Section 13 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972
In accordance with Executive Order 14224 (in English), which designates English as the official language of the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reviewing and updating, as necessary, its language access policies and procedures. This webpage and documents will be updated when new materials are available.
Pursuant to a permanent injunction issued by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on August 22, 2024, EPA will not impose or enforce any disparate impact or cumulative impact analysis requirements under Title VI against any entity in the State of Louisiana. Click here for additional and updated information.
Section 13 provides:
No person in the United States shall on the ground of sex be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance under this Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, or the Environmental Financing Act. This section shall be enforced through agency provisions and rules similar to those already established, with respect to racial and other discrimination, under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, this remedy is not exclusive and will not prejudice or cut off any other legal remedies available to a discriminatee.
Section 13 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (PDF) is published in the United States Code at 33 U.S.C. §1251.
The nondiscrimination provisions of Section 13 also apply to recipients of financial assistance under the Environmental Financing Act, which is published in the United States Code at 33 U.S.C. §1281. (PDF)
EPA's Section 13 implementing regulations are published in the Code of Federal Regulations at 40 C.F.R. Part 7 (PDF) (Nondiscrimination in Programs Receiving Federal Assistance From the Environmental Protection Agency.)
EPA's Civil Rights regulations (40 C.F.R. Part 7) (PDF) (Nondiscrimination in Programs Receiving Federal Assistance from the Environmental Protection Agency) implement not only Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, but also section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and Section 13 of the [Clean Water Act] Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, Public Law 93-500.