42 U.S.C. § 6103 — Regulations

Page 6645 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 6103 1978—Pub. L. 95–478 struck out ‘‘unreasonable’’ before ‘‘discrimination’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1986 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 99–272 effective Oct. 18, 1986, see section 14001(e) of Pub. L. 99–272, title XIV, Apr. 7, 1986, 100 Stat. 329. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1978 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 95–478 effective at the close of Sept. 30, 1978, see section 504 of Pub. L. 95–478, set out as a note under section 3001 of this title. SHORT TITLE Pub. L. 94–135, title III, § 301, Nov. 28, 1975, 89 Stat. 728, provided that: ‘‘The provisions of this title [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Age Discrimination Act of 1975’.’’ § 6102. Prohibition of discrimination Pursuant to regulations prescribed under sec- tion 6103 of this title, and except as provided by section 6103(b) and section 6103(c) of this title, no person in the United States shall, on the basis of age, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to dis- crimination under, any program or activity re- ceiving Federal financial assistance. (Pub. L. 94–135, title III, § 303, Nov. 28, 1975, 89 Stat. 728.) § 6103. Regulations (a) Publication in Federal Register of proposed general regulations, final general regula- tions, and anti-discrimination regulations; ef- fective date (1) Not later than one year after the trans- mission of the report required by section 6106(b) of this title, or two and one-half years after No- vember 28, 1975, whichever occurs first, the Sec- retary of Health and Human Services shall pub- lish in the Federal Register proposed general regulations to carry out the provisions of sec- tion 6102 of this title. (2)(A) The Secretary shall not publish such proposed general regulations until the expira- tion of a period comprised of— (i) the forty-five day period specified in sec- tion 6106(e) of this title; and (ii) an additional forty-five day period, im- mediately following the period described in clause (i), during which any committee of the Congress having jurisdiction over the subject matter involved may conduct hearings with respect to the report which the Commission is required to transmit under section 6106(d) of this title, and with respect to the comments and recommendations submitted by Federal departments and agencies under section 6106(e) of this title. (B) The forty-five day period specified in sub- paragraph (A)(ii) shall include only days during which both Houses of the Congress are in ses- sion. (3) Not later than ninety days after the Sec- retary publishes proposed regulations under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register final general regulations to carry out the provisions of section 6102 of this title, after taking into consideration any com- ments received by the Secretary with respect to the regulations proposed under paragraph (1). (4) Not later than ninety days after the Sec- retary publishes final general regulations under paragraph (a)(3), the head of each Federal de- partment or agency which extends Federal fi- nancial assistance to any program or activity by way of grant, entitlement, loan, or contract other than a contract of insurance or guaranty, shall transmit to the Secretary and publish in the Federal Register proposed regulations to carry out the provisions of section 6102 of this title and to provide appropriate investigative, conciliation, and enforcement procedures. Such regulations shall be consistent with the final general regulations issued by the Secretary, and shall not become effective until approved by the Secretary. (5) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no regulations issued pursuant to this section shall be effective before July 1, 1979. (b) Nonviolative actions; program or activity ex- emption (1) It shall not be a violation of any provision of this chapter, or of any regulation issued under this chapter, for any person to take any action otherwise prohibited by the provisions of section 6102 of this title if, in the program or ac- tivity involved— (A) such action reasonably takes into ac- count age as a factor necessary to the normal operation or the achievement of any statutory objective of such program or activity; or (B) the differentiation made by such action is based upon reasonable factors other than age. (2) The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any program or activity established under authority of any law which (A) provides any benefits or assistance to persons based upon the age of such persons; or (B) establishes cri- teria for participation in age-related terms or describes intended beneficiaries or target groups in such terms. (c) Employment practices and labor-management joint apprenticeship training program ex- emptions; Age Discrimination in Employment Act unaffected (1) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to authorize action under this chapter by any Federal department or agency with respect to any employment practice of any employer, em- ployment agency, or labor organization, or with respect to any labor-management joint appren- ticeship training program. (2) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to amend or modify the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621–634), as amended, or to affect the rights or responsibil- ities of any person or party pursuant to such Act. (Pub. L. 94–135, title III, § 304, Nov. 28, 1975, 89 Stat. 729; Pub. L. 95–478, title IV, § 401(b), Oct. 18, 1978, 92 Stat. 1555; Pub. L. 96–88, title V, § 509(b), Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 695; Pub. L. 97–300, title I, § 183, Oct. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 1357; Pub. L. 105–277, div. A, § 101(f) [title VIII, § 405(d)(37)], Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–337, 2681–427.) Page 6646 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 6104 Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621–634), as amended, referred to in subsec. (c)(2), is Pub. L. 90–202, Dec. 15, 1967, 81 Stat. 602, which is classified generally to chapter 14 (§ 621 et seq.) of Title 29, Labor. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 621 of Title 29 and Tables. AMENDMENTS 1998—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 105–277 substituted ‘‘Nothing’’ for ‘‘Except with respect to any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance for pub- lic service employment under the Job Training Part- nership Act, nothing’’. 1978—Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 95–478, § 401(b)(1), provided that the regulations shall not become effective until approved by the Secretary. Subsec. (a)(5). Pub. L. 95–478, § 401(b)(2), substituted ‘‘July 1, 1979’’ for ‘‘January 1, 1979’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CHANGE OF NAME ‘‘Secretary of Health and Human Services’’ sub- stituted for ‘‘Secretary of Health, Education, and Wel- fare’’ in subsec. (a)(1) pursuant to section 509(b) of Pub. L. 96–88, which is classified to section 3508(b) of Title 20, Education. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1978 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 95–478 effective at the close of Sept. 30, 1978, see section 504 of Pub. L. 95–478, set out as a note under section 3001 of this title. § 6104. Enforcement (a) Methods of achieving compliance with regu- lations The head of any Federal department or agency who prescribes regulations under section 6103 of this title may seek to achieve compliance with any such regulation— (1) by terminating, or refusing to grant or to continue, assistance under the program or ac- tivity involved to any recipient with respect to whom there has been an express finding on the record, after reasonable notice and oppor- tunity for hearing, of a failure to comply with any such regulation; or (2) by any other means authorized by law. (b) Limitations on termination of, or on refusal to grant or to continue, assistance; disburse- ment of withheld funds to achiever agencies Any termination of, or refusal to grant or to continue, assistance under subsection (a)(1) shall be limited to the particular political enti- ty or other recipient with respect to which a finding has been made under subsection (a)(1). Any such termination or refusal shall be limited in its effect to the particular program or activ- ity, or part of such program or activity, with re- spect to which such finding has been made. No such termination or refusal shall be based in whole or in part on any finding with respect to any program or activity which does not receive Federal financial assistance. Whenever the head of any Federal department or agency who pre- scribes regulations under section 6103 of this title withholds funds pursuant to subsection (a), he may, in accordance with regulations he shall prescribe, disburse the funds so withheld di- rectly to any public or nonprofit private organi- zation or agency, or State or political subdivi- sion thereof, which demonstrates the ability to achieve the goals of the Federal statute author- izing the program or activity while complying with regulations issued under section 6103 of this title. (c) Advice as to failure to comply with regula- tion; determination that compliance cannot be secured by voluntary means No action may be taken under subsection (a) until the head of the Federal department or agency involved has advised the appropriate per- son of the failure to comply with the regulation involved and has determined that compliance cannot be secured by voluntary means. (d) Report to Congressional committees In the case of any action taken under sub- section (a), the head of the Federal department or agency involved shall transmit a written re- port of the circumstances and grounds of such action to the committees of the House of Rep- resentatives and the Senate having legislative jurisdiction over the program or activity in- volved. No such action shall take effect until thirty days after the transmission of any such report. (e) Injunctions; notice of violations; costs; condi- tions for actions (1) When any interested person brings an ac- tion in any United States district court for the district in which the defendant is found or trans- acts business to enjoin a violation of this Act by any program or activity receiving Federal finan- cial assistance, such interested person shall give notice by registered mail not less than 30 days prior to the commencement of that action to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Attorney General of the United States, and the person against whom the action is directed. Such interested person may elect, by a demand for such relief in his complaint, to recover rea- sonable attorney’s fees, in which case the court shall award the costs of suit, including a reason- able attorney’s fee, to the prevailing plaintiff. (2) The notice referred to in paragraph (1) shall state the nature of the alleged violation, the re- lief to be requested, the court in which the ac- tion will be brought, and whether or not attor- ney’s fees are being demanded in the event that the plaintiff prevails. No action described in paragraph (1) shall be brought (A) if at the time the action is brought the same alleged violation by the same defendant is the subject of a pend- ing action in any court of the United States; or (B) if administrative remedies have not been ex- hausted. (f) Exhaustion of administrative remedies With respect to actions brought for relief based on an alleged violation of the provisions of this chapter, administrative remedies shall be deemed exhausted upon the expiration of 180 days from the filing of an administrative com- plaint during which time the Federal depart- ment or agency makes no finding with regard to the complaint, or upon the day that the Federal department or agency issues a finding in favor of the recipient of financial assistance, which- ever occurs first.