tuesday, October 7. In it, Caltrans announced key changes to the DBE program including short descriptions covering “Elimination of Presumptions,” “Reevaluation of All Firms,” “Temporary Suspension of Goals and Counting,” “Goal Setting,” and “Reporting Requirements.” 

The letter indicates the changes take effect immediately, only days after the October 3rd Interim Final Rule issued by the United States Department of Labor.

Of key interest for Caltrans contractors is the “Temporary Suspension of Goals and Counting” which the letter states, “Until reevaluations are complete, Caltrans and all sub recipients must not:

• Set DBE/ACDBE contract goals. 
• Count DBE/ACDBE participation toward overall program goals.

ACDBE refers to the Airport Concession DBE program. Subrecipients refer to local transportation agencies such as LACMTA, OCTA and others.

The Caltrans letter indicated that it will issue further detailed instructions and that it does “recognize the burden these immediate changes create for firms, contractors, and local agencies.”

You can read the Caltrans letter by clicking this link.

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