(a) General. 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.

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(b) Specific discriminatory actions prohibited. 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 which 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) Specific forms of age discrimination. The specific forms of age discrimination listed in paragraph (b) of this section do not necessarily constitute a complete list.

(d) Exceptions to the rules against age discrimination. (1) A recipient is permitted to take an action, otherwise prohibited by this section, 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:

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

(ii) The other characteristic(s) 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;

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

(iv) The other characteristic(s) are impractical to measure directly on an individual basis.

(2) A recipient is permitted to take an action otherwise prohibited by this section 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.

(3) If a recipient operating a program or activity provides special benefits to the elderly or to children, such use of age distinctions shall be presumed to be necessary to the normal operation of the program or activity, notwithstanding the provisions of this subpart.

(4) Any age distinctions contained in a rule or regulation issued by USDA shall be presumed to be necessary to the achievement of a statutory objective of the program or activity to which the rule or regulation applies, notwithstanding the provisions of this part.