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Section
II.6. Requires the contractor to advise employees and applicants of training
programs available and to assist in the improvement of the skills
of minorities, women,
and applicants, through such programs.
Section II.7. Deals with labor unions in that the contractor is not,
and cannot be, required
to hire union employees; however, if the contractor relies on unions
as a source of
employees, the contractor is encouraged to obtain cooperation with
the unions to increase
opportunities for minorities and women. The contractor is required
to incorporate an
EEO clause into union agreements.
Section II.8. Deals with the contractor’s EEO policy as it pertains
to selection of subcontractors,
including material suppliers and equipment leasing companies. Contractors
are encouraged to use DBEs or other subcontractors that employ minorities
and women.
Furthermore, contractors are required to exercise their best efforts
to ensure that
subcontractors comply with the EEO requirements.
Section II.9. Requires the contractor to prepare records that document
compliance
with the EEO policy and to retain these records for a period of 3
years after project
completion. These records should include the number of minority,
women, and non-minority
employees in each work classification on the project, and the progress
and effort being
made to increase the employment opportunities for minorities and
women.
145 construction
The contractor is required to submit an annual EEO report to the
SHA each July, for
the duration of the project. If the project contains on-the-job training
(OJT), this
information is also required to be collected and reported.
2. Compliance Oversight
Enforcement responsibilities have been vested with the contracting
agency which
ultimately falls on the shoulders of the SHA project engineer. The
project engineer
should be cognizant of the contractual requirement and observe the
contractor for
compliance. Specifically, the project engineer’s concern should center
on whether
discriminatory practices take place, particularly in the hiring,
firing, training,
promotion, and utilization of employees.
Noncompliance with the EEO specifications may be considered a breach
of contract
for which payment may be withheld or the contract canceled. The State
compliance
staff should conduct reviews and make noncompliance determinations.
In addition,
reviews by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP),
or actions
ordered by OFCCP, may affect the contractor’s eligibility to participate
in Federal-aid
programs.
Section Ill- Nonsegregated Facilities
The intent of the provisions of Section III of FHWA Form-1273 is
to ensure that past
discriminatory practices for providing separate facilities or prohibiting
minorities
access to certain facilities are eliminated. Section III, which is
also derived from Title
VI, applies to contractors, subcontractors, and material suppliers
on all Federal-aid
contracts and related subcontracts of $10,000 or more.
By entering into a Federal-aid construction contract, organizations
and firms are
certifying that they maintain nonsegregated facilities that conform
to requirements
of 41 CFR 60.1.8. These regulations also require a prime contractor
to obtain a similar
certification from each subcontractor and supplier, as applicable.
K. Potential Title VI Issues and Suggested Mitigation of
Adverse Impacts
Issues:
1. Whether appropriate contract provisions are incorporated in Federal-aid
contracts.
Mitigation: Process reviews.
2. Whether the monitoring/inspection of work by the State results
in disparate
treatment of protected groups.
Mitigation: Process reviews; training; diversification of staff,
etc.
146 construction
3. Whether required mitigation measures have been effectively implemented,
i.e, safety
through construction zones; noise and air impacts; employment and
contracting
goals, etc.
Mitigation: Process reviews; feedback from public involvement; coordination
with
public interest groups, etc.
4. Whether barriers exist in pre-qualification, approval of subcontractors,
bonding,
and licensing requirements.
Mitigation: Process reviews; survey subcontractors; supportive services;
self
evaluations, etc.
5. Whether uniformity exists in the approval of plans changes, and
supplemental
agreements.
Mitigation: Process reviews; training; feedback; supportive services,
etc.
6. Whether uniformity exists in the assessment of sanctions, liquidated
damages,
withholding payments, suspension/termination of contracts, and decertification.
Mitigation: Process reviews; training; feedback, etc.
147 research
A. Description of Research Program
The States are encouraged to conduct transportation-related research
projects
which may be funded with Federal-aid funds. The research may be conducted
by State
personnel or contracted to universities or consultants who have the
capabilities and
staff to perform the research.
A research project usually begins with a solicitation of problem
statements. The problem
statement provides a brief description of the proposed research,
need for the research,
and estimated cost. The problem statements are then prioritized by
the State Transportation
Agency. The projects may be undertaken by transportation agency personne1
or awarded to a university or consultant according to the State’s
procurement regulations.
If it is determined that a university will be used and more than
one university has the
capability, a request for proposal may be sent to the universities.
The selection of a
university to perform the research is usually predetermined based
on type of research
and area of expertise of the university, Minority universities interested
in performing
research for a transportation agency are encouraged to learn the
procurement regulations
for that agency and to submit proposals when there are studies proposed
which they
have the capability to accomplish.
Each research project awarded is monitored by State personnel and
a principal researcher
who is usually a member of the involved department at the university.
University research
may be actually conducted by university students under the supervision
of the principal
researcher. Not all research projects are engineering related; e.g.,
socio-economic,
environmental, transit or transportation needs studies.
B. Potential Title VI Issues and Suggested Mitigation of
Adverse Impacts
barriers, etc.
Issues:
1. Whether there is diversification in the selection of consultant/universities.
Mitigation: Aggressive outreach; supportive services; feedback; removal
of
2. Proposal/problem statement solicitation.
Mitigation: Same as above.
notice to public
public involvement
Notice to Public
U.S. Department of Justice regulations, 28 Code of Federal
Regulations, Section 42.405,
Public Dissemination of Title VI Information, require recipients
of Federal financial
assistance to publish or broadcast program information in the
news media. Advertisements
must state that the program is an equal opportunity program and/or
indicate that
Federal law prohibits discrimination. Additionally, reasonable
steps shall be taken to
publish information in languages understood by the population
eligible to be served
or likely to be directly affected by the program. Following is
a sample public notice
used by the California Department of Transportation.
California Department of Transportation hereby gives public notice
that it is the
policy of the Department to assure full compliance with Title
VI of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 and related
statues and
regulations in all programs and activities. It is our policy that
no person in the
United States of America shall, on the grounds of race, color,
national origin, sex,
disability or age be excluded from the participation in, be denied
the benefits of
or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any of our programs
or activities.
Any person who believes they have been subjected to unlawful discriminatory
practice
under Title VI has a right to file a formal complaint. Any such
complaint must be filed
in writing or in person with California Department of Transportation,
Civil Rights,
Office of Equal Opportunity, DCIU, 1823 14th Street, Sacramento,
CA 95814, within
one hundred-eighty (180) days following the date of the alleged
discriminatory action.
PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT
The following information on public involvement are excerpts taken
from the U.S.
Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration’s
handbook entitled
“Public Involvement Techniques for Transportation Decision-making.”
The handbook
contains extensive methodologies for public involvement. The entire
document can be
obtained from the Internet at the following web address:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reports/pittd/cover.htm
The Table of Contents for that document follows. Also following
are formats other
State Department of Transportation and Metropolitan Planning Organizations
have
used and have proven to be successful as highlighted by FHWA.
Designing a Public Involvement Program
Developing an effective public involvement program is a strategic
effort that requires
assembling a selection of techniques to meet the needs of a given
transportation plan,
program or project. Whether designing a public involvement program
for statewide or
metropolitan planning or for an individual transportation investment,
it is wise to pursue
a systematic thought process based on fundamental guidelines and
following a series
of steps. The five guidelines are:
1. Acting in accord with basic democratic principles
means that public involvement is more than simply following the
law. People have
opportunities to frame alternative solutions and affect final
decisions in ways that
respect the roles of decision-makers. Knowledge is the basis of
such participation.
Through continued interaction with the entire community, agencies
build community
support and, more importantly, assure that the public has the
opportunity to help
shape the substance of plans and projects. In summary, public
agencies act as
public servants.
2. Continuous contact between agency and non-agency people throughout
transportation decision-making,
needs to occur from the first thought of a transportation plan
to post-construction
operations and maintenance.
3. Use of a variety of public involvement techniques
that target different groups or individuals in different ways
or target the same
groups or individuals in different ways.
4. Active outreach to the public
means agencies search out the public and work hard to elicit response.
However,
transportation agencies have repeatedly found that going after
the public and
changing unsuccessful approaches brings greater results.
5. Focusing participation on decisions
rather than on conducting participation activities because they
are required.
Decisions include both the continuous stream of informal decisions
made by agency
staff and lower-level management and the less frequent formal
decisions made by
decision-makers. Timely agency response to ideas from the public
and integration
of ideas from the public into decisions shows the public that
participation is
worthwhile. A focus on the wide range of possible decisions gets
agencies past
simply offering the public passive opportunities to comment on
proposals just
before formal decision-making.
The following five steps form one approach to systematically setting
up and implementing
a public involvement program for a specific plan, program or project.
1. Set goals and objectives for your public involvement program.
The goals and objectives derive from the specific circumstances
of a given transportation
plan, program, or project. What decisions, formal or informal,
are to be made?
When? By whom? What public input is needed? Public input can be
in the form of
a consensus on a plan or a buildable project. Consensus does not
mean that everyone
agrees enthusiastically but that all influential groups and individuals
can live with
a proposal. Public input can be in the form of information used
by staff or decisionmakers.
Agencies use the objectives to form the public involvement program.
The more
specific the objectives, the better they will guide the involvement
program.
2. Identify the people to be reached.
The general public and those directly affected, such as abutting
property owners,
are some of those who should be reached. Review who is affected
directly and
indirectly, as well as those who have shown past interest. Look
for people who do
not traditionally participate, such as minorities and low-income
groups. What
information do they need to participate? What issues or decisions
affect which
specific groups or individuals? How can their ideas be incorporated
into decisions?
New individuals and groups appear throughout a public involvement
program; there
should be a way to identify and involve them. Conceptualize the
public as a collection
of discrete groups, individuals and the general public; each has
different interests
and different levels of energy for participation.
In addition to brainstorming and analysis by agency staff, ask
members of the
public for their input on goals, objectives and names of people
who might be
interested. This can be done simultaneously through key person
interviews or
focus groups or public opinion surveys.
3. Develop a general approach or set of general strategies
that are keyed to the goals and objectives of the involvement
program and the
characteristics of the target audiences. It could be visualized
as a stream of different
activities keyed to specific planning or project decisions. Alternatively,
a general
approach could be viewed as a focus on one or more public groups
or interests.
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