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. 

The Title VI program includes methods of 

administration, a system of policies and 

practices typically contained in an 

implementation plan. 

Policies and practices address implementation, 

monitoring, and compliance and enforcement 

activities. 

Let’s take a look at how these procedures can 

ensure compliance with and enforcement of Title 

VI program requirements. 

Civil Rights

Title VI Program

Compliance and Enforcement

A Federal-aid recipient must perform civil rights compliance monitoring and 

provide enforcement of the Federal regulations
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

To demonstrate that an agency’s programs and 

activities are consistently meeting requirements, 

agencies routinely participate in a review. 

During the review, the agency is asked to show 

its Title VI assurance document and 

implementation plan. The agency also provides 

additional records to verify that activities, such 

as data collection, training, outreach, public 

involvement, and complaint handling, are being 

conducted as described in its plan. 

As a result of the review, an agency may learn 

about actual or potential discriminatory 

practices, called findings, along with specific 

ways to remedy problems and strengthen its 

program. This could include training, technical 

assistance, or other corrective actions.

Findings and corrective actions are then 

summarized in a report. 

By implementing the report’s corrective actions 

in a timely fashion, agencies maintain 

compliance with Title VI program requirements. 

Failure to implement those actions can lead to a 

pattern of discriminatory practices that result in 

enforcement actions, such as suspension or 

termination of project funding or Federal funding 

as a whole. To illustrate how this process works,

let’s follow along as a State department of 

transportation, or State DOT, conducts a review 

of a local public agency, or LPA. 

Initially, the LPA receives a letter from the State 

DOT informing it of an upcoming Title VI 

program review. The reviewer arrives onsite and 

asks to see the Title VI assurance document 

and the implementation plan. 

When reviewing the plan, the reviewer notices 

that priorities for filling potholes will be based on 
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

need, such as the impact on traffic. During a 

meeting with the maintenance department, the 

reviewer asks for data on the number of 

potholes filled and their locations. 

The reviewer finds that potholes are five times 

more likely to be repaired in affluent areas than 

in low-income areas and that filling potholes 

based on location, rather than need, is a 

discriminatory practice. The reviewer 

recommends that the LPA adhere to their 

procedures and conduct nondiscrimination 

training sessions for the maintenance 

department within 90 days. 

In another example, the fictional River City 

Department of Transportation awards a small 

portion of its Federal funds to Pebble Creek, an 

adjoining town, to help construct a bridge. After 

Pebble Creek conducts its public input meeting, 

River City receives several calls from concerned 

community members who were unable to attend 

the meeting. 

River City learns that Pebble Creek’s meeting 

was held when most people were at work. 

Furthermore, while the Pebble Creek residential 

population largely consists of Vietnamese 

immigrants, no translation services were 

provided during the meeting, and all meeting 

materials were in English. 

River City finds these practices inconsistent with 

its Title VI implementation plan. River City asks 

Pebble Creek to conduct an additional outreach 

meeting within 30 days and to provide an 

interpreter as well as an bilingual handouts. 

As our examples illustrate, by signing the Title VI 

assurance document as a condition to using 

Federal funds, awardees agree to follow their 

implementation plan, participate in reviews with 

their funding agency, conduct reviews of any 

sub-awardees, and take enforcement actions 

when required. Failure to do so may result in a 

suspension or termination of Federal-aid on any 

or all federally funded projects. Consult your 

Title VI implementation plan when preparing for 

a review or responding to a complaint. If you 

have questions about creating or updating a 

Title VI implementation plan, consult your 

agency or State DOT Title VI Coordinator.
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 Title VI and related statues, including regulations for 

Implementing the Title VI program requirements

http://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

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

Title VI program implementation.

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