Title VI

The Capital Region Planning Commission (CRPC) assures that no person shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, income, gender, age, and disability, as provided by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 (PL 100.259), be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity.

More specifically, CRPC assures that every effort will be made to prevent discrimination through the impacts of its programs, policies, and activities on minority and low-income populations. Additionally, CRPC will take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to services for persons with Limited English Proficiency.

CRPC further assures that every effort will be made to ensure nondiscrimination in all of its programs and activities, whether those programs and activities are federally funded or not.

CRPC's Title VI Coordinator is responsible for initiating and monitoring Title VI activities, preparing required reports, and other CRPC responsibilities as required by Title 23 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, and Title 49 CFR Part 21.

Authorities Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 created a foundation for future environmental justice regulations. Since the establishment of Title VI, environmental justice has been considered in local, state and federal transportation project. Section 42.104 of Title VI and related statutes require Federal agencies to ensure that no person is excluded from participation in, denied the benefit of, or subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance on the basis of race, color, national origin, income, gender, age, and disability.

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) addresses both social and economic impacts of environmental justice. NEPA stressed the importance of providing Capital Region Planning Commission for "all Americans safe, healthful, productive and anesthetically pleasing surroundings" and provides a requirement for taking a "systematic, interdisciplinary approach" to aid in considering environmental and community factors in decision making.

The Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 further expanded Title VI to include all programs and activities of Federal aid recipients, sub-recipients and contractors whether those programs and activities are federally funded or not.

On February 11, 1994, President Clinton signed Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations. This piece of legislation directed every Federal agency to make Environmental Justice part of its mission by indentifying and addressing all programs, policies and activities that affect human health or the environment so as to identify and avoid disproportionately high and adverse effects on minority populations and low income populations.

Rather than being reactive, Federal, State, local and tribal agencies must be proactive when it comes to determining better methods to serve the public, who rely on transportation systems and services to increase their quality of life.

In April 1997, as a reinforcement to Executive Order 12898, The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) issued an Order on Environmental Justice (DOT Order 5610.2), which summarized and expanded upon the requirements of Executive Order 12898 to include all policies, programs and other activities that are undertaken, funded or approved by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) or other U.S. DOT components.

In December 1997, the FHWA issued the FHWA Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations (DOT Order 6640.23), which mandated the FHWA and all its subsidiaries to implement the principles of Executive Order 12898 and U.S. DOT Order 5610.2 into all of its programs, policies and activities.

On October 7, 1999, the FHWA and the FTA issued a memorandum Implementing Title VI Requirements in Metropolitan and Statewide Planning. This memorandum provides clarification for field offices on how to ensure that environmental justice is considered during current and future planning certification reviews. The intent of this memorandum was for planning officials to understand that environmental justice is equally important during the planning stages as it is during the projects development stages.