(a) You must include in your ACDBE program a narrative description of the types of measures you intend to make to ensure nondiscriminatory participation of ACDBEs in concession and other covered activities.
(b) Your ACDBE program must provide for setting goals consistent with the requirements of Subpart D of this part.
(c) Your ACDBE program must provide for seeking ACDBE participation in all types of concession activities, rather than concentrating participation in one category or a few categories to the exclusion of others.
(d) Your ACDBE program must include race-neutral measures that you will take. You must maximize the use of race-neutral measures, obtaining as much as possible of the ACDBE participation needed to meet overall goals through such measures. These are responsibilities that you directly undertake as a recipient, in addition to the efforts that concessionaires make, to obtain ACDBE participation. The following are examples of race-neutral measures you can implement:
(1) Locating and identifying ACDBEs and other small businesses who may be interested in participating as concessionaires under this part;
(2) Notifying ACDBEs of concession opportunities and encouraging them to compete, when appropriate;
(3) When practical, structuring concession activities to encourage and facilitate the participation of ACDBEs;
(4) Providing technical assistance to ACDBEs in overcoming limitations, such as inability to obtain bonding or financing;
(5) Ensuring that competitors for concession opportunities are informed during pre-solicitation meetings about how the recipient's ACDBE program will affect the procurement process;
(6) Providing information concerning the availability of ACDBE firms to competitors to assist them in obtaining ACDBE participation; and
(7) Establishing a business development program (see § 26.35 of this chapter); technical assistance program; or taking other steps to foster ACDBE participation in concessions.
(e) Your ACDBE program must also provide for the use of race-conscious measures when race-neutral measures, standing alone, are not projected to be sufficient to meet an overall goal. The following are examples of race-conscious measures you can implement:
(1) Establishing concession-specific goals for particular concession opportunities.
(i) In setting concession-specific goals for concession opportunities other than car rental, you are required to explore, to the maximum extent practicable, all available options to set goals that concessionaires can meet through direct ownership arrangements. A concession-specific goal for any concession other than car rental may be based on purchases or leases of goods and services only when the analysis of the relative availability of ACDBEs and all relevant evidence reasonably supports that there is de minimis availability for direct ownership arrangement participation for that concession opportunity.
(ii) In setting car rental concession-specific goals, you cannot require a car rental company to change its corporate structure to provide for participation via direct ownership arrangement. When your overall goal for car rental concessions is based on purchases or leases of goods and services, you are not required to explore options for direct ownership arrangements prior to setting a car rental concession-specific goal based on purchases or leases of goods and services.
(iii) If the objective of the concession-specific goal is to obtain ACDBE participation through a direct ownership arrangement with an ACDBE, calculate the goal as a percentage of the total estimated annual gross receipts from the concession.
(iv) If the goal applies to purchases or leases of goods and services from ACDBEs, calculate the goal as a percentage of the total estimated dollar value of all purchases to be made by the concessionaire.
(v) To be eligible to be awarded the concession, competitors must make good faith efforts to meet this goal. A competitor may do so either by obtaining enough ACDBE participation to meet the goal or by documenting that it made sufficient good faith efforts to do so.
(vi) The administrative procedures applicable to contract goals in §§ 26.51 through 26.53 of this chapter apply with respect to concession-specific goals.
(2) Negotiation with a potential concessionaire to include ACDBE participation, through direct ownership arrangements or measures, in the operation of the non-car rental concession.
(3) With the prior approval of FAA, other methods that take a competitor's ability to provide ACDBE participation into account in awarding a concession.
(f) Your ACDBE program must require businesses subject to car rental and non-car rental ACDBE goals at the airport to make good faith efforts to meet goals when set pursuant to paragraph (e) of this section.
(g) As provided in § 23.61 of this part, you must not use set-asides and quotas as means of obtaining ACDBE participation.
[70 FR 14508, Mar. 22, 2005, as amended at 89 FR 24959, Apr. 9, 2024]