* § 315. Responsibilities of contracting agencies. 1. Each contracting
agency shall be responsible for monitoring state contracts under its
jurisdiction, and recommending matters to the office respecting
non-compliance with the provisions of this article so that the office
may take such action as is appropriate to ensure compliance with the
provisions of this article, the rules and regulations of the director
issued hereunder and the contractual provisions required pursuant to
this article. All contracting agencies shall comply with the rules and
regulations of the office and are directed to cooperate with the office
and to furnish to the office such information and assistance as may be
required in the performance of its functions under this article.

2. Each contracting agency shall provide to prospective bidders a
current copy of the directory of certified businesses, and a copy of the
regulations required pursuant to sections three hundred twelve and three
hundred thirteen of this article at the time bids or proposals are
solicited.

2-a. To the extent practicable, upon completion of the restrictive
period of a procurement, each contracting agency when notifying a
contractor of a winning bid award shall also notify any minority or
women-owned business enterprise identified in the contractor's submitted
utilization plan of such contractor's receipt of the winning bid award.

3. Each contracting agency shall report to the director with respect
to activities undertaken to promote employment of minority group members
and women and promote and increase participation by certified businesses
with respect to state contracts and subcontracts. Such reports shall be
submitted no later than May fifteenth of every year and shall include
such information as is necessary for the director to determine whether
the contracting agency and any contractor to the contracting agency have
complied with the purposes of this article, including, without
limitation, a summary of all waivers of the requirements of subdivisions
six and seven of section three hundred thirteen of this article allowed
by the contracting agency during the period covered by the report,
including a description of the basis of the waiver request and the
rationale for granting any such waiver and any instances in which the
contract agency has deemed a contractor to have committed a violation
pursuant to section three hundred sixteen of this article and such other
information as the director shall require. Each agency shall also
include in such annual report whether or not it has been required to
prepare a remedial plan, and, if so, the plan and the extent to which
the agency has complied with each element of the plan.

4. The division of minority and women's business development shall
issue an annual report which: (a) summarizes the report submitted by
each contracting agency pursuant to subdivision three of this section;
(b) contains such comparative or other information as the director deems
appropriate, including but not limited to goals compared to actual
participation of minority and women-owned business enterprises in state
contracting and a listing of annual participation rates for each agency,
the total number of certified minority and women-owned businesses for
that reporting year, and the total dollar value of state expenditures on
certified minority and women-owned business contracts and subcontracts
for that reporting year, to evaluate the effectiveness of the activities
undertaken by each such contracting agency to promote increased
participation by certified minority or women-owned businesses with
respect to state contracts and subcontracts; (c) contains a summary of
all waivers of the requirements of subdivisions six and seven of section
three hundred thirteen of this article allowed by each contracting
agency during the period covered by the report, including a description
of the basis of the waiver request and the contracting agency's
rationale for granting any such waiver; (d) describes any efforts to
create a database or other information storage and retrieval system
containing information relevant to contracting with minority and
women-owned business enterprises; and (e) contains a summary of (i) all
determinations of violations of this article by a contractor or a
contracting agency made during the period covered by the annual report
pursuant to section three hundred sixteen-a of this article and (ii) the
penalties or sanctions, if any, assessed in connection with such
determinations and the rationale for such penalties or sanctions. Copies
of the annual report shall be provided to the commissioner, the
governor, the comptroller, the temporary president of the senate, the
speaker of the assembly, the minority leader of the senate, the minority
leader of the assembly and shall also be made widely available to the
public via, among other things, publication on a website maintained by
the division of minority and women's business development.

5. Each agency shall include in its annual report to the governor and
legislature pursuant to section one hundred sixty-four of this chapter:
(a) its annual goals for contracts with minority-owned and women-owned
business enterprises; (b) the number of actual contracts issued to
minority-owned and women-owned business enterprises; (c) a summary of
all waivers of the requirements of subdivisions six and seven of section
three hundred thirteen of this article allowed by the reporting agency
during the preceding year, including a description of the basis of the
waiver request and the rationale for granting such waiver; (d) whether
or not it has been required to prepare a remedial plan, and, if so, the
plan and the extent to which the agency has complied with each element
of the plan; (e) which expenditures are exempt from participation goals
and the rationale for such exemption; and (f) every four years,
beginning September fifteenth, two thousand twenty, each agency shall
include in such annual report its four-year growth plan pursuant to
section three hundred eleven of this article.

6. Each contracting agency that substantially fails to make a good
faith effort as defined by regulation of the director, to achieve the
maximum feasible participation of minority and women-owned business
enterprises in such agency's contracting shall be required to submit to
the director a remedial action plan to remedy such failure.

7. If it is determined by the director that any agency has failed to
act in good faith to implement the remedial action plan, pursuant to
subdivision six of this section within one year, the director shall
provide written notice of such a finding, which shall be publicly
available, and direct implementation of remedial actions to:

(a) assure that sufficient and effective solicitation efforts to women
and minority-owned business enterprises are being made by said agency;

(b) divide contract requirements, when economically feasible, into
quantities that will expand the participation of women and
minority-owned business enterprises;

(c) eliminate extended experience or capitalization requirements, when
programmatically and economically feasible, that will expand
participation by women and minority-owned business enterprises;

(d) identify specific proposed contracts as particularly attractive or
appropriate for participation by women and minority-owned business
enterprises with such identification to result from and be coupled with
the efforts of paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this subdivision; and

(e) upon a finding by the director that an agency has failed to take
affirmative measures to implement the remedial plan and to follow any of
the remedial actions set forth by the director, and in the absence of
any objective progress towards the agency's goals, require some or all
of the agency's procurement, for a specified period of time, be placed
under the direction and control of another agency or agencies.

* NB Repealed December 31, 2024