Collapse to view only § 23.49 - What is the base for a recipient's goal for car rentals?

§ 23.41 - What is the basic overall goal requirement for recipients?

(a) If you are a recipient who must implement an ACDBE program, you must, except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, establish two separate overall ACDBE goals. The first is for car rentals; the second is for concessions other than car rentals.

(b) If your annual car rental concession revenues, averaged over the three-years preceding the date on which you are required to submit overall goals, do not exceed $200,000, you are not required to submit a car rental overall goal. If your annual revenues for concessions other than car rentals, averaged over the three years preceding the date on which you are required to submit overall goals, do not exceed $200,000, you are not required to submit a non-car rental overall goal.

(c) Each overall goal must cover a three-year period. You must review your goals annually to make sure they continue to fit your circumstances appropriately. You must report to the FAA any significant adjustments that you make to your goal in the time before your next scheduled submission.

(d) Your goals established under this part must provide for participation by all certified ACDBEs and may not be subdivided into group-specific goals.

(e) If you fail to establish and implement goals as provided in this section, you are not in compliance with this part. If you establish and implement goals in a way different from that provided in this part, you are not in compliance with this part. If you fail to comply with this requirement, you are not eligible to receive FAA financial assistance.

§ 23.43 - What are the consultation requirements in the development of recipients' overall goals?

(a) As a recipient, you must consult with stakeholders before submitting your overall goals to FAA.

(b) Stakeholders with whom you must consult include, but are not limited to, minority and women's business groups, community organizations, trade associations representing concessionaires currently located at the airport, as well as existing concessionaires themselves, and other officials or organizations which could be expected to have information concerning the availability of disadvantaged businesses, the effects of discrimination on opportunities for ACDBEs, and the recipient's efforts to increase participation of ACDBEs.

§ 23.45 - What are the requirements for submitting overall goal information to the FAA?

(a) You must submit your overall goals to the appropriate FAA Regional Civil Rights Office for approval. Your first set of overall goals meeting the requirements of this subpart are due on the following schedule:

(1) If you are a large or medium hub primary airport on April 21, 2005, by January 1, 2006. You must make your next submissions by October 1, 2008.

(2) If you are a small hub primary airport on April 21, 2005, by October 1, 2006.

(3) If you are a nonhub primary airport on April 21, 2005, by October 1, 2007.

(b) You must then submit new goals every three years after the date that applies to you.

(c) Timely submission and FAA approval of your overall goals is a condition of eligibility for FAA financial assistance.

(d) In the time before you make your first submission under paragraph (a) of this section, you must continue to use the overall goals that have been approved by the FAA before the effective date of this part.

(e) Your overall goal submission must include a description of the method used to calculate your goals and the data you relied on. You must “show your work” to enable the FAA to understand how you concluded your goals were appropriate. This means that you must provide to the FAA the data, calculations, assumptions, and reasoning used in establishing your goals.

(f) Your submission must include your projection of the portions of your overall goals you propose to meet through use of race-neutral and race-conscious means, respectively, and the basis for making this projection (see § 23.51(d)(5))

(g) FAA may approve or disapprove the way you calculated your goal, including your race-neutral/race-conscious “split,” as part of its review of your plan or goal submission. Except as provided in paragraph (h) of this section, the FAA does not approve or disapprove the goal itself (i.e., the number).

(h) If the FAA determines that your goals have not been correctly calculated or the justification is inadequate, the FAA may, after consulting with you, adjust your overall goal or race-conscious/race-neutral “split.” The adjusted goal represents the FAA's determination of an appropriate overall goal for ACDBE participation in the recipient's concession program, based on relevant data and analysis. The adjusted goal is binding on you.

(i) If a new concession opportunity, the estimated average annual gross revenues of which are anticipated to be $200,000 or greater, arises at a time that falls between normal submission dates for overall goals, you must submit an appropriate adjustment to your overall goal to the FAA for approval no later than 90 days before issuing the solicitation for the new concession opportunity.

[70 FR 14508, Mar. 22, 2005, as amended at 77 FR 36931, June 20, 2012]

§ 23.47 - What is the base for a recipient's goal for concessions other than car rentals?

(a) As a recipient, the base for your goal includes the total gross receipts of concessions, except as otherwise provided in this section.

(b) This base does not include the gross receipts of car rental operations.

(c) The dollar amount of a management contract or subcontract with a non-ACDBE and the gross receipts of business activities to which a management or subcontract with a non-ACDBE pertains are not added to this base.

(d) This base does not include any portion of a firm's estimated gross receipts that will not be generated from a concession.

Example to paragraph (d):A firm operates a restaurant in the airport terminal which serves the traveling public and under the same lease agreement, provides in-flight catering service to air carriers. The projected gross receipts from the restaurant are included in the overall goal calculation, while the gross receipts to be earned by the in-flight catering services are not.

§ 23.49 - What is the base for a recipient's goal for car rentals?

Except in the case where you use the alternative goal approach of § 23.51(c)(5)(ii), the base for your goal is the total gross receipts of car rental operations at your airport. You do not include gross receipts of other concessions in this base.

§ 23.51 - How are a recipient's overall goals expressed and calculated?

(a) Your objective in setting a goal is to estimate the percentage of the base calculated under §§ 23.47–23.49 that would be performed by ACDBEs in the absence of discrimination and its effects.

(1) This percentage is the estimated ACDBE participation that would occur if there were a “level playing field” for firms to work as concessionaires for your airport.

(2) In conducting this goal setting process, you are determining the extent, if any, to which the firms in your market area have suffered discrimination or its effects in connection with concession opportunities or related business opportunities.

(3) You must complete the goal-setting process separately for each of the two overall goals identified in § 23.41 of this part.

(b)(1) Each overall concessions goal must be based on demonstrable evidence of the availability of ready, willing and able ACDBEs relative to all businesses ready, willing and able to participate in your ACDBE program (hereafter, the “relative availability of ACDBEs”).

(2) You cannot simply rely on the 10 percent national aspirational goal, your previous overall goal, or past ACDBE participation rates in your program without reference to the relative availability of ACDBEs in your market.

(3) Your market area is defined by the geographical area in which the substantial majority of firms which seek to do concessions business with the airport are located and the geographical area in which the firms which receive the substantial majority of concessions-related revenues are located. Your market area may be different for different types of concessions.

(c) Step 1. You must begin your goal setting process by determining a base figure for the relative availability of ACDBEs. The following are examples of approaches that you may take toward determining a base figure. These examples are provided as a starting point for your goal setting process. Any percentage figure derived from one of these examples should be considered a basis from which you begin when examining the evidence available to you. These examples are not intended as an exhaustive list. Other methods or combinations of methods to determine a base figure may be used, subject to approval by the FAA.

(1) Use DBE Directories and Census Bureau Data. Determine the number of ready, willing and able ACDBEs in your market area from your ACDBE directory. Using the Census Bureau's County Business Pattern (CBP) data base, determine the number of all ready, willing and able businesses available in your market area that perform work in the same NAICS codes. (Information about the CBP data base may be obtained from the Census Bureau at their Web site, http://www.census.gov/epcd/cbp/view/cbpview.html.) Divide the number of ACDBEs by the number of all businesses to derive a base figure for the relative availability of ACDBEs in your market area.

(2) Use an Active Participants List. Determine the number of ACDBEs that have participated or attempted to participate in your airport concessions program in previous years. Determine the number of all businesses that have participated or attempted to participate in your airport concession program in previous years. Divide the number of ACDBEs who have participated or attempted to participate by the number for all businesses to derive a base figure for the relative availability of ACDBEs in your market area.

(3) Use data from a disparity study. Use a percentage figure derived from data in a valid, applicable disparity study.

(4) Use the goal of another recipient. If another airport or other DOT recipient in the same, or substantially similar, market has set an overall goal in compliance with this rule, you may use that goal as a base figure for your goal.

(5) Alternative methods. (i) You may use other methods to determine a base figure for your overall goal. Any methodology you choose must be based on demonstrable evidence of local market conditions and be designed to ultimately attain a goal that is rationally related to the relative availability of ACDBEs in your market area.

(ii) In the case of a car rental goal, where it appears that all or most of the goal is likely to be met through the purchases by car rental companies of vehicles or other goods or services from ACDBEs, one permissible alternative is to structure the goal entirely in terms of purchases of goods and services. In this case, you would calculate your car rental overall goal by dividing the estimated dollar value of such purchases from ACDBEs by the total estimated dollar value of all purchases to be made by car rental companies.

(d) Step 2. Once you have calculated a base figure, you must examine all relevant evidence reasonably available in your jurisdiction to determine what adjustment, if any, is needed to the base figure in order to arrive at your overall goal.

(1) There are many types of evidence that must be considered when adjusting the base figure. These include, but are not limited to:

(i) The current capacity of ACDBEs to perform work in your concessions program, as measured by the volume of work ACDBEs have performed in recent years; and

(ii) Evidence from disparity studies conducted anywhere within your jurisdiction, to the extent it is not already accounted for in your base figure.

(2) If your base figure is the goal of another recipient, you must adjust it for differences in your market area and your concessions program.

(3) If available, you must consider evidence from related fields that affect the opportunities for ACDBEs to form, grow and compete. These include, but are not limited to:

(i) Statistical disparities in the ability of ACDBEs to get the financing, bonding and insurance required to participate in your program;

(ii) Data on employment, self-employment, education, training and union apprenticeship programs, to the extent you can relate it to the opportunities for ACDBEs to perform in your program.

(4) If you attempt to make an adjustment to your base figure to account for the continuing effects of past discrimination, or the effects of an ongoing ACDBE program, the adjustment must be based on demonstrable evidence that is logically and directly related to the effect for which the adjustment is sought.

(5) Among the information you submit with your overall goal (see 23.45(e)), you must include description of the methodology you used to establish the goal, including your base figure and the evidence with which it was calculated, as well as the adjustments you made to the base figure and the evidence relied on for the adjustments. You should also include a summary listing of the relevant available evidence in your jurisdiction and an explanation of how you used that evidence to adjust your base figure. You must also include your projection of the portions of the overall goal you expect to meet through race-neutral and race-conscious measures, respectively (see §§ 26.51(c)).

(e) You are not required to obtain prior FAA concurrence with your overall goal (i.e., with the number itself). However, if the FAA's review suggests that your overall goal has not been correctly calculated, or that your method for calculating goals is inadequate, the FAA may, after consulting with you, adjust your overall goal or require that you do so. The adjusted overall goal is binding on you.

(f) If you need additional time to collect data or take other steps to develop an approach to setting overall goals, you may request the approval of the FAA Administrator for an interim goal and/or goal-setting mechanism. Such a mechanism must:

(1) Reflect the relative availability of ACDBEs in your local market area to the maximum extent feasible given the data available to you; and

(2) Avoid imposing undue burdens on non-ACDBEs.

§ 23.53 - How do car rental companies count ACDBE participation toward their goals?

(a) As a car rental company, you may, in meeting the goal the airport has set for you, include purchases or leases of vehicles from any vendor that is a certified ACDBE.

(b) As a car rental company, if you choose to meet the goal the airport has set for you by including purchases or leases of vehicles from an ACDBE vendor, you must also submit to the recipient documentation of the good faith efforts you have made to obtain ACDBE participation from other ACDBE providers of goods and services.

(c) While this part does not require you to obtain ACDBE participation through direct ownership arrangements, you may count such participation toward the goal the airport has set for you.

(d) The following special rules apply to counting participation related to car rental operations:

(1) Count the entire amount of the cost charged by an ACDBE for repairing vehicles, provided that it is reasonable and not excessive as compared with fees customarily allowed for similar services.

(2) Count the entire amount of the fee or commission charged by a ACDBE to manage a car rental concession under an agreement with the concessionaire toward ACDBE goals, provided that it is reasonable and not excessive as compared with fees customarily allowed for similar services.

(3) Do not count any portion of a fee paid by a manufacturer to a car dealership for reimbursement of work performed under the manufacturer's warranty.

(e) For other goods and services, count participation toward ACDBE goals as provided in part 26, § 26.55 and § 23.55 of this part. In the event of any conflict between these two sections, § 23.55 controls.

(f) If you have a national or regional contract, count a pro-rated share of the amount of that contract toward the goals of each airport covered by the contract. Use the proportion of your applicable gross receipts as the basis for making this pro-rated assignment of ACDBE participation.

Example to paragraph (f):Car Rental Company X signs a regional contract with an ACDBE car dealer to supply cars to all five airports in a state. The five airports each account for 20 percent of X's gross receipts in the state. Twenty percent of the value of the cars purchased through the ACDBE car dealer would count toward the goal of each airport.

§ 23.55 - How do recipients count ACDBE participation toward goals for items other than car rentals?

(a) You count only ACDBE participation that results from a commercially useful function. For purposes of this part, the term commercially useful function has the same meaning as in part 26, § 26.55(c), except that the requirements of § 26.55(c)(3) do not apply to concessions.

(b) Count the total dollar value of gross receipts an ACDBE earns under a concession agreement and the total dollar value of a management contract or subcontract with an ACDBE toward the goal. However, if the ACDBE enters into a subconcession agreement or subcontract with a non-ACDBE, do not count any of the gross receipts earned by the non-ACDBE.

(c) When an ACDBE performs as a subconcessionaire or subcontractor for a non-ACDBE, count only the portion of the gross receipts earned by the ACDBE under its subagreement.

(d) When an ACDBE performs as a participant in a joint venture, count a portion of the gross receipts equal to the distinct, clearly defined portion of the work of the concession that the ACDBE performs with its own forces toward ACDBE goals.

(e) Count the entire amount of fees or commissions charged by an ACDBE firm for a bona fide service, provided that, as the recipient, you determine this amount to be reasonable and not excessive as compared with fees customarily allowed for similar services. Such services may include, but are not limited to, professional, technical, consultant, legal, security systems, advertising, building cleaning and maintenance, computer programming, or managerial.

(f) Count 100 percent of the cost of goods obtained from an ACDBE manufacturer. For purposes of this part, the term manufacturer has the same meaning as in part 26, § 26.55(e)(1)(ii).

(g) Count 100 percent of the cost of goods purchased or leased from a ACDBE regular dealer. For purposes of this part, the term “regular dealer” has the same meaning as in part 26, § 26.55(e)(2)(ii).

(h) Count credit toward ACDBE goals for goods purchased from an ACDBE which is neither a manufacturer nor a regular dealer as follows:

(1) Count the entire amount of fees or commissions charged for assistance in the procurement of the goods, provided that this amount is reasonable and not excessive as compared with fees customarily allowed for similar services. Do not count any portion of the cost of the goods themselves.

(2) Count the entire amount of fees or transportation charges for the delivery of goods required for a concession, provided that this amount is reasonable and not excessive as compared with fees customarily allowed for similar services. Do not count any portion of the cost of goods themselves.

(i) If a firm has not been certified as an ACDBE in accordance with the standards in this part, do not count the firm's participation toward ACDBE goals.

(j) Do not count the work performed or gross receipts earned by a firm after its eligibility has been removed toward ACDBE goals. However, if an ACDBE firm certified on April 21, 2005 is decertified because one or more of its disadvantaged owners do not meet the personal net worth criterion or the firm exceeds business size standards of this part during the performance of a contract or other agreement, the firm's participation may continue to be counted toward ACDBE goals for the remainder of the term of the contract or other agreement (but not extensions or renewals of such contracts or agreements).

(k) Do not count costs incurred in connection with the renovation, repair, or construction of a concession facility (sometimes referred to as the “build-out”).

(l) Do not count the ACDBE participation of car rental companies toward your ACDBE achievements toward this goal.

§ 23.57 - What happens if a recipient falls short of meeting its overall goals?

(a) You cannot be penalized, or treated by the Department as being in noncompliance with this part, simply because your ACDBE participation falls short of your overall goals. You can be penalized or treated as being in noncompliance only if you have failed to administer your ACDBE program in good faith.

(b) If the awards and commitments shown on your Uniform Report of ACDBE Participation (found in Appendix A to this Part) at the end of any fiscal year are less than the overall goal applicable to that fiscal year, you must do the following in order to be regarded by the Department as implementing your ACDBE program in good faith:

(1) Analyze in detail the reasons for the difference between the overall goal and your awards and commitments in that fiscal year;

(2) Establish specific steps and milestones to correct the problems you have identified in your analysis and to enable you to meet fully your goal for the new fiscal year;

(3) (i) If you are a CORE 30 airport or other airport designated by the FAA, you must submit, within 90 days of the end of the fiscal year, the analysis and corrective actions developed under paragraphs (b)(1) and (2) of this section to the FAA for approval. If the FAA approves the report, you will be regarded as complying with the requirements of this section for the remainder of the fiscal year.

(ii) As an airport not meeting the criteria of paragraph (b)(3)(i) of this section, you must retain analysis and corrective actions in your records for three years and make it available to the FAA, on request, for their review.

(4) The FAA may impose conditions on the recipient as part of its approval of the recipient's analysis and corrective actions including, but not limited to, modifications to your overall goal methodology, changes in your race-conscious/race-neutral split, or the introduction of additional race-neutral or race-conscious measures.

(5) You may be regarded as being in noncompliance with this part, and therefore subject to the remedies in § 23.11 of this part and other applicable regulations, for failing to implement your ACDBE program in good faith if any of the following things occur:

(i) You do not submit your analysis and corrective actions to FAA in a timely manner as required under paragraph (b)(3) of this section;

(ii) FAA disapproves your analysis or corrective actions; or

(iii) You do not fully implement:

(A) The corrective actions to which you have committed, or

(B) Conditions that FAA has imposed following review of your analysis and corrective actions.

(c) If information coming to the attention of FAA demonstrates that current trends make it unlikely that you, as an airport, will achieve ACDBE awards and commitments that would be necessary to allow you to meet your overall goal at the end of the fiscal year, FAA may require you to make further good faith efforts, such as modifying your race-conscious/race-neutral split or introducing additional race-neutral or race-conscious measures for the remainder of the fiscal year.

[70 FR 14508, Mar. 22, 2005, as amended at 77 FR 36931, June 20, 2012]

§ 23.59 - What is the role of the statutory 10 percent goal in the ACDBE program?

(a) The statute authorizing the ACDBE program provides that, except to the extent the Secretary determines otherwise, not less than 10 percent of concession businesses are to be ACDBEs.

(b) This 10 percent goal is an aspirational goal at the national level, which the Department uses as a tool in evaluating and monitoring DBEs' opportunities to participate in airport concessions.

(c) The national 10 percent aspirational goal does not authorize or require recipients to set overall or concession-specific goals at the 10 percent level, or any other particular level, or to take any special administrative steps if their goals are above or below 10 percent.

§ 23.61 - Can recipients use quotas or set-asides as part of their ACDBE programs?

You must not use quotas or set-asides for ACDBE participation in your program.