ua14no94 DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (DOL)...

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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (DOJ)
The Department of Justice is not a major regulatory agency, and carries 
out its vital investigative, prosecutorial, and other law enforcement 
activities principally through means other than the regulatory process. 
Even so, the Department does have significant responsibilities for 
implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act and other civil rights 
laws through regulations as well as immigration laws, including the 
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and the Immigration Act of 
1990. The Department's key regulatory goals and initiatives are set 
forth in detail below.
The Department has worked actively to implement the general regulatory 
principles of Executive Order 12866. Relatively few of the Department's 
rules are ``significant regulatory actions'' requiring review by the 
Office of Management and Budget under the Executive Order. Accordingly, 
the reorientation of the OMB review process to focus on significant 
rules has required the Department to increase its own efforts to ensure 
that all of its regulations are carefully reviewed for consistency with 
the Administration's regulatory principles, including the large 
majority of rules that are not reviewed directly by OMB as 
``significant regulatory actions.''
Statement of Regulatory Priorities
Pursuant to Section 4(c) of Executive Order 12866, the Department of 
Justice provides the following statement of regulatory priorities, 
focusing in particular on eight regulatory initiatives in the three 
areas of civil rights, immigration, and asset forfeiture.
In addition to the specific initiatives set forth below, several other 
components of the Department carry out important responsibilities 
through the regulatory process. Although their regulatory efforts are 
not singled out for specific attention in this Regulatory Plan, those 
components carry out key roles in implementing the Department's law 
enforcement priorities. In particular, the Drug Enforcement 
Administration (DEA) is responsible for controlling abuse of narcotics 
and dangerous drugs by restricting the aggregate supply of those drugs. 
DEA accomplishes its objectives through coordination with State, local, 
and other Federal officials in drug enforcement activities; development 
and maintenance of drug intelligence systems; regulation of legitimate 
controlled substances; and enforcement coordination and intelligence-
gathering activities with foreign government agencies. DEA is presently 
developing regulations to implement the provisions of the Domestic 
Chemical Diversion Control Act of 1993, which imposes registration 
requirements upon manufacturers, distributors, importers and exporters 
of List I chemicals (formerly known as precursor chemicals).
Civil Rights
The Department and its Civil Rights Division are deeply committed to a 
rigorous and revitalized approach to the enforcement of this nation's 
civil rights laws. In keeping with that commitment, the Division will 
be reviewing, updating, and improving its civil rights regulations, 
which are the Division's basic enforcement tools. As priorities for the 
coming year, the Division will be focusing on regulations implementing 
title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and title IX of the Education 
Amendments Act of 1972, which are intended to serve as models for other 
Federal agencies. The Division also is completing the initial ADA 
rulemaking cycle by amending its regulations under the Americans with 
Disabilities Act (ADA) to incorporate revised standards applicable to 
new building and facilities used by State and local governments. The 
Department's Regulatory Plan has four civil rights initiatives.
All agencies, with the Department's encouragement and support, need to 
begin the process of updating their title VI regulations, which may now 
be two decades old. The Department's goal will be the creation of a 
model, state-of-the-art, title VI rule. This will actually involve two 
closely related initiatives, one to be used within the Department for 
programs and activities receiving financial assistance from the 
Department, and the other for use throughout the Federal Government 
pursuant to the Department's responsibility to promote coordination of 
title VI enforcement by all agencies. The Department's model rule is 
intended to include the most effective enforcement procedures from 
current regulations and will also contain language to implement the 
definition of ``program or activity'' added by the Civil Rights 
Restoration Act of 1987 (CRRA), Public Law No. 100-259.
The Division will also be publishing a revised proposed regulation, 
implementing title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which 
forbids discrimination on the basis of sex in educational activities 
receiving Federal financial assistance. The rule will incorporate 
statutory amendments to title IX (made by the Civil Rights Restoration 
Act of 1987) and controlling judicial precedents. The final title IX 
regulation is intended to serve also as a model for other Federal 
agencies to promote effective compliance.
The Department is also planning to make revisions in its regulations 
implementing title II of the ADA (and conforming changes to title III) 
in order to incorporate the revised accessibility design guidelines 
developed by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance 
Board (the Access Board). Subtitle A of title II of the ADA protects 
qualified individuals with disabilities from discrimination on the 
basis of disability in the services, programs, or activities of all 
State and local governments. Title III of the ADA protects qualified 
individuals with disabilities from discrimination on the basis of 
disability by public accommodations and in commercial facilities. The 
Access Board's new guidelines for State and local buildings and 
facilities are the subject of a related, pending rulemaking proceeding, 
and have been subject to considerable scrutiny through the Board's 
regulatory process. The Department of Justice, which is required by 
statute to promulgate regulations that do not go below the Access 
Board's minimum guidelines, will incorporate them into the Department's 
title II rule.
These amendments to the ADA regulations are an important step forward 
in fulfilling the promise of the ADA in ushering in a new era of 
opportunity and dignity for the many millions of Americans with 
disabilities. These regulations, which will apply to new construction 
and to alterations of State and local buildings and facilities, will 
open doors that have shut out people with disabilities in the past.
Immigration
The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is responsible for 
facilitating the entry of persons legally admissible as visitors or as 
immigrants to the United States, for preventing unlawful entry or 
receipt of immigration benefits by those who are not entitled to 
receive them, and for apprehending or removing those aliens who enter 
or remain illegally in the United States. Though many of the 
Administration's goals for more effective immigration process require 
either new statutory authority or increased resources, the regulatory 
process is a vital aspect of carrying out the goals of the immigration 
laws.
Certainly, one of the regulatory challenges facing the Department of 
Justice is to improve the effectiveness of those regulatory efforts. 
Commissioner Meissner established three fundamental goals at the time 
of her confirmation: to increase the professionalization of the 
Service, to provide immigration control with compassion, and to build 
the Service's role in immigration policy leadership and communication. 
The regulatory priorities for the Service follow those priorities, 
though other desired improvements will require legislative action. 
Three INS initiatives are included in this Regulatory Plan.
The principal policy and program delivery regulations which will be 
presented this year address areas of vulnerability in the immigration 
system. They are also structured to facilitate the proper use of the 
system by deserving persons. The principal regulation will provide 
much-needed reforms for the asylum system. After a thorough review of 
the delivery of asylum determinations, the Department this spring 
published proposed revisions to asylum regulations which will allow the 
timely adjudication of cases while instituting safeguards against abuse 
of the U.S. asylum system. The key priority is the adoption of these 
asylum reforms in final form. Another regulation will reduce the number 
of documents which are used to verify immigration status for purposes 
of employment in order to facilitate employer's compliance with the 
Act.
The Service has also proposed a number of enhancements to its 
organizational structure for management of the functions it performs. 
There is now an approved reorganization which will be implemented this 
year. Regulations establishing that structure and delegations of 
authority will be published.
Finally, the Service is presently implementing a number of changes to 
its fee schedules for various applications. (This rule is not included 
in the Regulatory Plan because it will be published in the very near 
future.) The Service is in a continuous improvement program for the 
delivery of those services it delivers to the public, and the fee 
structure for those services. Regulations will be promulgated in the 
future to increase the effectiveness of service delivery as we move to 
further automation of business functions in both the benefit and 
enforcement arenas. In particular, the Service will address service to 
States and localities, information exchange and facilitation of 
procedures for the public.
Asset Forfeiture
The Executive Office of Asset Forfeiture has one initiative listed in 
this Regulatory Plan, to revise and consolidate the Department's 
regulations on remission and mitigation of asset forfeiture. The rule 
is one part of the Department's set of administrative and legislative 
initiatives to improve the asset forfeiture program. Further, by 
replacing numerous sets of agency-specific regulations, this action 
will reduce the volume of petition regulations, enhance consistency in 
the petitions process, and facilitate understanding and use of the 
petitions process by the public.
_______________________________________________________________________
DOJ--Civil Rights Division (CRT)
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PROPOSED RULE STAGE
            ___________________________________________________________
87. NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF SEX IN FEDERALLY ASSISTED 
PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES--IMPLEMENTATION OF TITLE IX OF THE EDUCATION 
AMENDMENTS OF 1972
Legal Authority:


 20 USC 1682


CFR Citation:


 28 CFR 42 subpart J (New)


Legal Deadline:


None


Abstract:


The Department's proposed regulation implements the requirements of 
title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended, which 
prohibits discrimination on the basis of an individual's sex in 
federally assisted educational programs. On June 17, 1980, the 
Department published a proposed title IX regulation that was never 
issued in final form. As a result of interim legislation and judicial 
opinions, it is necessary to revise our prior proposed regulation 
before a final regulation can be issued.


Statement of Need:


There is an urgent need to issue this regulation. First, the Department 
is obligated to issue a title IX regulation since it funds many 
educational programs. Second, because the Department's regulation will 
incorporate legislative amendments and controlling precedents to date, 
it can be expected that other agencies will rely on it in revising 
their own, outdated, regulations.


Alternatives:


Because title IX requires an agency (such as the Department of Justice) 
that funds educational programs to issue implementing regulations, 
issuance of a title IX regulation is mandatory. With respect to the 
contents of the title IX regulation, the Department will consider all 
comments received during the public comment period before issuing a 
final regulation.


Anticipated Costs and Benefits:


In order to carry out this Administration's commitment to equal 
educational opportunity for women, it is essential that the Department 
of Justice issue its own regulation implementing title IX. The failure 
of previous administrations to direct that this regulation be issued 
means that the Department has no regulation in place to guide the 
Department in granting financial assistance to educational programs or 
in investigating complaints of sex discrimination in funded programs.


In providing Federal financial assistance to educational programs, the 
Department has been subject to the requirements of title IX since it 
was enacted in 1972. Therefore, promulgating this regulation should not 
impose any new costs upon recipients of Federal financial assistance.


Risks:


Without a regulation that incorporates legislative amendments and 
controlling judicial precedents in place, the Department risks 
violating title IX. Furthermore, if this regulatory activity is not 
undertaken, there are substantial risks: (1) that individuals who are 
granted protection from discrimination on the basis of sex will find 
that their rights are not protected to the extent intended by 
legislative amendments and controlling judicial decisions, and (2) that 
Federal program funds will be expended in a discriminatory manner.


Timetable:
_______________________________________________________________________
Action                                 DFR Cite

_______________________________________________________________________
NPRM                                                           11/00/94
NPRM Comment Period End                                        01/00/95
Small Entities Affected:


Governmental Jurisdictions


Government Levels Affected:


State, Local


Additional Information:


AGENCY CONTACT CONT: TTD (202) 514-0383.


Agency Contact:
Merrily A. Friedlander
Acting Chief
Coordination and Review Section
Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division
P.O. Box 66118
Washington, DC 20035-6118
202 307-2222
RIN: 1190-AA28
_______________________________________________________________________
DOJ--CRT
88. <bullet> AMENDMENT TO NONDISCRIMINATION IN FEDERALLY ASSISTED 
PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES--IMPLEMENTATION OF TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS 
ACT OF 1964
Legal Authority:


 42 USC 2000d to 2000d-4


CFR Citation:

Other Popular 1994 Unified Agenda Documents:

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