CIVIL RIGHTS AND PUBLIC

TRANSPORTATION

Presented for: Ohio Department of Transportation

September, 2008

Presented By: Robbie SarlesRLS & Associates, Inc.

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OBJECTIVES

Provide an overview of civil rights legislation Enable agencies to assess compliance Provide guidance on methods to eliminate or

prevent civil rights violations Procedures for resolving discrimination

complaints

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CIVIL RIGHTS RELATED REQUIREMENTS FOR TRANSIT

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Providing Language Access to Persons

with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) – Executive Order 13166

Environmental Justice – Executive Order 12898

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

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TITLE VI

Applies to all FTA recipients and sub-recipients• “No person in the United States shall, on the

grounds of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

• 42 U.S.C., Section 2000d

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TITLE VI PROTECTS

Anyone intended to be the beneficiary of, applicant for, or participant in a Federally assisted program

Applies to all persons• All races• All shades of color• National Origin

Later statutes extended the scope of Title VI to include prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of income, age, sex, and disability

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DOT AND DOJ REGULATION

Prohibits disparate impact discrimination• Practice lacks a substantial legitimate justification• There are other comparable alternatives that

would result in less disparate impact• The justification is a pretext for discrimination

Intentional discrimination

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DOT TITLE VI REGULATIONS

Recipients may not:• Deny any protected individual service, financial

aid, or benefit under the program• Provide any service, financial aid, or benefit that

is different for protected individuals from that provided to others

• Subject a protected individual to segregation or separate treatment

• Restrict a protected individual in the employment of any advantage or privilege enjoyed by others

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DOT TITLE VI REGULATIONS (CONTINUED)

Recipients may not: (continued)• Treat protected individuals differently in terms of

whether they satisfy admission, eligibility, or membership requirements

• Deny a protected individual the opportunity to participate in the provision of services

• Deny a protected individual the opportunity to participate as a member of a planning or advisory body

• Use criteria or methods of administration that have the effect of subjecting individuals to discrimination

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DOT TITLE VI REGULATIONS (CONTINUED)

Recipients may not: (continued)• Make decisions in regard to facility location with

the purpose or effect of subjecting persons to discrimination

• Discriminate with regard to the routing, scheduling, or quality of transit service

• Use race, color, or national origin as a basis for determining frequency of service, age and quality of vehicles assigned to routes, quality of stations serving different routes, and location of routes

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DOT TITLE VI REGULATIONS (CONTINUED)

Recipients must:• Take affirmative action to assure non-

discrimination

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FTA GUIDANCE FOR COMPLIANCE

Title VI Program Guidelines to FTA Recipients• FTA Circular 4702.1

www.fta.dot.gov• Civil rights / accessibility

Annual Title VI Assurances• Annual certification and assurance submission

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EIGHT REQUIRED ACTIONS

1. Develop Title VI complaint procedures• Develop method for filing complaints• Develop method for investigating and tracking

complaints• See example

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EIGHT REQUIRED ACTIONS (CONTINUED)

2. Record Title VI investigations, complaints, and lawsuits• Maintain a list of active investigations conducted

by entities other than FTA, lawsuits or complaints alleging discriminationo Date filedo Summary of allegationo Current statuso Actions taken in response

• See example

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* ODOT should be notified immediately in the case of a lawsuit or complaint alleging discrimination

EIGHT REQUIRED ACTIONS (CONTINUED)

3. Provide meaningful access to persons with Limited English Proficiency – benefits, services, information, and other important portions of their programs• Develop an LEP Plan or equivalent

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EIGHT REQUIRED ACTIONS (CONTINUED)

4. Notify beneficiaries of Title VI protections• Disseminate information to public

o Statement that agency operates programs without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, age, income, or disability (should be included in all printed materials regarding service)

o Procedures for requesting additional information on non-discrimination obligations

o Compliant procedures• Use variety of dissemination methods• General notification• Document translation• See example

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EIGHT REQUIRED ACTIONS (CONTINUED)

5. Provide additional information upon request• In response to a complaint investigation• To resolve concerns about possible non-

compliance

6. Prepare and submit a Title VI program• Report certain general information as part of

grant application

7. Analyze impact of construction projects• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)• Categorical exclusion• ODOT will work with system to determine in a

NEPA analysis is required. 16

EIGHT REQUIRED ACTIONS (CONTINUED)

8. Promote inclusive public participation• Conduct public outreach and involvement

activities with minority and low-income individuals

• Agency determines most appropriate approacho Should seek out and consider the viewpoints

of minority, low-income, and LEP populations when conducting public outreach and involvement activities

o Early and continuous opportunity for input• ODOT emphasized since most overlooked

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GUIDANCE FOR TRANSIT AGENCIES

Prepare demographic analysis• Maps with overlays showing distribution of service

to protected populations Set system-wide service standards

• Vehicle load, headway, assignment, access, amenities

Monitor and compare Assess impact of service and changes Document procedures for informing protected

populations of upcoming service changes

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Sample graphic from the New Hampshire DOT Title VI Overview Report

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Sample graphic from the New Hampshire DOT Title VI Overview Report

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Sample graphic from the New Hampshire DOT Title VI Overview Report

GUIDANCE FOR TRANSIT AGENCIES (CONTINUED)

Provide a racial breakdown of non-elected boards, advisory councils, and committees• Encourage participation of protected populations’

representatives

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ENFORCEMENT Procedures for securing voluntary

compliance• Identify deficiency or non-compliance

oQuality assurance reviewoCompliant

• Notification of sub-recipientoLetter of finding

• Recipient responseoPlanned corrective actionoSufficient justification for action

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ENFORCEMENT (CONTINUED) Procedures for securing voluntary

compliance (continued)• Final decision

oODOToUSDOToDepartment of Justice

Enforcement Proceeding• Suspend or terminate Federal financial assistance

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PROVIDE MEANINGFUL ACCESS TO PERSONS WITH LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY AND LOW LITERACY

Persons with Limited English Proficiency (LEP)• Persons who do not speak English as their primary

language• Persons who have a limited ability to read, write,

speak, or understand English Households with Limited English Proficiency

(LEP)• No one over age 14 speaks English well, and is

linguistically isolated

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LEP POPULATION IN THE US

More than 10 million do not speak English at all or well

Increased by 65% from 1990 to 2000 Other common languages• Spanish• Chinese• Vietnamese• Korean

Greater than 11% of LEP persons take transit to work

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LOW LITERACY

National Literacy Council defines “low literacy” as:• “An individual’s ability to read, write, and speak

English and compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job and in society, to achieve one’s goals, and develop one’s knowledge and potential.”

On a scale of 1 – 5, 21% had the lowest literacy skills (level 1) and 27% had the second lowest (level 2)

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LEP EXECUTIVE ORDER 13166

Each Federal agency shall examine the services it provides and develop and implement a system by which LEP persons can meaningfully access those services

Required in all ODOT and FTA program applications and proposals

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DOT LEP GUIDANCE

Two methods• Agencies serving significant populations of LEP

personsoDevelop a language implementation plan

• Agencies serving small populations of LEP personso Implement procedures to reasonably provide

meaningful access

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SIGNIFICANT LEP POPULATION – DEVELOP A LANGUAGE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

FTA publication• “Implementing the Department of

Transportation’s Policy Guidance Concerning Recipients’ Responsibilities to Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Persons: A Handbook for Public Transportation Providers.”

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FOUR FACTORS INCLUDED IN PLAN

1. Identify number or proportion of LEP persons eligible or likely to be served• Compare service area with geographic

distribution of LEP persons

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Sample graphic from the New Hampshire DOT Title VI Overview Report

FOUR FACTORS INCLUDED IN PLAN (CONTINUED)

2. Determine frequency with which LEP persons come into contact with the service• Track number of calls or service requests made by

LEP persons• Track number of requests for a translator, travel

trainer• Track number of LEP persons that attended public

meetings or outreach activities

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FOUR FACTORS INCLUDED IN PLAN (CONTINUED)

3. Define the nature and importance of the program, activity, or service provided to LEP persons• System’s mission statement• Provide a trip purpose summary• List major trip generators

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FOUR FACTORS INCLUDED IN PLAN (CONTINUED)

4. Identify resources and costs associated with providing meaningful access to LEP persons• Identify others in community that address the

needs of LEP persons• Identify resources available in local community

oResources that can provide oral and written translation

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SMALL LEP POPULATION – IMPLEMENT REASONABLE PROCEDURES TO PROVIDE MEANINGFUL ACCESS

No written plan requirement Minimum recommendations• Summaries of vital documents should be

translated upon request• Qualified community volunteers should be

engaged to provide oral translation when needed Other actions as appropriate

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REASONABLE STEPS

Smaller agencies are encouraged to explore the most cost-effective means of delivering competent and accurate language services before limiting services due to resource concerns

Reduce cost by technological advances, reasonable business practices and sharing language assistance materials and resources

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REASONABLE STEPS – PROVIDING LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE

Oral interpretation in person• Train bilingual staff to serve as interpreters or

translators• Use qualified community volunteers to provide

interpretive services• Hire qualified interpreters for critical

presentations/meetings provided to a high volume of LEP persons

Oral interpretation via commercially available telephonic interpretation services

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REASONABLE STEPS – PROVIDING LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE (CONTINUED)

Guidance on oral interpretation services• Ensure competency of interpreters• Ensure interpretation is made in a timely manner• Utilize skills of existing staff• Contract with interpreters when there is no

regular need for a particular language skill

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REASONABLE STEPS – PROVIDING LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE (CONTINUED)

Written translation• Translate entire reports that provide essential

information• Translate a short description of the report• Translate reports upon request• Use qualified translators to make sure documents

are accurate• Translate into languages where there is identified

need (four factor analysis)• Use pictures/pictograms for low-literacy persons

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ELEMENTS OF AN EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN ON LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE

Conduct needs assessment Develop language assistance measures Train staff Provide notice to LEP persons Expand outreach efforts Monitor and update plan

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ENGAGING LOW-LITERACY AND LEP POPULATIONS IN TRANSPORTATION DECISION MAKING

Hold public meeting in accessible locations and at accessible times

Provide notice through radio announcements Be observant and sensitive to people who

cannot read English Give opportunity to provide verbal comments Use maps, diagrams, pictures

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