Okaloosa County BOCC — January 5, 2016 — DBE PROGRAM Jan 2016 Revisions — reading text

the subsidiary. Even though the subsidiary is owned by disadvantaged individuals, through the holding or parent company, you cannot certify it because it fails to meet control requirements. Example 5: Disadvantaged individuals own 60 percent of the holding company, which in turn owns 51 percent of a subsidiary. In this case, the cumulative ownership of the subsidiary by disadvantaged individuals is about 31 percent. This is less than 51 percent, so you cannot certify the subsidiary. Example 6: The holding company, in addition to the subsidiary seeking certification, owns several other companies. The combined gross receipts of the holding companies and its subsidiaries are greater than the size standard for the subsidiary seeking  certification and/or the gross receipts cap of §26.65(b). Under the rules concerning affiliation, the subsidiary fails to meet the size standard and cannot be certified. f. Recognition of a business as a separate entity for tax or corporate purposes is not necessarily sufficient to demonstrate that a firm is an independent business, owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. g. You must not require a DBE firm to be prequalified as a condition for certification unless the recipient requires all firms that participate in its contracts and subcontracts to be prequalified. h. A firm that is owned by an Indian tribe, Alaska Native Corporation, or Native Hawaiian organization as an entity, rather than by Indians, Alaska Natives, or Native Hawaiians as individuals, may be eligible for certification. Such a firm must meet the size standards of §26.65. Such a firm must be controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, as provided in §26.71. Subpart E -- Certification Procedures §26.81 What are the requirements for Unified Certification Programs? a. You and all other DOT recipients in your state must participate in a Unified Certification Program (UCP). 1. Within three years of March 4, 1999, you and the other recipients in your state must sign an agreement establishing the UCP for that state and submit the agreement to the Secretary for approval. The Secretary may, on the basis of extenuating circumstances shown by the recipients in the state, extend this deadline for no more than one additional year. 2. The agreement must provide for the establishment of a UCP meeting all the requirements of this section. The agreement must specify that the UCP will follow all certification procedures and standards of this part, on the same basis as recipients; that the UCP shall cooperate fully with oversight, review, and monitoring activities of DOT and its operating administrations; and that the UCP shall implement DOT directives and guidance concerning certification matters. The agreement shall also commit recipients to ensuring that the UCP has sufficient resources and expertise to carry out the requirements of this part. The agreement shall include an implementation schedule ensuring that the UCP is fully operational no later than 18 months following the approval of the agreement by the Secretary. 3. Subject to approval by the Secretary, the UCP in each state may take any form acceptable to the recipients in that state. 4. The Secretary shall review the UCP and approve it, disapprove it, or remand it to the recipients in the state for revisions. A complete agreement which is not disapproved or remanded within 180 days of its receipt is deemed to be accepted. 5. If you and the other recipients in your state fail to meet the deadlines set forth in this paragraph (a), you shall have the opportunity to make an explanation to the Secretary why a deadline could not be met and why meeting the deadline was beyond your control. If you fail to make such an explanation, or the explanation does not justify the failure to meet the deadline, the Secretary shall direct you to complete the required action by a date certain. If you and the other recipients fail to carry out this direction in a timely manner, you are collectively in noncompliance with this part. b. The UCP shall make all certification decisions on behalf of all DOT recipients in the state with respect to participation in the DOT DBE Program. 1. Certification decisions by the UCP shall be binding on all DOT recipients within the state. 2. The UCP shall provide "one-stop shopping" to applicants for certification, such that an applicant is required to apply only once for a DBE certification that will be honored by all recipients in the state. 3. All obligations of recipients with respect to certification and nondiscrimination must be carried out by UCPs, and recipients may use only UCPs that comply with the certification and nondiscrimination requirements of this part. c. All certifications by UCPs shall be pre-certifications; i.e., certifications that have been made final before the due date for bids or offers on a contract on which a firm seeks to participate as a DBE.  d. A UCP is not required to process an application for certification from a firm having its principal place of business outside the state if the firm is not certified by the UCP in the state in which it maintains its principal place of business. The "home state" UCP shall share its information and documents concerning the firm with other UCPs that are considering the firm's application. e. Subject to DOT approval as provided in this section, the recipients in two or more states may form a regional UCP. UCPs may also enter into written reciprocity agreements with other UCPs. Such an agreement shall outline the specific responsibilities of each participant. A UCP may accept the certification of any other UCP or DOT recipient. f. Pending the establishment of UCPs meeting the requirements of this section, you may enter into agreements with other recipients, on a regional or inter-jurisdictional basis, to perform certification functions required by this part. You may also grant reciprocity to other recipient's certification decisions. g. Each UCP shall maintain a unified DBE directory containing, for all firms certified by the UCP (including those from other states certified under the provisions of this section), the information required by §26.31. The UCP shall make the directory available to the public electronically, on the internet, as well as in print. The UCP shall update the electronic version of the directory by including additions, deletions, and other changes as soon as they are made. h. Except as otherwise specified in this section, all provisions of this subpart and subpart D of this part pertaining to recipients also apply to UCPs. §26.83 What procedures do recipients follow in making certification decisions? a. You must ensure that only firms certified as eligible DBEs under this section participate as DBEs in your program. b. You must determine the eligibility of firms as DBEs consistent with the standards of subpart D of this part. When a UCP is formed, the UCP must meet all the requirements of subpart D of this part and this subpart that recipients are required to meet. c. You must take all the following steps in determining whether a DBE firm meets the standards of subpart D of this part: 1. Perform an on-site visit to the offices of the firm. You must interview the principal officers of the firm and review their resume s and/or work histories. You must also perform an on- site visit to job sites if there are such sites on which the firm is working at the time of the eligibility investigation in your jurisdiction or local area. You may rely upon the site visit report of any other recipient with respect to a firm applying for certification; 2. If the firm is a corporation, analyze the ownership of stock in the firm; 3. Analyze the bonding and financial capacity of the firm; 4. Determine the work history of the firm, including contracts it has received and work it has completed; 5. Obtain a statement from the firm of the type of work it prefers to perform as part of the DBE program and its preferred locations for performing the work, if any; 6. Obtain or compile a list of the equipment owned by or available to the firm and the licenses the firm and its key personnel possess to perform the work it seeks to do as part of the DBE program; 7. Require potential DBEs to complete and submit an appropriate application form. i. Uniform form. [Reserved] ii. You must make sure that the applicant attests to the accuracy and truthfulness of the information on the application form. This shall be done either in the form of an affidavit sworn to by the applicant before a person who is authorized by state law to administer oaths or in the form of an unsworn declaration executed under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States. iii. You must review all information on the form prior to making a decision about the eligibility of the firm. d. When another recipient, in connection with its consideration of the eligibility of a firm, makes a written request for certification information you have obtained about that firm (e.g., including application materials or the report of a site visit, if you have made one to the firm), you must promptly make the information available to the other recipient.  e. When another DOT recipient has certified a firm, you have discretion to take any of the following actions: 1. Certify the firm in reliance on the certification decision of the other recipient; 2. Make an independent certification decision based on documentation provided by the other recipient, augmented by any additional information you require the applicant to provide; or 3. Require the applicant to go through your application process without regard to the action of the other recipient. f. Subject to the approval of the concerned operating administration as part of your DBE program, you may impose a reasonable application fee for certification. Fee waivers shall be made in appropriate cases. g. You must safeguard from disclosure to unauthorized persons information gathered as part of the certification process that may reasonably be regarded as proprietary or other confidential business information, consistent with applicable Federal, state, and local law. h. Once you have certified a DBE, it shall remain certified for a period of at least three years unless and until its certification has been removed through the procedures of §26.87. You may not require DBEs to reapply for