Priority Area 11:
Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Utilization Reporting

 

States asked EPA to change Minority Business Enterprise/Women Business Enterprise (MBE/WBE) reporting requirements by reducing the frequency of reporting from quarterly to annual.  EPA’s Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) responded with a new rule that reduced quarterly reporting requirements to a semi-annual frequency. 

For each grant and cooperative agreement awarded by EPA, the recipient must describe how they are using their funds to benefit minority- and/or women-owned enterprises.  This is known as MBE/WBE utilization. Some grants/agreements require MBE/WBE utilization reporting every quarter; others require annual reporting.  A new Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE) Rule took effect on May 27, 2008.  Among other changes, the rule instituted a requirement for semi-annual reporting for any grant or cooperative agreement that previously required quarterly reporting. 

Typically, grant types that had previously reported quarterly are of a short duration. Moving to annual reporting for these grants would eliminate OSBP’s opportunity to monitor compliance with the program. By the time OSBP received the annual report, the grant term would be over and efforts to ensure compliance would come too late. Grants that report annually have project periods that are longer than one year.  Thus, the opportunity for program monitoring on an annual basis is sufficient.  In an effort to strike a balance, lessen the reporting burden, and allow for effective program monitoring and compliance, the requirement for quarterly reporting was changed to semi-annual. 

The MBE/WBE Reporting Fact Sheet lists which grants/agreements have a semi-annual reporting frequency and which have an annual frequency.  Or, you may reference Section III, Part 5 of the preamble to the regulation at 73 FR 15904 (PDF) (19 pp, 134KB, About PDF).