The rules stated in this section are subject to the exceptions contained in §§ 110.12 and 110.13 of these regulations.

(a) General rule. No person in the United States shall, on the basis of age, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

(b) Specific rules. A recipient may not, in any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance, directly or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements, use age distinctions or take any other actions that have the effect, on the basis of age, of—

(1) Excluding individuals from, denying them the benefits of, or subjecting them to discrimination under a program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance; or

(2) Denying or limiting individuals in their opportunity to participate in any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

(c) Other forms of discrimination. The specific forms of age discrimination listed in paragraph (b) of this section do not necessarily constitute a complete list.

For purposes of these regulations, the terms normal operation and statutory objective have the following meanings:

(a) Normal operation means the operation of a program or activity without significant changes that would impair its ability to meet its objectives.

(b) Statutory objective means any purpose of a program or activity expressly stated in any Federal statute, State statute, or local statute or ordinance adopted by an elected, general purpose legislative body.

A recipient is permitted to take an action otherwise prohibited by § 110.10 if the action reasonably takes into account age as a factor necessary to the normal operation or the achievement of any statutory objective of a program or activity. An action reasonably takes into account age as a factor necessary to the normal operation or the achievement of any statutory objective of a program or activity, if—

(a) Age is used as a measure or approximation of one or more other characteristics;

(b) The other characteristic or characteristics must be measured or approximated in order for the normal operation of the program or activity to continue, or to achieve any statutory objective of the program or activity;

(c) The other characteristic or characteristics can be reasonably measured or approximated by the use of age; and

(d) The other characteristic or characteristics are impractical to measure directly on an individual basis.

A recipient is permitted to take an action otherwise prohibited by § 110.10 that is based on a factor other than age, even though that action may have a disproportionate effect on persons of different ages. An action may be based on a factor other than age only if the factor bears a direct and substantial relationship to the normal operation of the program or activity or to the achievement of a statutory objective.

The burden of proving that an age distinction or other action falls within the exceptions outlined in §§ 110.12 and 110.13 is on the recipient of Federal financial assistance.

Even in the absence of a finding of discrimination, a recipient may take affirmative action to overcome the effects of conditions that resulted in limited participation in the recipient's program or activity on the basis of age.

If a recipient operating a program or activity provides special benefits to the elderly or to children, the use of age distinctions is presumed to be necessary to the normal operation of the program or activity, notwithstanding the provisions of § 110.12.

Any age distinction contained in regulations issued by ED is presumed to be necessary to the achievement of a statutory objective of the program or activity to which the regulations apply, notwithstanding the provisions of § 110.12.