2015 New York Laws
EXC - Executive
Article 15-A - (Executive) PARTICIPATION BY MINORITY GROUP MEMBERS AND WOMEN WITH RESPECT TO STATE CONTRACTS
314 - Statewide certification program.

*  314. Statewide   certification  program.  1.  The  director  shall
  promulgate rules and regulations providing for the  establishment  of  a
  statewide   certification   program   including  rules  and  regulations
  governing the approval, denial or revocation of any such  certification.
  Such  rules  and  regulations shall include, but not be limited to, such
  matters as may be required to ensure  that  the  established  procedures
  thereunder  shall  at  least  be  in  compliance  with  the code of fair
  procedure set forth in section seventy-three of the civil rights law.
2. For the purposes of this article, the office shall  be  responsible
  for  verifying  businesses  as  being owned, operated, and controlled by
  minority group  members  or  women  and  for  certifying  such  verified
  businesses.   The  director  shall  prepare  a  directory  of  certified
  businesses for use by contracting agencies and contractors  in  carrying
  out  the  provisions  of  this  article. The director shall periodically
  update the directory.
2-a. (a) The director shall establish a procedure enabling the  office
  to  accept New York municipal corporation certification verification for
  minority and women-owned  business  enterprise  applicants  in  lieu  of
  requiring the applicant to complete the state certification process. The
  director  shall  promulgate  rules and regulations to set forth criteria
  for the acceptance of municipal corporation certification. All  eligible
  municipal  corporation certifications shall require business enterprises
  seeking certification to meet the following standards:
(i) have at least fifty-one percent  ownership  by  a  minority  or  a
  women-owned  enterprise  and  be  owned  by  United  States  citizens or
  permanent resident aliens;
(ii) be an enterprise in which  the  minority  and/or  women-ownership
  interest is real, substantial and continuing;
(iii)  be  an  enterprise in which the minority and/or women-ownership
  has and exercises the authority to control independently the  day-to-day
  business decisions of the enterprise;
(iv) be an enterprise authorized to do business in this state;
(v)  be  subject to a physical site inspection to verify the fifty-one
  percent ownership requirement;
(vi) be owned  by  an  individual  or  individuals,  whose  ownership,
  control and operation are relied upon for certification, with a personal
  net  worth  that  does  not  exceed  three million five hundred thousand
  dollars, as adjusted annually for inflation according  to  the  consumer
  price index; and
(vii)   be  an  enterprise  that  is  a  small  business  pursuant  to
  subdivision twenty of section three hundred ten of this article.
(b) The director shall work with all municipal corporations that  have
  a  municipal  minority  and  women-owned  business enterprise program to
  develop standards to accept state certification to  meet  the  municipal
  corporation  minority  and women-owned business enterprise certification
  standards.
(c) The director shall establish a procedure enabling the division  to
  accept  federal  certification verification for minority and women-owned
  business enterprise applicants, provided  said  standards  comport  with
  those  required  by the state minority and women-owned business program,
  in lieu of requiring the applicant to complete the  state  certification
  process.  The  director  shall  promulgate  rules and regulations to set
  forth criteria for the acceptance of federal certification.
3. Following application for certification pursuant to  this  section,
  the  director  shall  provide  the  applicant with written notice of the
  status  of  the  application,  including  notice  of   any   outstanding
  deficiencies,  within  thirty days. Within sixty days of submission of a
  final completed application, the director shall  provide  the  applicant

  with  written  notice  of  a  determination  by  the office approving or
  denying such certification and, in the event of  a  denial  a  statement
  setting  forth the reasons for such denial. Upon a determination denying
  or   revoking   certification,   the   business   enterprise  for  which
  certification has been so denied or revoked shall, upon written  request
  made within thirty days from receipt of notice of such determination, be
  entitled  to  a hearing before an independent hearing officer designated
  for such purpose by the director. In the event  that  a  request  for  a
  hearing  is  not  made within such thirty day period, such determination
  shall be deemed to be final.   The  independent  hearing  officer  shall
  conduct  a  hearing  and  upon  the  conclusion of such hearing, issue a
  written recommendation to the director to affirm, reverse or modify such
  determination of the director.  Such  written  recommendation  shall  be
  issued to the parties.  The director, within thirty days, by order, must
  accept,  reject or modify such recommendation of the hearing officer and
  set forth in writing the reasons therefor. The director  shall  serve  a
  copy  of such order and reasons therefor upon the business enterprise by
  personal service or by certified  mail  return  receipt  requested.  The
  order  of  the  director  shall be subject to review pursuant to article
  seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules.
4. The director may, after performing  an  availability  analysis  and
  upon  a finding that industry-specific factors coupled with personal net
  worth  or  small   business   eligibility   requirements   pursuant   to
  subdivisions  nineteen  and  twenty of section three hundred ten of this
  article,  respectively,  have  led  to  the  significant  exclusion   of
  businesses  owned  by  minority group members or women in that industry,
  grant provisional MWBE certification  status  to  applicants  from  that
  designated  industry,  provided,  however,  that  all  other eligibility
  requirements pursuant to subdivision seven or fifteen of  section  three
  hundred   ten  of  this  article,  as  applicable,  are  satisfied.  Any
  industry-based determination made under this  section  by  the  director
  shall  be  made  widely  available  to  the  public  and  posted  on the
  division's website.
5. With the exception of provisional MWBE certification,  as  provided
  for  in  subdivision  twenty-three  of section three hundred ten of this
  article, all certifications shall be valid for a period of three years.
* NB Expires December 31, 2017