[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 116 (Thursday, June 16, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 36224-36225]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-12823]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES

National Endowment for the Humanities

45 CFR Part 1170


Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Federally 
Assisted Programs or Activities

AGENCY: National Endowment for the Humanities; National Foundation on 
the Arts and the Humanities.

ACTION: Notification of interpretation.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) provides 
notice of its interpretation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 
of 1973 and NEH's implementing regulations, which prohibit 
discrimination on the basis of disability in federally assisted 
programs and activities. (In order to reflect currently accepted 
terminology, this notice uses the term ``disability'' rather than 
``handicap,'' which appears in NEH's Section 504 regulations. There is 
no substantive legal difference between the two terms for purposes of 
this notice.) This document clarifies that NEH interprets its Section 
504 rule to permit recipients of Federal financial assistance from NEH 
who engage in the design, construction, or alteration of facilities to 
use the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design (2010 Standards) in 
lieu of the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS). This notice 
does not require recipients to use the 2010 Standards.

DATES: This interpretation is effective June 16, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Voyatzis, Deputy General 
Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, National Endowment for the 
Humanities, 400 7th Street SW, Room 4060, Washington, DC 20506; (202) 
606-8322; [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) \1\ 
prohibits, among other things, discrimination on the basis of 
disability in federally assisted programs or activities. NEH adopted a 
rule, codified at 45 CFR part 1170, to implement this prohibition for 
each recipient of Federal financial assistance from NEH and each 
program or activity that receives such assistance (the Section 504 
rule).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 29 U.S.C. 794.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Section 1170.33(a) of the Section 504 rule imposes a requirement 
with respect to the design and construction of facilities. New 
facilities must be designed and constructed to be readily accessible to 
and usable by handicapped persons. Alterations to existing facilities 
must, to the maximum extent feasible, be designed and constructed to be 
readily accessible to and usable by handicapped persons.
    Section 1170.33(b)(1) of the Section 504 rule provides further 
that, effective as of January 18, 1991, NEH shall deem the design, 
construction, or alteration of buildings in conformance with sections 
3-8 of the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS) \2\ to comply 
with Sec.  1170.33(a).\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ 41 CFR Appendix A to Subpart 101-19.6 (2001), available at 
https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CFR-2001-title41-vol2/CFR-2001-title41-vol2-part101-id389-subpart101-id424-appA.
    \3\ 45 CFR 1170.33(a).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On September 15, 2010, the Department of Justice adopted new 
accessibility standards under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 
1990 (ADA) for the design, construction, and alteration of state and 
local government facilities, places of public accommodation, and 
commercial facilities, called the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible 
Design (the 2010 Standards).\4\ Covered entities under the ADA must 
comply with the 2010 Standards for new construction or alterations that 
commence on or after March 15, 2012.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ 75 FR 56236; 75 FR 56163.
    \5\ 28 CFR 35.151(c)(3), 36.406(a)(3).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    NEH routinely provides Federal financial assistance to state and 
local governments and entities that operate places of public 
accommodation and/or commercial facilities, within the meaning of the 
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, to support the design, 
construction, or alteration of facilities. In those cases, the 
recipient of Federal financial assistance must comply with the 2010 
Standards pursuant to the ADA, but must also comply with UFAS to gain 
the benefit of the provisions of Sec.  1170.33(b)(1) of the Section 504 
rule. These duplicative requirements impose an unnecessary 
administrative burden on recipients without providing any benefit to 
individuals with disabilities.
    In March 2011, pursuant to its authority to coordinate the 
implementation and enforcement of Section 504,\6\ the Department of 
Justice advised Federal agencies that, until such time as they update 
their regulations implementing the Federally assisted provisions of 
Section 504, they may issue guidance to covered entities that permits 
them to use the 2010 Standards as an acceptable alternative to UFAS for 
new construction and alterations.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ Executive Order 12250.
    \7\ Memorandum from Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General, 
Division of Civil Rights, Department of Justice, to Federal Agency 
Civil Rights Directors and General Counsels (March 29, 2011), 
available at https://www.justice.gov/file/1464186/download (the 2011 
Memorandum).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

II. Notice of Interpretation

    Consistent with the foregoing guidance, this notification clarifies 
that NEH deems compliance with the 2010 Standards to be an acceptable 
means of complying with the accessibility requirements for new 
construction and alterations set forth in the Section 504 rule. 
Specifically, NEH interprets the requirement of Sec.  1170.33(a) of the 
Section 504 rule, that covered facilities shall be ``designed and 
constructed to be readily accessible to and usable by handicapped 
persons,'' to permit the design, construction, or alteration of 
buildings in conformance with the 2010 Standards. Once a covered entity 
selects an applicable accessibility standard for new construction or 
alterations under Section 504, that standard must be applied to the 
entire facility.
    Nothing in this document requires the design, construction, or 
alteration of buildings to conform with the 2010 Standards or alters 
NEH's interpretation of Sec.  1170.33(b).


[[Page 36225]]


    Dated: June 9, 2022.
Samuel Roth,
Attorney-Advisor, National Endowment for the Humanities.
[FR Doc. 2022-12823 Filed 6-15-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7536-01-P