Companion Guide to Video January 2014

www.fhwa.dot.gov/federal-aidessentials

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, along with 

other nondiscrimination authorities, prohibits 

discrimination based upon race, color, national 

origin, sex, age, disability, income status, and 

limited English proficiency in any program or 

activity of an entity that receives Federal-aid. 

To ensure continuous compliance with Title VI, 

the Federal Highway Administration, the FHWA, 

requires each Federal-aid recipient to have a 

Title VI program. That program includes 

assurances, a signed agreement between the 

recipient and FHWA, that the recipient will work 

to prevent discrimination in all its programs and 

activities. 

If your agency has previously signed or is being 

asked to sign an assurance document, then all 

agency decisionmakers will need to know what 

the document contains. Let’s review the 

Standard Title VI Assurance &

Nondiscrimination Provisions and its application 

on an FHWA-funded project. 

The assurances document includes three 

sections and Appendices A through E. 

The first section, Standard and Regulatory 

Authorities, references the numerous legal acts,

regulations, and Executive Orders that prohibit 

discrimination. Some authorities prohibit 

discrimination based on race, color, and national 

origin while others prohibit discrimination based 

on age, sex, disability, limited English 

proficiency and income status. 

Next is a general assurance that your agency 

will not engage in discriminatory practices. 

Civil Rights

Title VI Program

Nondiscrimination Assurances

A Federal-aid recipient must have 'assurances,' a signed agreement to 

assure nondiscrimination in all of its programs and activities
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

Specific assurances follow, which state that 

agency programs, facilities, and activities are 

free of discrimination. 

These numerous authorities and assurances 

result in a broad definition of prohibited 

discriminatory actions. 

The specific assurances also describe proactive 

steps your agency must take to ensure 

nondiscrimination. They state that your agency 

will: 

• Provide a method of administration typically 

contained in an implementation plan

• Include in all solicitations for bids the 

affirmation that bidders will receive fair 

opportunity 

• Add clauses related to nondiscrimination in 

every contract. General clauses are contained in 

Appendices A and E, while clauses related to 

property and property rights are contained in 

Appendices B, C, and D

• Provide evidence that it is complying with these 

requirements. 

To illustrate how these assurances work in 

practice, let’s follow the fictional town of Pebble 

Creek as it plans its initial use of Federal funds 

to widen a road.

First, the newly appointed Title VI coordinator 

and the town’s appropriate department heads 

describe all the nondiscrimination policies and 

practices in an implementation plan. 

When the project is ready to submit for bid, the 

town’s procurement department publishes an 

advertisement to all bidders and includes the 

required nondiscrimination notice. 

After all the bids are in, the town drafts a 

contract with the lowest bidder, Ace 

Construction Company. The procurement officer 

makes sure to include the clauses from 

Appendices A and E. 

During the pre-construction meeting, Pebble 

Creek’s project manager reviews the 

nondiscrimination clauses with Ace Construction 

Company. Specifically, they talk about the 

contractor’s requirements for subcontracting, as 
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

well as the records the contractor will maintain. 

They discuss ways in which Pebble Creek will 

ensure these requirements are met, along with 

the sanctions for noncompliance, including 

withholding progress payments. 

As our example illustrates, by signing the Title VI 

assurance document and accepting Federal 

funds, agencies agree to follow their 

implementation plan, participate in reviews with 

their funding agency, conduct reviews of their 

subrecipients and contractors, and take 

enforcement actions when required. Failure to 

do so may result in a loss of Federal funding for 

projects or for all of an agency’s programs. 

After signing a Title VI assurance document, 

meet with your agency’s key decisionmakers 

and review the document’s requirements, noting 

ways it might change your existing practices. If 

your agency did not sign its agreement recently, 

it’s time to remind key decisionmakers of their 

legal obligation to comply with their 

requirements.
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

The content of this 

document is not a 

substitute for 

information obtained 

from State departments 

of transportation, 

appropriate FHWA 

Division Offices, and 

applicable laws. 

Scenarios have been 

simplified for emphasis 

and do not necessarily 

reflect the actual range of 

requirements applicable 

to the scenario or this 

topic. This document

was created under 

contract number 

DTFH61-11-D-00025 by 

the Federal Highway 

Administration, U.S. 

Department of 

Transportation, and is 

offered to the public to 

heighten and focus 

awareness of Federal-aid 

requirements within the 

local public agencies 

community and 

reinforces the 

importance of these 

necessary policies, 

procedures, and 

practices.

This Companion Resource 

is the script content for 

the video production of 

the same name. 

Additional Resources

• FHWA's Office of Civil Rights Web site with additional resources to Title 

VI program implementation 

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/civilrights/

FHWA Title VI and related statues, including regulations for 

implementing Title VI program 

requirementshttp://www.ecfr.gov/cgi/t/text/textidx?c=ecfr&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title23/23cfr200_main_02.tpl

• U.S. DOT regulations for implementing its Title VI nondiscrimination 

requirements

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi/t/text/textidx?c=ecfr&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title49/49cfr21_main_02.tpl