[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] _______________________________________________________________________ Part VI Department of Justice _______________________________________________________________________ Office of the Attorney General _______________________________________________________________________ 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 * * * * * BILLING CODE 4410-01-M![]()
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TR18JA94.008 [FR Doc. 94-744 Filed 1-14-94; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4410-01-C