Okaloosa County BOCC — June 17, 2014 — DBE PROGRAM rev 6-2014 — reading text

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 §26.83 d. functions required by this part. You may also grant reciprocity to other recipient's certification decisions. 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. 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. What procedures do recipients follow in making certification decisions? You must ensure that only firms certified as eligible DBEs under this section participate as DBEs in your program. 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. You must take all the following steps in determining whether a DBE firm meets the standards of subpart D of this part: 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; If the firm is a corporation, analyze the ownership of stock in the firm; Analyze the bonding and financial capacity of the firm; 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] il. 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. 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. 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. 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. PON §26.85 §26.87 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. 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 certification as a condition of continuing to participate in the program during this three-year period, unless the factual basis on which the certification was made changes. If you are a DBE, you must inform the recipient or UCP in writing of any change in circumstances affecting your ability to meet size, disadvantaged status, ownership, or control requirements of this part or any material change in the information provided in your application form. 1. Changes in management responsibility among members of a limited liability company are covered by this requirement. 2. You must attach supporting documentation describing in detail the nature of such changes. 3. The notice must take the form of an affidavit sworn to by the applicant before a person who is authorized by state law to administer oaths or of an unsworn declaration executed under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States. You must provide the written notification within 30 days of the occurrence of the change. If you fail to make timely notification of such a change, you will be deemed to have failed to cooperate under §26.109(c). If you are a DBE, you must provide to the recipient, every year on the anniversary of the date of your certification, an affidavit sworn to by the firm's owners before a person who is authorized by state law to administer oaths or an unsworn declaration executed under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States. This affidavit must affirm that there have been no changes in the firm's circumstances affecting its ability to meet size, disadvantaged status, ownership, or control requirements of this part or any material changes in the information provided in its application form, except for changes about which you have notified the recipient under paragraph (i) of this section. The affidavit shall specifically affirm that your firm continues to meet SBA business size criteria and the overall gross receipts cap of this part, documenting this affirmation with supporting documentation of your firm's size and gross receipts. If you fail to provide this affidavit in a timely manner, you will be deemed to have failed to cooperate under §26.109(c). If you are a recipient, you must make decisions on applications for certification within 90 days of receiving from the applicant firm all information required under this part. You may extend this time period once, for no more than an additional 60 days, upon written notice to the firm, explaining fully and specifically the reasons for the extension. You may establish a different time frame in your DBE program, upon a showing that this time frame is not feasible, and subject to the approval of the concerned operating administration. Your failure to make a decision by the applicable deadline under this paragraph is deemed a constructive denial of the application, on the basis of which the firm may appeal! to DOT under §26.89. What rules govern recipients’ denials of initial requests for certification? When you deny a request by a firm, which is not currently certified with you, to be certified as a DBE, you must provide the firm a written explanation of the reasons for the denial, specifically referencing the evidence in the record that supports each reason for the denial. All documents and other information on which the denial is based must be made available to the applicant, on request. When a firm is denied certification, you must establish a time period of no more than twelve months that must elapse before the firm may reapply to the recipient for certification. You may provide, in your DBE program, subject to approval by the concerned operating administration, a shorter waiting period for reapplication. The time period for reapplication begins to run on the date the explanation required by paragraph (a) of this section is received by the firm. When you make an administratively final denial of certification concerning a firm, the firm may appeal the denial to the Department under §26.89. What procedures does a recipient use to remove a DBE’s eligibility? a. Ineligibility complaints. 1. Any person may file with you a written complaint alleging that a currently-certified firm is ineligible and specifying the alleged reasons why the firm is ineligible. You are not required to accept a general allegation that a firm is ineligible or an anonymous complaint. The complaint may include any information or arguments supporting the complainant's assertion that the firm is ineligible and should not continue to be certified. Confidentiality of complainants’ identities must be protected as provided in §26.109(b). 2. You must review your records concerning the firm, any material provided by the firm and the complainant, and other available information. You may request additional information from the firm or conduct any other investigation that you deem necessary. 3. If you determine, based on this review, that there is reasonable cause to believe that the firm is ineligible, you must provide written notice to the firm that you propose to find the firm ineligible, setting forth the reasons for the proposed determination. If you determine that such reasonable cause does not exist, you must notify the complainant and the firm in writing of this determination and the reasons for it. All statements of reasons for findings on the issue of reasonable cause must specifically reference the evidence in the record on which each reason is based. Recipient-initiated proceedings. lf, based on notification by the firm of a change in its circumstances or other information that comes to your attention, you determine that there is reasonable cause to believe that a currently certified firm is ineligible, you must provide written notice to the firm that you propose to find the firm ineligible, setting forth the reasons for the proposed determination. The statement of reasons for the finding of reasonable cause must specifically reference the evidence in the record on which each reason is based. DOT directive to initiate proceeding. 1. If the concerned operating administration determines that information in your certification records, or other information available to the concerned operating administration, provides reasonable cause to believe that a firm you certified does not meet the eligibility criteria of this part, the concerned operating administration may direct you to initiate a proceeding to remove the firm's certification. 2. The concerned operating administration must provide you and the firm a notice setting forth the reasons for the directive, including any relevant documentation or other information. 3, You must immediately commence and prosecute a proceeding to remove eligibility as provided by paragraph (b) of this section. Hearing. When you notify a firm that there is reasonable cause to remove its eligibility, as provided in paragraph (a), (6), or (c) of this section, you must give the firm an opportunity for an informal hearing, at which the firm may respond to the reasons for