Trump administration abandons attempt to revise Title IX rule via Energy Department
The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) has withdrawn a proposal that aimed to amend Title IX regulations for providing opportunities for students in non-contact sports. The proposal, which was made by the DoE and not the U.S. Department of Education, was set to take effect in July but was delayed after receiving significant adverse comments.
The DoE's proposal would have rescinded a requirement that schools allowing all students to try out for non-contact athletic teams when they don't have both boys' and girls' teams. The department also proposed several other changes to its nondiscrimination rules for recipients of agency funding, including revoking a provision for accessible construction for people with disabilities and rescinding rules against disparate impact.
The Trump administration has been vocal in its opposition to the concept of disparate impact in several contexts. The Energy Department's proposal would have rescinded a rule that prohibits recipients of department funds from running their programs in a way that might have discriminatory effects.
The proposal, which bypassed the formal public comment period typically required for major regulations, raised concerns from a group of administrative law experts. A similar Education Department rule with the equal opportunity requirement for non-contact sports remains in effect.
The Health and Human Services and Justice departments have been involved in the Trump administration's actions against schools, states, and athletic leagues regarding transgender student-athletes. However, the Energy Department's rule change would have applied to approximately 300 universities and 80 school districts, compared to the vast majority that receive funding from the Education Department.
In its Sept. 10 notice, the Energy Department stated that withdrawing the rule change did not preclude it from proposing a similar change in the future. The authority that rejected the proposal to amend Title IX regulations for providing opportunities for students in non-contact sports is the U.S. Department of Education.
The Energy Department stated that the current rules, which allow students to try out for a sport not offered to their gender, "ignore differences between the sexes" and impose a burden on local governments and small businesses. However, the specifics of these arguments and their implications remain to be seen.
The Energy Department's proposal to change Title IX regulations has been a contentious issue, with advocates on both sides expressing strong opinions. As of now, the proposed changes are pending but delayed, and it remains to be seen whether they will be reintroduced in the future.
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