ARP and ACR Letter to Sponsors

Dear Airport Sponsors:

DOT Order 1000.12C, The Department of Transportation Title VI Program published on June 11, 2021, (https://www.transportation.gov/mission/dot-orders) and other related requirements direct DOT operating administrations to ensure that recipients of Federal financial assistance comply with their statutory obligations to ensure against discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), or creed. As recipients of FAA Airport Improvement Program (AIP) and/or Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) grants, you commit to ensuring against discrimination in your activities as a condition of receiving an AIP/BIL grant (Airport Sponsor Assurance 30) https://www.faa.gov/airports/aip/grant_assurances/ and AIP Grant Assurances, 85 Fed. Reg. 18755 (February 20, 2020) (Assurance 30).

The nondiscrimination requirements applicable to airport sponsors include Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000d et seq.) (“Title VI”), Age Discrimination Act of 1975, P.L. 94-135, (42 U.S.C. § 6102), Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982 (49 U.S.C. § 47123), and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) implementing regulations for Title VI, at 49 CFR Part 21. These authorities are available through https://www.govinfo.gov links and collected on FAA’s Title VI webpage at https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/acr/airport-nondiscrimination-compliance-title-vi-lep-ej.

DOT Order 1000.12C requires the FAA to confirm each airport sponsor’s probable compliance with nondiscrimination requirements before an award of an AIP grant. As a result, most sponsors will be required to have a Title VI Plan and a Community Participation Plan that are approved by the FAA. The FAA also developed a sponsor checklist (including training) and implementation plan to be launched in early FY 2023. The pre-award Title VI checklist will be included in all future grant application review processes the sponsor must complete prior to grant execution. More information concerning these requirements will be made available in the coming weeks.

The sponsor checklist is located here for your reference. Below is a tentative schedule for when the FAA will begin to implement the requirements based on airport type per sponsor. FAA will communicate with sponsors as indicated below but reserves the right to adjust the schedule if needed.

Several resources are available to assist airport sponsors in complying with their nondiscrimination obligations, such as templates for required airport nondiscrimination public notices, an FAA Title VI Toolkit, and links to the U.S. Department of Justice. These resources are available on the FAA Title VI webpage. In addition, extensive technical assistance materials, including recorded webinars, self-evaluation tools, and past decision letters are available on the FAA Civil Rights Connect website (for access, please go to https://faa.civilrightsconnect.com/FAA/login.asp, and select “User Lookup, Password Reset, and Create Account”).

We highly encourage airport sponsors to use all available tools to ensure nondiscrimination in their airport programs and to be in full compliance with FAA grant obligations prior to applying for a grant. Noncompliance with the grant assurance obligations may result in a delay or denial of FAA grants.

Please feel free to contact the FAA Office of Civil Rights’ Title VI Team at ACR-4-TitleVI@faa.gov, if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Shannetta R. Griffin
Associate Administrator
FAA Office of Airports

John P. Bennison
Assistant Administrator
FAA Office of Civil Rights