By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution
and the laws of the United States of America, and to improve
access to federally conducted and federally assisted programs and
activities for persons who, as a result of national origin, are
limited in their English proficiency (LEP), it is hereby ordered
as follows:
Section 1. Goals.
The Federal Government provides and funds an array of services
that can be made accessible to otherwise eligible persons who are
not proficient in the English language. The Federal Government is
committed to improving the accessibility of these services to
eligible LEP persons, a goal that reinforces its equally
important commitment to promoting programs and activities
designed to help individuals learn English. To this end, each
Federal agency shall examine the services it provides and develop
and implement a system by which LEP persons can meaningfully
access those services consistent with, and without unduly
burdening, the fundamental mission of the agency. Each Federal
agency shall also work to ensure that recipients of Federal
financial assistance (recipients) provide meaningful access to
their LEP applicants and beneficiaries. To assist the agencies
with this endeavor, the Department of Justice has today issued a
general guidance document (LEP Guidance), which sets forth the
compliance standards that recipients must follow to ensure that
the programs and activities they normally provide in English are
accessible to LEP persons and thus do not discriminate on the
basis of national origin in violation of title VI of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and its implementing regulations.
As described in the LEP Guidance, recipients must take reasonable
steps to ensure meaningful access to their programs and
activities by LEP persons.
Sec. 2. Federally Conducted Programs and Activities.
Each Federal agency shall prepare a plan to improve access to its
federally conducted programs and activities by eligible LEP
persons. Each plan shall be consistent with the standards set
forth in the LEP Guidance, and shall include the steps the agency
will take to ensure that eligible LEP persons can meaningfully
access the agency's programs and activities. Agencies shall
develop and begin to implement these plans within 120 days of the
date of this order, and shall send copies of their plans to the
Department of Justice, which shall serve as the central
repository of the agencies' plans.
Sec. 3. Federally Assisted Programs and Activities.
Each agency providing Federal financial assistance shall draft
title VI guidance specifically tailored to its recipients that is
consistent with the LEP Guidance issued by the Department of
Justice. This agency-specific guidance shall detail how the
general standards established in the LEP Guidance will be applied
to the agency's recipients. The agency-specific guidance shall
take into account the types of services provided by the
recipients, the individuals served by the recipients, and other
factors set out in the LEP Guidance.Agencies that already have
developed title VI guidance that the Department of Justice
determines is consistent with the LEP Guidance shall examine
their existing guidance, as well as their programs and
activities, to determine if additional guidance is necessary to
comply with this order. The Department of Justice shall consult
with the agencies in creating their guidance and, within 120 days
of the date of this order, each agency shall submit its specific
guidance to the Department of Justice for review and approval.
Following approval by the Department of Justice, each agency
shall publish its guidance document in the Federal Register for
public comment.
Sec. 4. Consultations.
In carrying out this order, agencies shall ensure that
stakeholders, such as LEP persons and their representative
organizations, recipients, and other appropriate individuals or
entities, have an adequate opportunity to provide input. Agencies
will evaluate the particular needs of the LEP persons they and
their recipients serve and the burdens of compliance on the
agency and its recipients. This input from stakeholders will
assist the agencies in developing an approach to ensuring
meaningful access by LEP persons that is practical and effective,
fiscally responsible, responsive to the particular circumstances
of each agency, and can be readily implemented.
Sec. 5. Judicial Review.
This order is intended only to improve the internal management of
the executive branch and does not create any right or benefit,
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a
party against the United States, its agencies, its officers or
employees, or any person.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Aboard Air Force One)
_________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release August 11, 2000
Reference: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/cor/Pubs/eolep.htm
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