TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 343: Management of Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Issues in Construction Contracting examines state transportation agencies' (STA's) various approaches to implementation of DBE regulations relating to bidder's lists; prompt payment; return of retainage; actual achievements, including accounting and reporting procedures; good faith efforts; and compliance, including substitutions, fraud, and commercially useful functions. The report also includes information on construction and construction management contracts, designbuild projects, master contracts (indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity, services on demand, and task ordering), pass-through to local agencies, and STA performance measures.

As highway congestion continues to be a problem in many areas, states are looking to construct or expand highway projects. When a state dept. of transport. receives fed. funding for a highway project, the projects must comply with the Nat. Environmental Policy Act, the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirement, the Disadvantaged Bus. Enterprise program, and the Buy America program. This report addressed: (1) the types of benefits and costs associated with these requirements for fed.-aid highway projects; (2) the influence of these fed. requirements on states' decisions to use nonfederal or fed. funds for highway projects; and (3) the challenges associated with the fed. requirements and strategies used or proposed to address the challenges. Illus.