[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 18, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
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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