New DOT Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Regulations

On January 29, 1999, the Department of Transportation issues a new final regulation to guide the administration of the DBE program. This new regulation has three major goals:

    1.    to create a level playing field on which DBEs can compete fairly,

    2.    to mend but not end the DBE program, and

    3.    to make the DBE program more effective and efficient for all participants.

The regulation responded to over 900 public comments on two previous proposed rules. It also scrupulously adheres to the points raised in numerous recent court cases dealing with the DBE program, including the Supreme Court’s 1995 decision in Adarand v. Pena. And it addresses issues raised by Congress when the DBE program was reauthorized by bi-partisan majorities in both the Senate and the House. The result is a program which will do more than ever before to promote equal opportunity and will fulfill President Clinton’s promise to “mend but not end” affirmative action.