Office of Civil Rights External
Compliance & Complaints Program

Where Do You Send a
Complaint?

Please mail all civil rights
complaints to:

U.S. EPA Office of Civil Rights (1201 A)
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20460

Or, by facsimile to:
(202) 501-1836

Other Inquiries?

For any other inquiries, please write to
OCR at the above address or
call OCR at: (202) 564-7272

Additional information about OCR's program
may be found at:

http://www.epa.gov/ocr

HOW TO

File a Complaint

of Discrimination

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of
Civil Rights (OCR) External Compliance and Complaints
(ECC) Program is responsible for enforcing several civil
rights laws which, together, prohibit discrimination on
the basis of: race, color, or national origin (including on
the basis of limited-English proficiency); sex; disability;
and age, by applicants for and recipients of federal
financial assistance from EPA.

OCR is responsible for ensuring that programs or
activities that receive EPA funds provide aids, benefits or
services in a nondiscriminatory manner. One important
way in which OCR carries out this responsibility is
by investigating complaints filed by the public which
allege discriminatory conduct by EPA recipients.


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Who Can File a
Discrimination Complaint?

Anyone who believes that an entity that receives
federal financial assistance from EPA has discrim-
inated against someone on the basis of race,
color, national origin (including limited-English
proficiency), sex, disability or age, may file a
complaint. The person or organization filing the
complaint need not be a victim of the alleged
discrimination but may complain on behalf of
another person or group.

What Civil Rights Laws Does
OCR Enforce?

•	Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which
prohibits recipients of federal financial assistance
from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or
national origin (including limited-English proficiency)
in their programs or activities.

•	Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,

which prohibits recipients of federal financial
assistance from discriminating against persons with
disabilities under in their programs or activities.

What Must a
Complaint Include?

•	Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972,

which prohibits recipients of federal financial assis-
tance from discriminating against persons on the
basis of sex in education programs or activities; and

•	Age Discrimination Act of 1975, which prohibits
recipients of federal financial assistance from
discriminating against persons on the basis of
age in their programs or activities.

OCR is also responsible for enforcing Section 13 of
the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amend-
ments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination based
on sex in programs or activities receiving financial
assistance from EPA under the Clean Water Act.

' The complaint must be in writing, clearly
identify who the sender is, include his or
her signature, and must provide OCR with the
sender's contact information. We also suggest
including a phone number and/or email address
for contact.

' The complaint should identify the entity which
allegedly committed the discrimination. Please note
that OCR can only investigate complaints filed against an
entity which receives assistance from the EPA.

' The complaint must allege discrimination prohibited by one of the laws OCR
enforces. Describe with as much detail as possible why you feel the entity discriminated
against you or others on the basis of race, color, or national origin (including limited-English proficiency);
sex; disability; and age.

•	The complaint must be filed within 180 calendar days of the date of the last act of alleged discrimination.

OCR may consider extending the 180-day timeframe for filing, for good cause shown under certain circumstances.

*	For additional information regarding OCR's complaint processing procedures, please see OCR's Interim Case Resolution

Manual (December 1,2015), at: http://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-12/documents/ocr_crm_final.pdf


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