Final rule · 2025-16492

Rescission of Nondiscrimination and Equal-Opportunity Provisions of the Workforce Investment Act

The U.S. Department of Labor (Department) is confirming the effective date of September 2, 2025, for the direct final rule (DFR) that was published in the Federal Register on July 1, 2025. This DFR rescinds the regulations that implemented the nondiscrimination and equal opportunity provisions of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). Under WIA, the Department provided financial assistance to certain recipients for the purpose of establishing programs to meet the job training needs of youth and adults facing serious barriers to employment. Section 188 of WIA contained the nondiscrimination and equal opportunity provisions that prohibited discrimination on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, political affiliation or belief, and, for beneficiaries only, citizenship status or participation in a WIA-funded program or activity. WIA was repealed by Congress with the enactment of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) on June 22, 2014, and the WIA Section 188 regulations have been superseded by those implementing Section 188 of WIOA. All remaining grant funding under WIA Title I has been closed out by the Department. Accordingly, these regulations are no longer necessary, and the Department is removing the regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) for this program that is no longer operative.