amendments to age discrimination act of 1975

amendments to age discrimination act of 1975 Sec. 401. (a) Section 302 of the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 is amended by striking out “unreasonable”. (b)(1) The last sentence of section 304(a)(4) of the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 is amended to read as follows: “Such regulations shall be consistent with the final general regulations issued by the Secretary, and shall not become effective until approved by the Secretary.”. (2) Section 304(a)(5) of the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 is amended by striking out “January 1, 1979” and inserting in lieu thereof “July 1, 1979”. (c) Section 305 of the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 is amended by striking out subsection (e) and inserting in lieu thereof the following new subsections: “(e)(1) When any interested person brings an action in any United States district court for the district in which the defendant is found or transacts business to enjoin a violation of this Act by any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance, such interested person shall give notice by registered mail not less than 30 days prior to the commencement of that action to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Attorney General of the United States, and the person against whom the action is directed. Such interested person may elect, by a demand for such relief in his complaint, to recover 92 STAT. 1556reasonable attorney’s fees, in which case the court shall award the costs of suit, including a reasonable attorney’s fee, to the prevailing plaintiff. “(2) The notice referred to in paragraph (1) shall state the nature of the alleged violation, the relief to be requested, the court in which the action will be brought, and whether or not attorney’s fees are being demanded in the event that the plaintiff prevails. No action described in paragraph (1) shall be brought (A) if at the time the action is brought the same alleged violation by the same defendant is the subject of a pending action in any court of the United States; or (B) if administrative remedies have not been exhausted. “(f) With respect to actions brought for relief based on an alleged violation of tire provisions of this title., administrative remedies shall be deemed exhausted upon the expiration of 180 days from the filing of an administrative complaint during which time the Federal department or agency makes no finding with regard to the complaint, or upon the day that the Federal department or agency issues a finding in favor of the recipient of financial assistance, whichever occurs first.”. (d) Section 305(b) of the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new sentence: “Whenever the head of any Federal department or agency who prescribes regulations under section 304 withholds funds pursuant to subsection (a), he may, in accordance with regulations he shall prescribe, disburse the funds so withheld directly to any public or nonprofit private organization or agency, or State or political subdivision thereof, which demonstrates the ability to achieve the goals of the Federal statute authorizing the program or activity while complying with regulations issued under section 304.”. (e) The Age Discrimination Act of 1975 is amended by redesignating section 308 as section 309, and by inserting after section 307 the following new section: “reports “Sec. 308. (a) Not later than December 31 of each year (beginning in 1979), the head of each Federal department or agency shall submit to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare a report (1) describing in detail the steps taken during the preceding fiscal year by such department or agency to carry out the provisions of section 303; and (2) containing specific data about program participants or beneficiaries, by age, sufficient to permit analysis of how well the department or agency is carrying out the provisions of section 303. “(b) Not later than March 31 of each year (beginning in 1980), the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall compile the reports made pursuant to subsection (a) and shall submit them to the Congress, together with an evaluation of the performance of each department or agency with respect to carrying out the provisions of section 303.”.