(a) Cooperation and assistance. Each responsible Department official shall, to the fullest extent practicable, seek the cooperation of recipients in obtaining compliance with this subpart and shall provide assistance and guidance to recipients to help them comply voluntarily with this subpart.

(b) Compliance reports. Each recipient shall keep such records and submit to the responsible Department official or his designee timely, complete, and accurate compliance reports at such times, and in such form and containing such information, as the responsible Department official or his designee may determine to be necessary to enable him to ascertain whether the recipient has complied or is complying with this subpart. In general, recipients should have available for the Department racial and ethnic data showing the extent to which members of minority groups are beneficiaries of federally assisted programs. In the case in which a primary recipient extends Federal financial assistance to any other recipient or subcontracts with any other person or group, such other recipient shall also submit such compliance reports to the primary recipient as may be necessary to enable the primary recipient to carry out its obligations under this subpart.

(c) Access to sources of information. Each recipient shall permit access by the responsible Department official or his designee during normal business hours to such of its books, records, accounts, and other sources of information, and its facilities, as may be pertinent to ascertain compliance with this subpart. Whenever any information required of a recipient is in the exclusive possession of any other agency, institution, or person and that agency, institution, or person fails or refuses to furnish that information, the recipient shall so certify in its report and set forth the efforts which it has made to obtain the information.

(d) Information to beneficiaries and participants. Each recipient shall make available to participants, beneficiaries, and other interested persons such information regarding the provisions of this subpart and its applicability to the program for which the recipient receives Federal financial assistance, and make such information available to them in such manner, as the responsible Department official finds necessary to apprise such persons of the protections against discrimination assured them by the Act and this subpart.