New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 17 - TREASURY - GENERAL › Chapter 27 - EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION RULES › Subchapter 3 - GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLIC AGENCIES AWARDING CONTRACTS › Section 17:27-3.10 - State-approved public agency affirmative action construction programs; delegated authority

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of
				this subchapter, a public agency may establish its own affirmative action
				program for construction contracts and submit said program to the Department
				for designation as a State-approved affirmative action construction program
				resulting in the delegation of authority to monitor its own construction
				projects for Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action compliance. Any
				public agency program so designated shall exclusively establish the State
				affirmative action procedures and requirements which implement
				N.J.S.A.
				10:5-31 et seq., as applied to construction
				contracts and subcontracts involving said public agency.
(b) The Department may designate a public
				agency's affirmative action construction program as State-approved only if the
				program requires the public agency's construction contracts to conform to the
				mandatory contract language requirements of
				N.J.A.C.
				17:27-3.6(b). Said program
				requires the public agency's advertisement and solicitation of construction
				contract bids to contain the following language: "Bidders are required to
				comply with requirements of
				N.J.S.A.
				10:5-31 et seq.," and said program
				establishes targeted employment goal, which is not lower than the targeted goal
				established by
				N.J.A.C.
				17:27-7.2.
(c) A public agency that seeks to have its
				program designated as a State-approved program shall submit to the Department a
				complete description of its program, copies of the relevant forms and
				administrative and regulatory documents, and any other information requested by
				the Department. Within 60 business days of receiving all necessary information,
				the Department shall either designate a public agency affirmative action
				program as State-approved for an initial period of one year or reject said
				program in accordance with the Division's Standard Operating Procedures.
				Approval shall be conditioned upon the execution of a Memorandum of
				Understanding between the Department and the public agency. If an affirmative
				action program submitted by a public agency is disapproved, the Department
				shall state, in writing, reasons for the disapproval and allow the public
				agency to seek reconsideration by making a request, in writing, to the
				Department and correcting any defects as stated in the Department's written
				response.
(d) Any change that a
				public agency intends to make in a State-approved program shall first be
				submitted in writing to the Department for approval. The Department shall
				approve all changes to a State-approved program in writing. Any changes to a
				State-approved program made without the written approval of the Department
				shall terminate the State approval.
(e) Within 60 business days prior to the
				expiration of State approval of a public agency's affirmative action program,
				the public agency may request renewal of the State's approval for a two-year
				period, in accordance with the procedures for obtaining initial approval set
				forth in (d) above. The Department shall evaluate the public agency's
				compliance with the State-approved program in determining whether the approved
				designation should be renewed.
(f)
				The Department may review the operation of any State-approved program, and
				where appropriate, may issue a written notice of termination. Any such
				termination shall become effective 60 business days after the written notice of
				termination and opportunity to cure is issued.
(g) Any construction contractor or
				subcontractor that submits appropriate evidence, in accordance with
				N.J.A.C.
				17:27-3.6(a)2 iv, that it is
				operating under an existing Federally approved or sanctioned affirmative action
				program to a public agency, including a public agency that is operating under
				its own State-approved affirmative action construction program, shall be deemed
				to have satisfied the affirmative action requirements of
				N.J.S.A.
				10:5-31 et seq. The determination of the
				Department as to what constitutes such appropriate evidence shall be binding on
				the contractor or subcontractor.