Interior Department Removes 'Disparate Impact' Language From Title VI Regulations

The Interior Department is finalizing a rule that deletes parts of its civil rights regulations allowing it to penalize federal funding recipients for policies that unintentionally produce unequal outcomes across race, color, or national origin.

Why it matters: This rule mainly changes how the Interior Department reviews and enforces civil rights compliance for the organizations that receive its grants and contracts. Recipients no longer need to adjust programs to prevent statistically unequal outcomes that lack discriminatory intent. The department will focus its investigations and funding conditions on proving intentional discrimination instead.

Who it affects

• State and local governments, tribes, and nonprofits that receive Interior Department grants or contracts

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This action comes from the Department of the Interior as a final rule published in the Federal Register; readers relying on the specific regulatory text should review the original document before making compliance decisions.

Agency: Interior Department
Source: Federal Register — read the official document