N.Y. Exec. Law § 314

* § 314. Statewide certification program. 1. The director shall\npromulgate rules and regulations providing for the establishment of a\nstatewide certification program including rules and regulations\ngoverning the approval, denial or revocation of any such certification.\nSuch rules and regulations shall include, but not be limited to, such\nmatters as may be required to ensure that the established procedures\nthereunder shall at least be in compliance with the code of fair\nprocedure set forth in section seventy-three of the civil rights law.\n 2. For the purposes of this article, the office shall be responsible\nfor verifying businesses as being owned, operated, and controlled by\nminority group members or women and for certifying such verified\nbusinesses. The director shall prepare a directory of certified\nbusinesses for use by contracting agencies and contractors in carrying\nout the provisions of this article. The director shall periodically\nupdate the directory.\n 2-a. (a) The director shall establish a procedure enabling the office\nto accept New York municipal corporation certification verification for\nminority and women-owned business enterprise applicants in lieu of\nrequiring the applicant to complete the state certification process. The\ndirector shall promulgate rules and regulations to set forth criteria\nfor the acceptance of municipal corporation certification. All eligible\nmunicipal corporation certifications shall require business enterprises\nseeking certification to meet the following standards:\n (i) have at least fifty-one percent ownership by a minority or a\nwomen-owned enterprise and be owned by United States citizens or\npermanent resident aliens;\n (ii) be an enterprise in which the minority and/or women-ownership\ninterest is real, substantial and continuing;\n (iii) be an enterprise in which the minority and/or women-ownership\nhas and exercises the authority to control independently the day-to-day\nbusiness decisions of the enterprise;\n (iv) be an enterprise authorized to do business in this state;\n (v) be subject to a physical site inspection to verify the fifty-one\npercent ownership requirement;\n (vi) be owned by an individual or individuals, whose ownership,\ncontrol and operation are relied upon for certification, with a personal\nnet worth that does not exceed three million five hundred thousand\ndollars, as adjusted annually for inflation according to the consumer\nprice index; and\n (vii) be an enterprise that is a small business pursuant to\nsubdivision twenty of section three hundred ten of this article.\n (b) The director shall work with all municipal corporations that have\na municipal minority and women-owned business enterprise program to\ndevelop standards to accept state certification to meet the municipal\ncorporation minority and women-owned business enterprise certification\nstandards.\n (c) The director shall establish a procedure enabling the division to\naccept federal certification verification for minority and women-owned\nbusiness enterprise applicants, provided said standards comport with\nthose required by the state minority and women-owned business program,\nin lieu of requiring the applicant to complete the state certification\nprocess. The director shall promulgate rules and regulations to set\nforth criteria for the acceptance of federal certification.\n 3. Following application for certification pursuant to this section,\nthe director shall provide the applicant with written notice of the\nstatus of the application, including notice of any outstanding\ndeficiencies, within thirty days. Within sixty days of submission of a\nfinal completed application, the director shall provide the applicant\nwith written notice of a determination by the office approving or\ndenying such certification and, in the event of a denial a statement\nsetting forth the reasons for such denial. Upon a determination denying\nor revoking certification, the business enterprise for which\ncertification has been so denied or revoked shall, upon written request\nmade within thirty days from receipt of notice of such determination, be\nentitled to a hearing before an independent hearing officer designated\nfor such purpose by the director. In the event that a request for a\nhearing is not made within such thirty day period, such determination\nshall be deemed to be final. The independent hearing officer shall\nconduct a hearing and upon the conclusion of such hearing, issue a\nwritten recommendation to the director to affirm, reverse or modify such\ndetermination of the director. Such written recommendation shall be\nissued to the parties. The director, within thirty days, by order, must\naccept, reject or modify such recommendation of the hearing officer and\nset forth in writing the reasons therefor. The director shall serve a\ncopy of such order and reasons therefor upon the business enterprise by\npersonal service or by certified mail return receipt requested. The\norder of the director shall be subject to review pursuant to article\nseventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules.\n 4. The director may, after performing an availability analysis and\nupon a finding that industry-specific factors coupled with personal net\nworth or small business eligibility requirements pursuant to\nsubdivisions nineteen and twenty of section three hundred ten of this\narticle, respectively, have led to the significant exclusion of\nbusinesses owned by minority group members or women in that industry,\ngrant provisional MWBE certification status to applicants from that\ndesignated industry, provided, however, that all other eligibility\nrequirements pursuant to subdivision seven or fifteen of section three\nhundred ten of this article, as applicable, are satisfied. Any\nindustry-based determination made under this section by the director\nshall be made widely available to the public and posted on the\ndivision's website.\n 5. With the exception of provisional MWBE certification, as provided\nfor in subdivision twenty-three of section three hundred ten of this\narticle, all certifications shall be valid for a period of three years.\n * NB Expires December 31, 2017\n