Opinion ID: 359624
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: District Court Remand to HEW

Text: 17 The federal appellees, as cross-appellants, argue strenuously that the district court erred in sua sponte remanding the case to HEW. 15 We agree. 18 Section 602 of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d-1, 16 provides for three types of action to secure compliance with the substantive provisions of Section 601, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d: 17 (1) refusal to grant or termination of assistance, (2) other means authorized by law such as a reference to the Department of Justice, 45 C.F.R. § 80.8(a); 18 and (3) voluntary means. Where the agency seeks to compel compliance through termination of funds or other means, Section 602 requires that the agency proceed by formal means including an administrative hearing at which a record is made. Before doing so, however, HEW must attempt to secure compliance by voluntary means. 42 U.S.C. § 2000d-1; See note 16 Supra. 19 19 While HEW's regulations specify a variety of procedures to effectuate fund termination, 20 they do not provide for public participation or a hearing when HEW acts informally. 21 In addition, pursuant to Executive Order 11764 of January 21, 1974, granting the Attorney General authority to prescribe standards and procedures for Title VI enforcement, the Attorney General has adopted regulations which provide simply that any agreement to take remedial steps . . . shall be set forth in writing by the recipient and the federal agency(,) . . . specify the action necessary for the correction of Title VI deficiencies and . . . be available to the public. 28 C.F.R. § 42.411(b). No other procedures, such as a hearing or public participation, are required. These regulations are entitled to some weight in construing the meaning of Title VI. See Lau v. Nichols, 414 U.S. 563, 566-69, 94 S.Ct. 786, 39 L.Ed.2d 1 (1974); Udall v. Tallman, 380 U.S. 1, 16, 85 S.Ct. 792, 13 L.Ed.2d 616 (1965). 20 Because HEW did not seek compliance by fund termination, but rather by a voluntary agreement, HEW was not required to afford cross-appellees an opportunity to participate. The action taken here to effect compliance was precisely the type of action contemplated by Congress in using the phrase voluntary means. 42 U.S.C. § 2000d-1; See note 16 Supra. 21 Nevertheless, the district court held that participation was mandatory on the basis that the agreement was not voluntary. The principal reason for the district court's finding of involuntariness was that the City Board, along with the City as a whole, was in the midst of a fiscal crisis and presumably could not afford a fund termination while it litigated the issue of Title VI compliance. But the only fund termination sought by HEW related not to Title VI funds but to Emergency School Aid Act funds. 22 To be sure, a threat of potential fund termination lurked in the background since without such leverage voluntary compliance might possibly never be achieved. And after all, if there is lack of compliance, HEW is obligated to enforce the statute ultimately by terminating funds. Adams v. Richardson, 156 U.S.App.D.C. 267, 271, 480 F.2d 1159, 1163 (1973). 23 Undoubtedly then there is a certain amount of coercion inherent in the enforcement scheme. See United States v. Jefferson County Board of Education, supra, 372 F.2d at 856 (quoting Report of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Survey of School Desegregation in the Southern and Border States 1965-1966, 2). 22 Undercutting any actual coercion, however, are several points. The City Board's own study, the Gifford Report, confirmed the conditions cited in the November 9 letter from OCR. Moreover, the City Board's press release indicated that the agreement had been reached in a spirit of cooperation. And of course, the lack of participation by the Council of Supervisors and Administrators (CSA) cannot render a voluntary agreement involuntary. The City Board's commitments under the Memorandum, despite its impact on teachers and supervisors, came about by the City Board's decision to comply with OCR's interpretation of Title VI, not by any fund-termination action by OCR. Cf. Maher v. Roe, 432 U.S. 464, 475-76 & n. 9, 97 S.Ct. 2376, 2383, 53 L.Ed.2d 484 (1977) (distinction between direct interference with a protected activity and . . . encouragement of an alternative (permissible) activity). In addition, there was ample opportunity to communicate with the City Board between the time the terms of the agreement became publicly known and the time of its ratification, but no party, including CSA, sought to participate during that hiatus, although most parties were consulted in the interim. 23 In any event, the statutory scheme requires a hearing with notice only when HEW seeks fund termination. See, Board of Public Instruction of Palm Beach County v. Cohen, 413 F.2d 1201, 1202-03 (5th Cir. 1969). Where, as here, Congress has determined what procedures shall be required in effecting compliance with Title VI, the courts may not override that determination simply because they believe other procedures would be preferable. See Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 435 U.S. 519, 546, 98 S.Ct. 1197, 55 L.Ed.2d 460 (1978). 24 Order denying preliminary injunction on collection of racial/ethnic data affirmed; order remanding to HEW for administrative proceedings reversed; cause remanded to the district court for hearing on the merits.