(a) In General.—The Secretary of Transportation shall take affirmative action to ensure that an individual is not excluded because of race, creed, color, national origin, or sex from participating in an activity carried out with money received under a grant under this subchapter. The Secretary shall prescribe regulations necessary to carry out this section. The regulations shall be similar to those in effect under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.). This section is in addition to title VI of the Act.

(b) Indian Employment.—

(1) Tribal sponsor preference.—Consistent with section 703(i) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(i)), nothing in this section shall preclude the preferential employment of Indians living on or near a reservation on a project or contract at—

(A) an airport sponsored by an Indian tribal government; or

(B) an airport located on an Indian reservation.

(2) State preference.—A State may implement a preference for employment of Indians on a project carried out under this subchapter near an Indian reservation.

(3) Implementation.—The Secretary shall consult with Indian tribal governments and cooperate with the States to implement this subsection.

(4) Indian tribal government defined.—In this section, the term “Indian tribal government” has the same meaning given that term in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122).