* § 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
including revocations for convictions for fraudulently misrepresenting
the status of minority or women-owned business enterprises. Such rules
shall set forth the maximum personal net worth of a minority group
member or woman who may be relied upon to certify a business as a
minority-owned business enterprise or women-owned business enterprise
with a minimum personal net worth threshold of fifteen million dollars,
and may thereafter establish different maximum levels of personal net
worth for minority group members and women on an industry-by-industry
basis for such industries as the director shall determine. Such
regulations relating to the classification of the industry-by-industry
personal net worth thresholds above the fifteen million dollar threshold
shall consider the personal net worth of the owners of both certified
and non-certified businesses, including but not limited to, prime
contractors and subcontractors, as well as any such other factors needed
to establish such thresholds. 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, and consistent with the provisions of article
twenty-three-A of the correction 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, but
no less than annually, 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 noncitizens;

(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 fifteen million dollars and such other
amount as the director shall set forth in regulations, 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.

2-b. The director shall establish a procedure enabling an applicant
who was a military service member to prove his or her race or ethnicity,
date of birth, place of birth and verification of address for purposes
of certification of the applicant's business as a minority-owned
business by submission of the DD Form 214 issued to the applicant by the
United States department of defense upon such applicant's retirement,
separation, or discharge from active duty in the armed forces of the
United States, provided the DD Form 214 contains such information, in
lieu of requiring the applicant to otherwise prove his or her race or
ethnicity. The director shall promulgate rules and regulations to set
forth criteria for the acceptance of the DD Form 214 by the office.

2-c. (a) Each business applying for minority or women-owned business
enterprise certification pursuant to this section must agree to allow:
(i) the department of taxation and finance to share its tax information
with the division; and (ii) the department of labor to share its tax and
employer information with the division.

(b) Such information provided pursuant to paragraph (a) of this
subdivision shall be kept confidential by the division as such
information is kept by the department of taxation and finance or the
department of labor and use of such information shall be limited to the
certification application process, or other uses approved or consented
to by the business enterprise or applicant.

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 twenty-one days. Within forty-five 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 minority and women-owned business enterprise certifications
shall be valid for a period of five years.

* NB Repealed December 31, 2024