[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 18, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
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From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-744]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: January 18, 1994]
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Part VI
Department of Justice
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Office of the Attorney General
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28 CFR Part 36
Americans With Disabilities Act; Transportation Facilities and
Accessible Automated Teller Machines (ATMs); Final Rule
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Office of the Attorney General
28 CFR PART 36
[Order No. 1836-94]
Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public
Accommodations and in Commercial Facilities: Amendments to the
Americans With Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (Accessible
Automated Teller Machines and Transportation Facilities)
AGENCY: Department of Justice.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: This final rule amends Appendix A to the Department of Justice
regulation implementing title III of the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) by incorporating the accessibility guidelines for
transportation facilities issued by the Architectural and
Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board), and by
adopting the amendments to the reach range requirement for accessible
automated teller machines (ATMs) and fare vending machines jointly
issued by the Access Board and the Department of Transportation.
EFFECTIVE DATE: February 17, 1994.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stewart B. Oneglia, Chief,
Coordination and Review Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department
of Justice, Washington, DC 20530, (202) 514-0301 (Voice), (202) 514-
0383 (TDD) (the Division's ADA Information Line). These telephone
numbers are not toll-free numbers.
Copies of this rule are available in the following alternate
formats: large print, Braille, electronic file on computer disk, and
audio-tape. Copies may be obtained from the Coordination and Review
Section at (202) 514-0301 (Voice) or (202) 514-0383 (TDD). The rule is
also available on electronic bulletin board at (202) 514-6193. These
telephone numbers are not toll-free numbers.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On July 26, 1991 (56 FR 35544), the Department of Justice
(Department) published its final regulation implementing title III of
the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) Public Law 101-336,
which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by private
entities that own, lease, lease to, or operate a place of public
accommodation, and requires that all new places of public accommodation
and commercial facilities, and all alterations to such facilities, be
designed and constructed so as to be readily accessible to and usable
by persons with disabilities.
Section 36.406 of the regulation, ``Standards for new construction
and alterations,'' provides that new construction and alterations
subject to the regulation shall comply with the standards for
accessible design published as appendix A to the regulation. Appendix A
contains the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines
for Buildings and Facilities (ADAAG), which was separately published by
the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access
Board) as a final guideline on July 26, 1991 (56 FR 35408). On April 5,
1993, the Department issued a final rule containing technical
amendments to appendix A (58 FR 17521), which incorporated technical
corrections to ADAAG made by the Access Board on January 14, 1992 (57
FR 1393).
Section 36.406 of the title III regulation implements sections
306(b) and 306(c) of the ADA, which require the Attorney General to
promulgate standards for accessible design for buildings and facilities
subject to the ADA, and require those standards to be consistent with
the supplemental minimum guidelines and requirements for accessible
design published by the Access Board pursuant to section 504 of the
ADA. Sections 5 through 9 of appendix A are special application
sections and contain additional requirements for restaurants and
cafeterias, medical care facilities, business and mercantile
facilities, libraries, and transient lodging. Section 10 of ADAAG,
which was intended to establish special access requirements for
transportation facilities, was reserved when the Department's final
rule was published because the Access Board had not yet published that
section of its minimum guidelines.
On September 6, 1991 (56 FR 45500), the Access Board published a
final rule amending the guidelines by adding final guidelines for
transportation facilities as a new section 10, and on January 14, 1992
(57 FR 1393), the Access Board published a final rule making
corrections to that section.
On September 8, 1992 (57 FR 41006), the Access Board published a
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to amend the reach range
requirements for accessible ATMs under ADAAG based on new information
received in connection with a petition for rulemaking. The Access
Board's proposed amendment set out the reach ranges for controls when a
person using a wheelchair could make a forward approach only, a
parallel approach only, or both a forward and parallel approach to an
ATM. To address the reach over an obstruction resulting from recessed
controls and the installation of fixtures called ``surrounds'' (which
contain writing counters and bins for envelopes and waste paper), in
front of ATMs, the proposed amendment included a table of reach depths
and maximum heights for the placement of the controls where the reach
depth to any control is more than 10 inches from a parallel approach. A
detailed discussion of the proposed amendment is contained in the
Access Board's proposed rule. On November 17, 1992 (57 FR 54210), the
Department of Transportation issued an NPRM to amend its ADA
regulations in several respects, including conforming the standards for
transportation facilities to incorporate the reach range requirements
for ATMs. The amendment is relevant to transportation facilities
because fare vending machines are required to comply with the same
requirements as ATMs. See ADAAG 10.3.1(7). On July 15, 1993 (58 FR
38204), the Access Board and the Department of Transportation published
a joint final rule adopting the proposed changes to the reach range
requirements for ATMs and fare vending machines.
On April 5, 1993 (58 FR 17558), this Department published a
proposed rule to amend appendix A to its title III regulation to
include section 10 of the Access Board's final guidelines, as amended
(transportation facilities), and to adopt the changes relating to the
reach range requirements applicable to automated teller machines
proposed by the Access Board in its September 8, 1992 (57 FR 41006)
proposed rule. In the Department's proposed rule, it sated that ``[a]ll
timely comments received by the Board on the proposed transportation
rule issued by the Board on March 20, 1991 (56 FR 11874), and on the
proposed rule relating to ATM reach ranges issued by the Board on
September 8, 1992 (57 FR 41006), will be deemed by the Department to
have been submitted in response to this proposed rule and will be
thoroughly analyzed and considered by the Department prior to the
adoption of any final rule. Therefore, it is not necessary for any
timely comments submitted to the Board on those proposed rules to be
resubmitted to the Department.'' Any new comments on the Department's
proposed rule were due on or before May 5, 1993.
Summary of Rule and Comments
The Department of Justice is adopting as a final rule the
accessibility guidelines for transportation facilities published by the
Access Board as a final rule on September 6, 1991, as amended by the
Access Board on January 14, 1992, and as further jointly amended on
July 15, 1993, by the Access Board and the Department of
Transportation, to reflect changes relating to reach range
requirements.
The Department is also adopting as a final rule the proposed
amendment to the reach range requirement for ATMs. As stated in the
Department's NPRM, all timely comments received by the Access Board on
the proposed transportation and ATM rules have been analyzed by the
Department in connection with this final rule. An analysis of these
comments is contained in the final rules issued by the Access Board and
referenced above, and the Department concurs with the Access Board's
analysis. In addition to the comments previously received by the Access
Board, the Department directly received seven comments in response to
its NPRM. Of these seven comments, three substantially duplicated
comments on the proposed revisions to ATM requirements previously sent
to the Access Board by the same commenters, and two addressed issues
not covered by the NPRM. Of the two new comments on issues raised by
the NPRM, one expressed support for both the proposed transportation
and the proposed ATM provisions without discussing any rationable for
such support, and on comment, submitted by an advocacy group, opposed
the changes to ATM reach range requirements on the ground that the
changes would not make ATMs readily accessible to and usable by
individuals with disabilities, but did not include any additional
documentation.
Regulatory Process Matters
The Department has determined that this final rule is not a major
rule under E.O. 12291. Accordingly, a regulatory impact statement is
not required.
The Department has determined that this final rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small business
entities. Therefore, it is not subject to the Regulatory Flexibility
Act.
The Department also has determined that there are no Federalism
impacts sufficient to warrant the preparation of a Federalism
assessment under Executive Order 12612.
List of Subjects in 28 CFR Part 36
Administrative practice and procedure, Alcoholism, Americans with
disabilities, Buildings and facilities, Business and industry, Civil
rights, Consumer protection, Drug abuse, Historic preservation,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: January 5, 1994.
By the authority vested in me as Attorney General by 28 U.S.C.
509, 510, 5 U.S.C. 301, and section 306(b) of the Americans with
Disabilities Act, Pub. L. 101-336, and for the reasons set forth in
the preamble, chapter I of title 28 of the Code of Federal
Regulations is amended as follows:
Janet Reno,
Attorney General.
PART 36--NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY BY PUBLIC
ACCOMMODATIONS AND IN COMMERCIAL FACILITIES
1. The authority citation for 28 CFR part 36 is revised to read as
follows:
Authority: Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
12186).
2. The appendix to Sec. 36.406 is amended by removing ``[10,
Reserved]'' in the last line of the third column and adding, in lieu
thereof, ``10''.
3. Appendix A to part 36 is amended by revising paragraph 20 in
section 4.1.3, by revising section 4.43 and sections 4.34.1 through
4.34.4, by adding 4.34.5, by revising the heading of section 10, by
adding the text to section 10, and by adding sections A10.3 and
A10.3.1(7) to the appendix to appendix A. Pages 10, 58, 67, and A17 are
republished with the revisions and additions included, and pages 58A
and 68 through 71 are added, to read as follows:
Appendix A to Part 36--Standards for Accessible Design
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[FR Doc. 94-744 Filed 1-14-94; 8:45 am]
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