Title VI Implementation, 60735-60737 [2021-23965]

Agencies

• Federal Transit Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 210 (Wednesday, November 3, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60735-60737]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[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:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: Docket Operations, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     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]]

     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 www.regulations.gov, 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 www.regulations.gov 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 [email protected]. For 
legal questions, Bonnie Graves, Office of Chief Counsel, (202) 366-0944 
or [email protected].

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 https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulations-and-guidance/fta-circulars/title-vi-requirements-and-guidelines-federal-transit.
    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 
https://www.regulations.gov.

Nuria I. Fernandez,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2021-23965 Filed 11-2-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P