DBE Shortfall Analysis

The following is adapted from the FTA Office of Civil Rights.

DBE Shortfall = A recipient’s failure to meet its Triennial DBE Goal by the end of the fiscal year.

If the awards and commitments shown on the Uniform Report of Awards or Commitments and Payments at the end of any fiscal year are less than the overall goal applicable to that fiscal year, a Shortfall Analysis and Corrective Action Plan are required.Uniform Report of Awards and Commitments or End of FY Commitments and Payments less than Triennial DBE Goal Percentage = Shortfall

DBE Shortfall Analysis Purpose

• To assist FTA recipients identify means to increase DBE participation and achieve DBE goal in the next fiscal year
• To ensure FTA recipients are complying with the spirit and the letter of the DBE rule
• To increase a recipient’s DBE accountability on FTA funded projects and activities

DBE Shortfall Submission Dates

The 50 largest transit authorities must submit, within 90 days of the end of the fiscal year (December 29^th), the analysis and corrective actions to the appropriate operating administration for approval.

All other FTA grantees must perform a Shortfall Analysis, create a Corrective Action Plan, and maintain these documents in a file (e.g., TEAM, DBE Program file, etc.) for production upon FTA’s request or during an oversight review.

Example: FFY 2014-2016 is 10% Goal

• FY 2014: Achieved 15% DBE Participation = No Shortfall Submission Required
• FY 2015: Achieved 8.7% DBE Participation = Shortfall Submission Required and due 12/29/15
• FY 2016: Achieved 5.9% DBE Participation = Shortfall Submission Required and due 12/29/16

DBE Shortfall Analysis

Analyze in detail the reasons for the difference between the overall goal and the awards and commitments in that fiscal year

1.  Evaluate projects used to establish the Triennial Goal and don’t include all open/active projects in the analysis—even if these projects were completed within the respective FY

• Explain what percentage of the goal was met using race-neutral measures and race-conscious measures
• List all race-neutral measures used and explain whether these mechanisms were effective

2.  Accurate Uniform DBE reports are critical.

• include only the FTA share of contracting funds
• must accurately reflect DBE participation during the fiscal year
• be entered in TEAM using the electronic reporting module (i.e., not as an attachment in the Civil Rights tab)

DBE Corrective Action Plan

Establish specific steps and milestones to correct the problems identified in the analysis and to enable fully meeting the goal for the new fiscal year.

1.  Increasing DBE participation

• Detail how this will be achieved
• Include specific methods to increase DBE participation

2.  Strengthening race-neutral measures

• Identify key race-neutral measures for improvement
• Provide specific dates for trainings, seminars, or other outreach
• Specify topics to be covered during upcoming trainings, seminars, or other outreach
• Include criteria for unbundling contracts when this method is identified in the corrective action plan

3.  Implementing a race-conscious component

• Use all available evidence when determining whether race-conscious measures should be implemented

4.  Detailed timeline for implementing all corrective action