The Washington State Department of Transportation provides language assistance for people with Limited English Proficiency in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Presidential Executive Order 13166.  The executive order , "Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency", signed in 2000 reinforces the nondiscrimination requirements of Title VI and requires federal agencies to:

• Examine service provided.
• Identify any need for services for those with limited English proficiency.
• Ensure all persons have meaningful access to benefits and services.

This web page is designed for a technical audience and describes the procedures and resource available to WSDOT staff and consultants working on WSDOT projects.

Legal Requirements

• WSDOT policy is described in the WSDOT LEP Plan (pdf 69 kb).
• Statutory regulations are described in Chapter 458 of the Environmental Procedures Manual M31-11.
• Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) defines limited English proficiency as an individual who does not speak English as their primary language and has a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand English.

Translation and Interpreter Services

If the demographic data indicates that 5% of the population or more than 1,000 persons within 1/2 mile of your project "speak English less than well", you will need to provide equal access to project information in their language.  This may be accomplished by:

• Posting a notice on your project web page in the appropriate language(s).  Suggested wording for the notice is; "Need more information?"  Link these words to an email address that will connect the public with to WSDOT staff working on the project.
• Printing and distributing translated project brochures, meeting invitations, and newsletters in the appropriate languages(s).  You do not need to translate all of the documents for your project if you have provided a way to people to request the information they contain.
• Providing translator or interpreter services upon request.  Translators and interpreters do not need to be certified, unless they are translating legal documents.  Most WSDOT Region Communication Offices maintain lists of Region Staff who can serve as interpreters and translators.  The WSDOT HQ Communications Office maintains a statewide list of WSDOT employees with language skills.

Demographic and Language Data

• Use the ACS Summary Report from EPA's EJView website to collect demographic data from your project.  A training module for how to use the website can be found on the EJ Demographic Data web page. 
• Use the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction website to verify demographic data.  Directions for using the OSPI website can be found on the EJ Demographic Data web page.
• Use the Modern Language Association website to find languages present in the study area.  Directions for using this website are provided here.
• Supplement the  demographic data collected above with information from local social service agencies, libraries, and churches in your project area. 
  

Resources

• Since many transportation terms do not easily translate, consider sharing the English to Spanish Transportation Terms with your interpreters and translators.
• You may need to change your approach to communicate effectively with other cultures.  For ideas and tools, read FHWA's How to Engage Low Literacy and Limited English Proficiency Populations.

Title VI Forms for distribution at public meetings

• English (pdf 27 kb)
• Spanish (pdf 25 kb)
• Korean (pdf 66 kb)
• Russian (pdf 72 kb)
• Tagalog (pdf 30 kb)
• Vietnamese (pdf 79 kb)
• Traditional Chinese (pdf 170 kb)
• Simplified Chinese (pdf 153 bk)