§ 1197-q. Authority; affirmative action. 1. All contracts for design,
construction, services or materials for water projects authorized by
this title shall require that such contracts and documents soliciting
bids or proposals therefor shall contain or make reference to the
following provisions:

(a) The contractor will not discriminate against employees or
applicants for employment because of race, creed, color, national
origin, sex, age, disability, or marital status, and will undertake or
continue programs of affirmative action to insure that minority group
persons and women are afforded equal employment opportunity without
discrimination. Such action shall be taken with reference, but not be
limited to recruitment, employment, job assignment, promotion,
upgrading, demotion, transfer, layoff, termination, rates of pay or
other forms of compensation, and selections for training or retraining,
including apprenticeship and on-the-job training.

(b) At the request of the authority, the contractor shall request each
employment agency, labor union, or authorized representative of workers
with which he or she has a collective bargaining or other agreement or
understanding, to furnish a written statement that such employment
agency, labor union or representative shall not discriminate because of
race, creed, color, national origin, sex, age, disability or marital
status and that such union or representative will cooperate in the
implementation of the contractor's obligations hereunder.

(c) The contractor will state, in all solicitations or advertisements
for employees placed by or on behalf of the contractor, in performance
of the contract that all qualified applicants will be afforded equal
employment opportunity without discrimination because of race, creed,
color, national origin, sex, age, disability or marital status.

(d) The contractor will include the provisions of paragraphs (a)
through (c) of this subdivision in every subcontract or purchase order
in such a manner that such provisions will be binding upon each
subcontractor or vendor as to its working connection with a contract.

2. The authority shall establish procedures and guidelines to ensure
that contractors and subcontractors undertake programs of affirmative
action as required by this section. Such procedures may require, after
notice in a bid solicitation, the submission of an affirmative action
program prior to the award of any contract, or at any time thereafter,
and may require the submission of compliance reports relating to the
operation and implementation of any affirmative action program adopted
hereunder. Such procedures and guidelines shall be consistent with the
guidelines promulgated by the office of federal contract compliance
programs of the United States department of labor pursuant to
presidential executive order eleven thousand two hundred forty-six, as
amended, and any state statutory or regulatory requirements. The
authority shall, in the promulgation of procedures and guidelines
pursuant to this section, cooperate with any federal, state or local
agency established for the purpose of implementing affirmative action
compliance programs.

3. The authority shall seek meaningful participation in the
performance of contracts by minority business enterprises and shall
establish measures and procedures to identify those contracts and items
of work for which minority business enterprises may best bid to actively
and affirmatively promote and assist their participation so as to
facilitate the award of a fair share of contracts to such enterprises.
For purposes hereof, "minority business enterprise" shall mean any
business enterprise which is at least fifty-one per centum owned by, or
in the case of a publicly owned business, at least fifty-one per centum
of the stock of which is owned by citizens or permanent resident
noncitizens who are Black, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian or women,
and such ownership interest is real, substantial and continuing. The
provisions of this subdivision shall not be construed to limit the
ability of any minority business enterprise to bid on any contract.

4. In the implementation of subdivisions two and three of this
section, the authority shall consider compliance by any contractor with
the requirements of any federal, state or local law concerning minority
business enterprises or equal employment opportunity, which may
effectuate the requirements of this section. If the authority determines
that by virtue of the imposition of the requirements of any such law, in
respect to contracts affected by this section, that the provisions
thereof duplicate or conflict with such law, the authority shall waive
the applicability of this section to the extent of such duplication or
conflict.

5. In order to implement the requirements and objectives of this
section, the authority shall be responsible for monitoring the
contractors' compliance with the provisions hereof, for advising
contractors on the availability of competing qualified minority business
enterprises to perform contracts proposed to be awarded and for making
recommendations to contractors to improve the access of minority
business enterprises to such contracts.