Cooperation and assistance: SBA shall to the fullest extent practicable seek the cooperation of applicants and recipients in obtaining compliance with this part and shall provide assistance and guidance to applicants and recipients to help them comply voluntarily with this part. Recipients are expected to continually evaluate their compliance status, with the assistance of interested persons, including handicapped persons or organizations representing handicapped persons.

Compliance reports: Each applicant or recipient shall keep such records and submit to SBA timely, complete and accurate compliance reports at such times, and in such form and containing such information, as SBA may determine to be necessary to enable SBA to ascertain whether the applicant or recipient has complied or is complying with this part. In the case of a small business concern which receives financial assistance from a development company or from a small business investment company, such concern shall submit to the company such information as may be necessary to enable the company to meet its reporting requirements under this part.

Access to sources of information: Each applicant or recipient shall permit access by SBA 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 part. Where any information required of an applicant or recipient is in the exclusive possession of any other agency, institution or person; and such agency, institution or person shall fail or refuse to furnish this information, the applicant or recipient shall so certify in its report and shall set forth what efforts it has made to obtain this information.

Information to the Public. Each recipient shall make available to persons entitled under this part to protection against discrimination by the recipient such information as SBA may find necessary to apprise them of their rights to such protection.

In some situations even though past discriminatory practices have been abandoned, the consequences of such practices continue to impede the full availability of equal opportunity. If the efforts required of the applicant or recipient under § 113.5(b) to provide information as to the availability of equal opportunity, and the rights of individuals under this regulation, have failed to overcome these consequences, it will become necessary for such applicant or recipient to take additional steps to make equal opportunity fully available to racial, qualified handicapped, nationality groups and persons who because of their sex were previously subjected to discrimination.

Even though an applicant or recipient has never used discriminatory policies, the opportunities in the business it operates may not in fact be equally available to some racial, qualified handicapped, or nationality groups. In such circumstances a recipient may properly give special consideration to race, color, religion, sex, marital status, qualified handicap or national origin to make the opportunities more widely available to such groups.