Cite as: 528 U. S. 216 (2000)
Per Curiam
that the cause of action was moot and vacated the District Court's Ada-rand II judgment.
Held: Petitioner's cause of action is not moot because, under the circumstances of this case, it is impossible to conclude that respondents have borne their burden of establishing that the challenged conduct could not reasonably be expected to recur. Friends of Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services (TOC), Inc., ante, at 189. If this case is moot, it is because the Federal Government has accepted CDOT's certification of petitioner as a disadvantaged business enterprise, and has thereby ceased its offending conduct. But DOT accepts only valid certifications from state agencies, and it has yet to approve—as it must—CDOT's procedure. Because there are material differences (not to say incompatibility) between that procedure and DOT's regulations, it is not at all clear that CDOT's certification is valid, and hence not at all clear that the Subcontractor Compensation Clause requires its acceptance. It is also far from clear that there will be no third-party or DOT challenge to petitioner's certification. Indeed, such challenges seem quite probable now that the Tenth Circuit, by vacating Adarand II, has eliminated the sole basis for petitioner's certification in the first place.
Certiorari granted; 169 F. 3d 1292, reversed and remanded.
Per Curiam.
I
Congress has adopted a policy that favors contracting with small businesses owned and controlled by the socially and economically disadvantaged. See § 8(d)(1) of the Small Business Act, as added by § 7 of Pub. L. 87-305, 75 Stat. 667, and as amended, 15 U. S. C. § 637(d)(1) (1994 ed., Supp. IV). To effectuate that policy, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA), Pub. L. 102-240, § 1003(b), 105 Stat. 1919, which is an appropriations measure for the Department of Transportation (DOT), seeks to direct 10 percent of the contracting funds expended on projects funded in whole or in part by the appropriated funds to transportation projects employing so-called disadvantaged business enterprises.1 ISTEA § 1003(b)(1).
1 Congress recently enacted the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, Pub. L. 105-178, Tit. I, § 1101(b), 112 Stat. 113, the successor appropriations measure to ISTEA. Although the new Act contains simi-
217
Page: Index Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007