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XII. Limited English Proficiency (LEP) & Language Access Legal Background Executive Order 13166, “Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency,” reprinted at 65 FR 50121, August 16, 2000, directs each Federal agency to examine the services it provides and to develop and implement a system by which LEP individuals can meaningfully access those services. Federal agencies were instructed to publish guidance to assist states and local governments who receive federal funds with their obligations to LEP individuals under Title VI. The Executive Order states that federal fund recipients, like City of Little Canada, must take reasonable steps to ensure meaningful access to their programs and activities for LEP individuals. Section 601 of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000d, provides that no person shall “on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Courts have interpreted Title VI's prohibition of discrimination on the basis of national origin to include discrimination based on English proficiency. Under Title VI, recipients of federal financial assistance are required to provide LEP individuals with meaningful access to their programs and services. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) published revised guidance for its recipients on December 14, 2005. This document states that Title VI and its implementing regulations require that U.S. DOT recipients take reasonable steps to ensure meaningful access to the benefits, services, information, and other important portions of their programs and activities for LEP individuals. Recipients use the DOT LEP Guidance to determine how best to comply with statutory and regulatory LEP obligations. Identifying Limited English Proficient Populations (Four-Factor Analysis) Title VI and its regulations require City of Little Canada to take reasonable steps to ensure meaningful access to its information and services. What constitutes reasonable steps to ensure meaningful access is flexible, fact-dependent, and contingent on a four-factor analysis established by the U.S. Department of Justice. The four-factor analysis is an individualized assessment that should be applied to determine what reasonable steps must be taken to ensure meaningful access for LEP individuals. The analysis below is updated at least once every five years. FACTOR #1: THE NUMBER OR PROPORTION OF LEP INDIVIDUALS ELIGIBLE TO BE SERVED OR LIKELY TO BE ENCOUNTERED The greater the number or proportion of LEP individuals from a particular language group served or encountered in the eligible service population, the more likely language assistance services are necessary. Ordinarily, “individuals eligible to be served or likely to be encountered” by a program or activity are those who are in fact, served or encountered in the eligible service