DBE Certification Blog

News, regulatory updates, and practical tips for California businesses navigating DBE, ACDBE, and SBE certification.

What is live right now: USDOT's final rule, effective September 25, sets federal reevaluation deadlines — December 24, 2026 for certifying programs and March 24, 2027 (later with an extension) for firms that have not filed. Alongside it, Caltrans proposes cutting the FHWA goal from 21.35% to 11.80%, public comment on which closed on September 30, 2026— the goals themselves are still waiting on FHWA and FTA. Behind them, the programme is running again after the injunction was dissolved, and the April reevaluation deadline has passed without decertifying anyone who missed it. If you are just working out which certification you need, start with the phrase that appears on state solicitations or the table of every size limit; the $2,047,000 personal net worth cap and the five changes the October 2025 rule made are the two that catch most applicants out. Two more sit slightly off that path: what actually separates a state DVBE from a federal SDVOSB, and the documents applicants leave out often enough to stall a file before the 90-day clock even starts.