Notice2021-23965
Title VI Implementation
Primary source
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Published
November 3, 2021
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Transit Administration
Abstract
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is considering amending Circular 4702.1B, Title VI Requirements and Guidelines for Federal Transit Administration Recipients (Title VI Circular) to incorporate lessons learned since its issuance on October 1, 2012. The Title VI Circular provides guidance and instructions to FTA recipients of Federal financial assistance on how to comply with requirements under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the DOT Title VI regulations at 49 CFR part 21, which prohibit discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in federally funded programs. The agency is seeking suggestions from all transit stakeholders--including transit agencies, transit riders and community members, planning officials, States, cities, and the private sector--on enhancements that could be made to the Title VI Circular to provide clarity, to ensure Title VI requirements are met, and to advance equity. Specifically, FTA seeks input on requirements related to public participation, service and fare equity, facility equity analyses, implementation of rider conduct policies, and additional technical resources for determining and documenting disparate impact.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 210 (Wednesday, November 3, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 210 (Wednesday, November 3, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60735-60737]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-23965]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
[Docket No. FTA-2021-0014]
Title VI Implementation
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Request for information on Title VI implementation.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is considering
amending Circular 4702.1B, Title VI Requirements and Guidelines for
Federal Transit Administration Recipients (Title VI Circular) to
incorporate lessons learned since its issuance on October 1, 2012. The
Title VI Circular provides guidance and instructions to FTA recipients
of Federal financial assistance on how to comply with requirements
under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the DOT Title VI
regulations at 49 CFR part 21, which prohibit discrimination based on
race, color, or national origin in federally funded programs. The
agency is seeking suggestions from all transit stakeholders--including
transit agencies, transit riders and community members, planning
officials, States, cities, and the private sector--on enhancements that
could be made to the Title VI Circular to provide clarity, to ensure
Title VI requirements are met, and to advance equity. Specifically, FTA
seeks input on requirements related to public participation, service
and fare equity, facility equity analyses, implementation of rider
conduct policies, and additional technical resources for determining
and documenting disparate impact.
DATES: Comments should be submitted on or before December 3, 2021. FTA
will consider comments filed after this date to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: You may file comments identified by docket number FTA-2021-
0014 by any of the following methods:
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
<bullet> Mail: Docket Operations, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, West Building Ground Floor,
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
<bullet> Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET,
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
[[Page 60736]]
<bullet> Fax: (202) 493-2251.
All submissions received must include the agency name and docket
number FTA-2021-0014. All comments received will be posted without
change to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, including any personal information
provided. You may review the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT)
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477).
For access to the docket to read background documents or comments
received, go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> at any time and search for docket
number FTA-2021-0014.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For program questions, Richie Nguyen,
Office of Civil Rights, (202) 366-2689 or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#34465d575c5d511a5a53414d515a74505b401a535b42"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5d2f343e35343873333a282438331d393229733a322b">[email protected]</span></a>. For
legal questions, Bonnie Graves, Office of Chief Counsel, (202) 366-0944
or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#61030e0f0f08044f06130017041221050e154f060e17"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8eece1e0e0e7eba0e9fceff8ebfdceeae1faa0e9e1f8">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: FTA Title VI Circular provides guidance to FTA
recipients of Federal financial assistance on how to comply with
requirements under Title VI and the DOT Title VI regulations, which
prohibit discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in
federally funded programs. The Title VI Circular provides specific
compliance information for each type of recipient: Transit providers,
States, and metropolitan planning organizations. The Title VI Circular
also provides several appendices, including additional guidance and
examples to help ensure recipients fulfill the requirements. The Title
VI Circular was last updated in 2012.
Under the Title VI Circular, direct and primary recipients submit a
Title VI Program demonstrating how the recipient is complying with
Title VI requirements to FTA once every three years or as otherwise
directed by FTA. FTA reviews Title VI Programs and their implementation
through various oversight activities, including complaint
investigations, Title VI Program Reviews, Specialized Title VI
Compliance Reviews, and as part of Triennial Reviews and State
Management Reviews. For more information on the existing Title VI
Circular, please see <a href="https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulations-and-guidance/fta-circulars/title-vi-requirements-and-guidelines-federal-transit">https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulations-and-guidance/fta-circulars/title-vi-requirements-and-guidelines-federal-transit</a>.
Through this request for information (RFI), FTA seeks input to
inform the development of changes to the existing Title VI Circular.
The timing for publication of an update to the Title VI Circular is not
certain. FTA poses 13 questions below and looks forward to feedback
from all interested parties.
The Title VI Circular contains binding obligations, which 49 U.S.C.
5334(k) defines as ``a substantive policy statement, rule, or guidance
document issued by the Federal Transit Administration that grants
rights, imposes obligations, produces significant effects on private
interests, or effects a significant change in existing policy.'' Under
49 U.S.C. 5334(k), FTA may issue binding obligations if it follows
notice and comment rulemaking procedures under 5 U.S.C. 553.
Accordingly, prior to making any amendments that would create a new
binding obligation or modify an existing one, FTA will follow such
notice and comment rulemaking procedures.
Public Participation
1. The Title VI Circular currently requires recipients to submit
and implement a public participation plan that includes an outreach
plan to engage minority and limited English proficient (LEP)
populations, as well as a summary of outreach efforts made since the
last Title VI Program submission. In June 2021, U.S. DOT issued a
revised Title VI Order Number DOT 1000.12C on the U.S. DOT Title VI
Program (Order), which provides policy direction, practices, and
standards to U.S. DOT Operating Administrations, including FTA, for
establishing and maintaining an enforcement program that ensures Title
VI compliance. The Order requires FTA to develop comprehensive
community participation requirements (Community Participation Plan)
that applicants and recipients must satisfy as a condition of receiving
an award of Federal financial assistance. The goal of the Community
Participation Plan is to ``facilitate full compliance with Title VI by
requiring meaningful public participation and engagement to ensure that
applicants and recipients are adequately informed about how programs or
activities will potentially impact affected communities, and to ensure
that diverse views are heard and considered throughout all stages of
the consultation, planning, and decision-making process.'' The Order
provides 10 effective practices that ensure proactive public
engagement: establishment of goals and objectives, identification of
affected communities, focused outreach, meaningful education, diverse
communications, comprehensive engagement, meaningful participation,
accessibility, reported outcomes, and recordkeeping. Which practices
outlined in the Order should FTA incorporate in its guidance on
promoting inclusive public participation? Are there additional
effective practices FTA should consider?
2. What effective public participation practices are transit
agencies currently using? How is meaningful access to public
participation activities provided to traditionally underserved
communities? How is effectiveness defined and measured?
Service and Fare Equity Analyses
3. The Title VI Circular currently requires transit providers that
operate 50 or more fixed route vehicles in peak service and are located
in an Urbanized Area (UZA) of 200,000 or more in population to prepare
and submit service and fare equity (SAFE) analyses as described in
Chapter IV. These SAFE analyses are conducted prior to implementing
service or fare changes, but they are submitted to FTA as part of a
recipient's Title VI program once every three years. Due to this gap in
time, FTA may not become aware of major service changes or fare changes
and the related equity analyses until years after the changes have been
made and the analyses conducted. Should FTA require a SAFE analysis be
posted on a recipient's website or submitted to FTA prior to the
service or fare change being enacted, in addition to submission with
the recipient's Title VI program? If so, how soon after an analysis is
conducted or before a change is approved or implemented should FTA
require posting or submission?
4. For major service change, disparate impact, and disproportionate
burden thresholds, the Title VI Circular does not set values or limits.
Regarding major service change thresholds, the Circular states, ``The
threshold for analysis shall not be set so high so as to never require
an analysis; rather, agencies shall select a threshold most likely to
yield a meaningful result in light of the transit provider's system
characteristics.'' Should FTA set a value or limit on major service
change, disparate impact, or disproportionate burden thresholds? If so,
what should that value or limit be--or what factors should be
evaluated?
5. The Title VI Circular explains existing public participation
requirements for development of major service change policies,
disparate impact policies, and disproportionate burden policies. Should
FTA address public participation where a transit provider finds a
potential disparate impact or disproportionate burden, specifically
with regard to analysis of modifications to avoid, minimize, or
mitigate potential disparate impacts?
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6. The Title VI Circular provides two data analysis options for
conducting a service equity analysis: Using population data or using
ridership data. Should FTA provide additional options for conducting a
service or fare equity analysis? If so, what alternatives should FTA
consider?
7. The Title VI Circular provides that service equity is measured
based on access to public transit service. Is this measure sufficient
to ensure equity, or should it be measured by destinations, such as how
many jobs riders can access from a particular stop within a specified
time, or how long it takes to get to grocery stores, medical
facilities, and other critical destinations, or by some other measure?
8. The Title VI Circular provides that temporary service changes
(12 months or less) and temporary fare reductions (6 months or less) do
not respectively require service and fare equity analyses. Should FTA
reconsider these timeframes? Should FTA require some analysis during
temporary changes to consider the equity impacts of the temporary
changes?
Facility Equity Analyses
9. The Title VI Circular, with regard to the determination of site
or location of facilities, requires a Title VI facility equity
analysis, in which a recipient must analyze the proposed location of
certain facilities to ensure there is no disparate impact in the siting
decision. FTA provides limited guidance in the Circular on this topic
but does require a comparison of equity impacts of various siting
alternatives and an analysis before the selection of the preferred
site. Should FTA provide additional guidance on facility equity
analyses, including public participation, disparate impact thresholds,
cumulative effects, or timeframes? Would stakeholders find it helpful
if FTA published a sample facility equity analysis, similar to the
sample SAFE analyses, in the Appendix to the Circular?
10. These facility equity analyses are conducted prior to site
selection, but they are submitted to FTA as part of a recipient's Title
VI program once every three years. Due to this gap in time, FTA may not
become aware of facility siting and related equity analyses until years
after they have been constructed or conducted. Should FTA require a
facility equity analysis be posted on a recipient's website or
submitted to FTA prior to site selection, in addition to submission
with the recipient's Title VI program? If so, how soon after an
analysis is conducted or before a change is approved or implemented
should FTA require posting or submission?
Implementation of Rider Conduct Policies
11. The Title VI Circular currently makes no mention of equitable
implementation of rider conduct policies, such as prohibitions on
smoking, littering, loitering, eating on vehicles, evading fares, or
playing music loudly. Given the potential for disparate impacts on the
basis of race, color, or national origin in the implementation of these
policies, which is prohibited by DOT Title VI regulations, FTA is
considering how to address these topics. To ensure compliance with
Title VI, how should FTA address the equitable implementation of rider
conduct policies?
Technical Resources for Analyzing Disparate Impact
12. FTA Regional Civil Rights Officers and Headquarters staff field
many technical assistance requests from transit providers asking how to
determine disparate impact and how to evaluate service and fare changes
for equity. These include transit providers who do not yet meet the
Chapter IV thresholds that require SAFE analyses or demographic data
collection and reporting. What commendable practices are transit
providers, and in particular smaller providers not subject to the
Chapter IV requirements, using to review their policies and practices
to ensure their service and fare changes do not result in disparate
impacts on the basis of race, color, or national origin?
Additional Title VI Circular Feedback
13. Should FTA consider incorporating guidance and instructions
into the Title VI Circular on topics or policy matters not discussed in
the questions above or not currently covered in the Circular? If so,
what are those topics or policy matters? What commendable practices
should FTA consider including? FTA welcomes any additional feedback on
the Title VI Circular, including topics not listed in the questions
above.
All interested parties are encouraged to respond to this RFI.
Submissions are strictly voluntary. Individuals or entities responding
to this RFI should state their role as well as knowledge of and
experience with Title VI and the Title VI Circular. FTA may request
additional clarifying information from any or all respondents. If a
respondent does not wish to be contacted by FTA for additional
information, a statement to that effect should be included in the
response. All information submitted should be unclassified and should
not contain proprietary information.
FTA is not obligated to officially respond to the information
received, but the responses will assist FTA in developing proposed
Title VI Circular changes.
Comments may be submitted and viewed at Docket No. FTA-2021-0014 at
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Nuria I. Fernandez,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2021-23965 Filed 11-2-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P
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