S. 4985

107 S4985 IS: Language Access for All Act of 2026
 U.S. Senate
 2026-07-15
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 II  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  S. 4985  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES   July 15, 2026   Mr. Kim  (for himself,  Ms. Hirono , and  Mrs. Gillibrand ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the  Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs    A BILL
To improve access to Federal services by individuals with limited English proficiency, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Language Access for All Act of 2026  .
2.
Improving access to Federal services by individuals with limited English proficiency
(a)
Ensuring meaningful access
(1)
In general
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each agency shall ensure that individuals with LEP can meaningfully access the federally conducted programs and activities of the agency, including by—
(A)
consistent with any applicable Language Access Technical Standards established by the agency under subsection (c)—
(i)
translating each vital document or content created for the public into—
(I)
any languages the agency frequently encounters; and
(II)
the dominant languages spoken in the United States based on current data of the Bureau of the Census; and
(ii)
adding multilingual functionality to agency digital and information technology systems to identify and track the spoken and written language needs of people who engage with the agency and to provide documents and content in other languages;
(B)
providing oral interpretation, sight translation, and telephonic or remote interpretation services to such individuals;
(C)
recognizing, as an alternative to using qualified interpreters or translators, the use of demonstrably bilingual staff of the agency that have been assessed and are qualified to deliver accurate and effective communication as an appropriate method of providing language assistance;
(D)
acknowledging that, when qualified, such staff may offer service that is faster, more effective, and more cost-efficient than the use of qualified interpreters or translators;
(E)
notifying the public of the availability of language assistance, including interpreters, translated documents and digital content, and bilingual staff, through the use of multilingual notices, taglines, signage or demonstrably equivalent alternatives included on documents and digital content the agency creates for the public and in agency buildings and offices; and
(F)
training employees of the agency who interact with the public on any policy or procedure established by the agency to implement the language access plan established by the agency under subsection (b).
(2)
Public complaint and tracking system
(A)
Complaints
The Attorney General shall establish and maintain a publicly accessible system for individuals to submit complaints to the Attorney General regarding barriers to receiving meaningful access, as described under paragraph (1), from an agency.
(B)
Response
The head of the agency with respect to which the complaint under subparagraph (A) is made shall respond to the complaint not later than 60 days after receipt of the complaint from the Attorney General.
(C)
Reports
The Attorney General shall publish on the website of the Department of Justice an annual report summarizing the complaints made under subparagraph (A), disaggregated by the agency that is the subject of the complaint, the language with respect to which the agency failed to provide access, and the program or activity to which the person is guaranteed meaningful access under paragraph (1).
(b)
Language access plan
(1)
Establishment
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each agency shall establish a language access plan to implement subsection (a) that—
(A)
is practical and effective, readily implemented, and responsive to the particular circumstances and mission of the agency;
(B)
is consistent with the Language Access Technical Standards established under subsection (c)(1);
(C)
is consistent with the standards set forth—
(i)
in the most recent guidance of the agency issued pursuant to Executive Order 13166 ( 42 U.S.C. 2000d–1  note; relating to improving access to services for persons with limited English proficiency);
(ii)
in the policy guidance document entitled  Enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964—National Origin Discrimination Against Persons With Limited English Proficiency  65 Fed. Reg. 50, 123 (Aug. 16, 2000); and
(iii)
in the Attorney General’s memorandum to the heads of Department components issued on November 21, 2022, entitled  Strengthening the Federal Government’s Commitment to Language Access ;
(D)
identifies which populations containing individuals with LEP are likely to seek access to the services and programs of the agency, including language populations that are emerging, have been historically isolated, are of lesser diffusion, and do not have a commonly used written format;
(E)
describes how multilingual communications will be meaningfully provided to the populations identified under subparagraph (D), including whether such communications will be provided through oral, visual, or community-based modes of communication, as appropriate;
(F)
in the case that the agency provides assistance during emergency response situations (such as disasters, public health crises, and other urgent circumstances), specifies how multilingual communications will be meaningfully provided to such populations during such situations, regardless of whether an official state of emergency has been declared; and
(G)
sets procedures for the agency with respect to monitoring, evaluating, and improving the performance of the agency in implementing the plan, including—
(i)
regular assessments of the language access needs of the agency and the effectiveness of the language access provided by the agency;
(ii)
measurable performance indicators addressing timeliness, accuracy, and quality of language assistance services;
(iii)
mechanisms for collecting and reviewing data on service usage, complaints, and identified barriers;
(iv)
periodic internal reviews conducted by the civil rights office of the agency; and
(v)
processes for corrective action and continuous improvement when deficiencies or gaps in meaningful access are identified.
(2)
Notice and comment
The head of each agency shall publish a proposal for the plan required to be established under paragraph (1) in the Federal Register for a 60-day public comment period to ensure that stakeholders, including individuals with LEP and organizations representing such individuals, have an adequate opportunity to provide input on how the head of such agency carries out the provisions of this Act.
(3)
Federal Register
After considering any comments received during the period described under paragraph (2) with respect to plan published under such paragraph, the head of an agency shall—
(A)
update such plan on the basis of such comments as the head of the agency determines appropriate; and
(B)
publish a finalized version of the plan in the Federal Register.
(4)
Submission to the Attorney General and to congress
Not later than 30 days after the head of an agency establishes the language access plan required by paragraph (1), the head of such agency shall submit such plan to—
(A)
the Attorney General; and
(B)
the Chair and Ranking Member of—
(i)
the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives;
(ii)
the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;
(iii)
the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives; and
(iv)
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
(5)
Central repository
The Department of Justice shall establish and maintain a publicly available website with the domain name  LEP.gov  to serve as the central repository for each plan submitted to the Attorney General under paragraph (4)(A).
(c)
Language access technical standards
(1)
Establishment of standard
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each agency, in consultation with the Attorney General, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and stakeholders and advocates from non-English-speaking communities, shall establish standards to be known as Language Access Technical Standards to—
(A)
ensure meaningful access to federally conducted programs and activities, as described in subsection (a); and
(B)
be used as a measure of progress to evaluate the effectiveness and accuracy of language access for federally conducted programs and activities carried out by each agency.
(2)
General accessibility requirements
The Language Access Technical Standards shall, at a minimum, with respect to the systems and services of the agency—
(A)
allow individuals with LEP to access any written content provided by the agency in the language of their choice among the agency’s supported languages;
(B)
ensure the functionality, quality, and timeliness of the system and services for all languages;
(C)
implement user-friendly interfaces that account for varying literacy and digital skills; and
(D)
be culturally determined.
(3)
Undue burden exception
(A)
Written request
In the case that the head of an agency determines that compliance with a specific requirement included in the Language Access Technical Standards would impose an undue burden on the agency, the head of the agency shall submit to the Attorney General a written request to waive such requirement for the agency that identifies—
(i)
the specific requirement that would impose such undue burden;
(ii)
the nature of the burden; and
(iii)
any alternative to fulfilling the requirement and why each such alternative is not feasible.
(B)
Attorney General review
(i)
In general
Not later than 30 days after receiving a request under subparagraph (A), the Attorney General shall grant or deny the request.
(ii)
Determination criteria
In determining whether to grant or deny the request of an agency under subparagraph (A), the Attorney General shall consider whether—
(I)
individuals with limited English proficiency are likely to interact with the agency; and
(II)
a failure to provide meaningful language access is likely to result in significant harm, denial of benefits, or diminished civil rights protections.
(C)
Expiration
A grant of a waiver under this subsection shall expire two years after such grant.
(D)
Record
The Attorney General shall maintain a publicly accessible record of all written requests received under subparagraph (A) in the central repository established under subsection (b)(5).
(4)
Public participation and comment
Before establishing Language Access Technical Standards, or updating any such standards, the head of an agency shall provide opportunity for public comment and engage communities representing individuals with LEP, including community and cultural organizations that work with individuals with LEP, and providers of professional language services.
(5)
Updates
The Language Access Technical Standards shall be reviewed at least once every 3 years, and updated as necessary following such review.
(6)
Adoption
The head of each agency shall certify compliance with the Language Access Technical Standards annually to the Attorney General.
(7)
Scope
The Language Access Technical Standards shall apply to all agency programs, activities, and communications, including—
(A)
in-person, telephonic, and virtual interactions;
(B)
paper and digital content and documents;
(C)
websites, portals, and mobile applications; and
(D)
artificial intelligence-assisted and machine translation language assistance services, including automated translation, transcription, and interpretation technologies.
(d)
AI and automated language assistance services
(1)
Limitation
The head of an agency—
(A)
may not fully replace any qualified language assistance services of the agency with artificial intelligence or machine translation services; and
(B)
shall require a qualified human translator or interpreter to verify any use of such service or machine translation by the agency.
(2)
Requirements
The head of each agency shall ensure that any artificial intelligence-assisted language assistance services used by the agency—
(A)
do not replace any qualified translators and interpreters;
(B)
publicly disclose on an annual basis on www.LEP.gov data sources, limitations, confidence levels, and error rates of the service;
(C)
comply with section 552a of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Privacy Act of 1974), subchapter II of  chapter 35  of title 44, United States Code, and the E-Government Act of 2002 ( 44 U.S.C. 3501  note;  Public Law 107–347 ) and protect personal and sensitive information from disclosure;
(D)
are tested to prevent discrimination based on language, culture, ethnicity, or other protected characteristics, with mitigation strategies documented;
(E)
are reviewed and validated by qualified translators and interpreters to ensure proper cultural context, idiomatic accuracy, and clarity of the translation or interpretation; and
(F)
are continuously monitored by the agency for performance, with errors reported and corrective actions for user-reported inaccuracies in translation and interpretation implemented.
(3)
Best practices
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall issue guidance on best practices for the use of artificial intelligence in language assistance services, including validation, monitoring, and accountability measures for such artificial intelligence.
(4)
Audit requirement
(A)
In general
The Inspector General of each agency shall conduct, at least once every two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, an audit of all artificial intelligence-assisted language systems to assess accuracy, fairness, cultural relevance, and compliance with the Language Access Technical Standards.
(B)
Report
An Inspector General shall submit to the Attorney General a report on an audit conducted under subparagraph (A) not later than 90 days after such audit is completed.
(C)
Public transparency
The Attorney General shall make publicly available a summary of the report submitted under subparagraph (B).
(5)
NIST
The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall provide technical expertise, validation protocols, and standardization tools for artificial intelligence-assisted language assistance services of agencies.
(e)
Interagency coordination
(1)
Interagency Language Access Standard Council
The Administrator of General Services shall convene an Interagency Language Access Standards Council to coordinate updates, best practices, and research on emerging technologies.
(2)
Language Access Working Group
(A)
In general
There is established an Language Access Working Group to—
(i)
serve as a central resource for providing support and technical assistance to agencies in implementing the language access plan of the agency; and
(ii)
directly engage with community groups, individuals with LEP, and other stakeholders to ensure adherence with this Act.
(B)
Membership
The members of the Language Access Working Group shall be comprised of one Language Access Coordinator from each agency and the Attorney General.
(C)
Head of group
The Attorney General shall serve as the head of the Language Access Working Group.
(f)
Establishment of Language Access Coordinator position
(1)
Position
There is established in each agency a position to be known as the Language Access Coordinator.
(2)
Designation
The head of each agency shall designate an officer or employee of the agency to serve as the Language Access Coordinator for the agency.
(3)
Duties
The Language Access Coordinator shall—
(A)
serve as point of contact for each language access effort of the agency;
(B)
ensure that each agency component that frequently interacts with individuals with LEP provides, if feasible, mandatory annual training to managers, personnel who frequently communicate with individuals with LEP, and personnel who arrange for language support, on this Act, the language access plan of the agency, and agency procedures for identifying language access needs, providing language assistance services, working with interpreters and translators, requesting document translations, and tracking the use of language access services;
(C)
determine annually whether additional federally conducted programs and activities should be made accessible for individuals with LEP and notify agency components of their responsibility to provide such access; and
(D)
beginning on the date that is 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, evaluate the language access plan of the agency established under subsection (b)(1), including a review of the costs of language assistance services, and propose changes to agency components, as appropriate, to refine such plan.
(g)
Noncompliance
Noncompliance with the requirements of this Act—
(1)
shall be treated as discrimination under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ( 42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq. );
(2)
may be addressed by the Department of Justice, which shall have enforcement authority, including the authority to conduct an investigation, commence an administrative action, and bring an action for civil or injunctive remedies; and
(3)
may be addressed by an aggrieved party by bringing an administrative action with the Department of Justice, or bringing an action for civil or injunctive remedies.
(h)
Definitions
In this Act:
(1)
Agency
The term  agency  has the meaning given that term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
(2)
Individual with LEP
The term  individual with LEP  means an individual for whom English is not a primary language and who has a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand the English language (including an individual who is able to speak or understand the English language, but has a limited ability to read or write the English language).
(3)
Language Access Coordinator
The term  Language Access Coordinator  means the position of an agency established under subsection (f)(1).
(4)
Language Access Technical Standards
The term  Language Access Technical Standards  means the standards of an agency established under subsection (c)(1).
(5)
Language assistance services
The term  language assistance services  means oral and written language assistance services used to provide individuals with LEP meaningful access to, and an equal opportunity to participate fully in, the services, activities, and other programs administered by the Federal Government.
(6)
Meaningful access
The term  meaningful access  means access that—
(A)
results in accurate, timely, and effective communication at no cost to the individual with LEP; and
(B)
is comparable to the access provided to individuals who are proficient in English.
(7)
Primary language
The term  primary language  means the language in which an individual most effectively communicates.
(8)
Program or activity
The term  program or activity  means all the operations of an agency that involve contact with the public, the administration of Federal benefits, or communication with members of the public or program participants.
(9)
Qualified interpreter or translator
The term  qualified interpreter or translator  means—
(A)
an individual who—
(i)
is capable of effective, accurate, and impartial rendition of spoken or signed communication from one language to another between people who speak, sign, read, or write in a different language, both receptively and expressively, using any necessary specialized vocabulary and with appropriate cultural relevance, either simultaneously or consecutively;
(ii)
demonstrates to the Language Access Coordinator of the agency proficiency in and ability to listen to a spoken language, seeing or feeling a signed or manual language, or reading something written in one language and expressing what is being conveyed by that language accurately and with appropriate cultural relevance into another language, either simultaneously or consecutively, including with respect to any specialized term, concept, or any particularized vocabulary or phraseology particular to the program or service concerned that is being conveyed; and
(iii)
understands and adheres to the roles of interpreters or translators, including any confidentiality, ethics, and impartiality rules.
(10)
Vital document
The term  vital document  means any written material containing information critical for—
(A)
accessing or understanding a Federal program or activity or required by law; or
(B)
obtaining any aid, benefit, service, or training, such as—
(i)
an application for a benefit or service;
(ii)
a consent or complaint form;
(iii)
a notice of rights and responsibilities; or
(iv)
a letter or notice that requires a response from a beneficiary, applicant, participant, or employee.