General. To the extent that this part applies, 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 business or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

Specific discriminatory actions prohibited. To the extent that this part applies, a recipient business or other activity may not, directly or through contractual arrangements, on the ground of age:

Deny an individual any services, financial aid or other benefit provided by the business or other activity, except where sanctioned by one of the exceptions stated in § 117.4 (d), (e) or (f) of this section.

Provide any service, financial aid or other benefit, except as sanctioned by one of the exceptions stated below, in such a way as to deny or limit persons in their efforts to participate in federally-assisted programs or activities;

Treat an individual differently from others, except as sanctioned by an exception stated below, in determining whether the person satisfied any admission, enrollment, eligibility, membership, or other requirement or condition which individuals must meet in order to be provided any service, financial aid or other benefit provided by the business or activity.

The specific forms of prohibited discrimination in paragraph (b) of this section does not limit the generality of the prohibition in paragraph (a) of this section.

Exception 1. A recipient is permitted to take an action otherwise prohibited by paragraphs (a) and (b) of 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 business 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 business or activity, if:

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

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

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

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

All of the above factors must be met in order to exclude a business activity from the provisions of this part.

Exception 2. A recipient is permitted to take an action otherwise prohibited by paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section which 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 if the factor bears a direct and substantial relationship to the normal operation of the business or activity or to the achievement of a statutory objective.

Exception 3. A recipient is permitted to take an action otherwise prohibited by paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section if an age distinction is contained in that part of a Federal, State or local statute or ordinance adopted by an elected general purpose legislative body which provides any benefits or assistance to, establishes criteria for participation in, or describes intended beneficiaries or target groups in age-related terms.

The burden of proving that an age distinction or other action falls within the exceptions outlined in paragraphs (d), (e), and (f) of this section on the recipient of Federal financial assistance.