(2)

failure to make necessary reasonable modifications in rules, policies, practices, procedures, protocols, or services, unless to do so would involve a fundamental alteration of the nature of the privileges, advantages, or accommodations being provided; (3) failure to ensure the provision of auxiliary aids and services, unless doing so would involve a fundamental alteration or would result in an undue burden;

(4) failure to remove architectural, transportation, and communication barriers in existing facilities and vehicles where such barrier removal is readily achievable;

(5) where such barrier removal is not readily achievable, failure to take alternative readily achievable steps to provide access; and

(6) failure to incorporate, to the maximum extent feasible, accessibility into alterations of facilities or parts of facilities (with an exception regarding elevators in certain small buildings).

Subsections 302(b)(2)(B) and (C) establish specific

prohibitions of discrimination in regard to (respectively) fixed route transportation systems and demand responsive transportation systems.

Section 303 deals with new construction requirements in public accommodations and potential places of employment. It provides that it is discrimination for such establishments to fail to make new facilities constructed for first occupancy more than 30 months after the date of enactment of the Act accessible,

except where it is structurally impracticable to do so.

The forms of discrimination listed in sections 302 and 303 are generally based upon existing concepts of nondiscrimination in law and regulations, particularly under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Thus, the requirements of reasonable modifications, of providing auxiliary aids and services, and of removing architectural, transportation, and communication barriers to make facilities and vehicles readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, are well-established principles of disability nondiscrimination law. Likewise, limits upon nondiscrimination requirements, such as "fundamental alteration in the nature," "undue burden," "to the maximum extent feasible," and "structurally impracticable," are all drawn from existing regulatory language under Section 504, the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, and UFAS. In applying new construction accessibility requirements to "potential places of employment," in addition to places of public accommodation, the bill adopts an approach that had previously been applied in the Architectural Barriers Act.

An important distinction is made between providing an auxiliary aid or service and removing an architectural or

communication barrier:

Removal of architectural and communication barriers are structural solutions, for example:

audio loops (assistive listening systems in places of assembly like auditoriums to assist hearing-impaired people)

signage (with Braille, raised letter, and/or color-contrasting features to assist visually-impaired people)

emergency flashing lights or alarms (to assist hearing or visually-impaired people)

permanently-installed ramps to assist mobility-impaired

people

A permanently-installed public telephone which is equipped with a T.D.D. could be classified as structural, and therefore as the removal of a communication barrier.

Auxiliary aids and services are features of a program or service provided to an individual with a disability to enhance or permit participation; they address methods in which the program or service is operated, rather than how the building housing the Providing sign language interpreters is an Providing a portable T.D.D. can be an

services is erected.

auxiliary service.

auxiliary service.

Generally, a feature is a structural item

(and therefore constitutes removal of an architectural or communication barrier) if it can be found in commonly-accepted accessibility standards such as ANSI and UFAS (to be described

below).

ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS UNDER THE ADA

The bill gives the Attorney General the authority to issue regulations and the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (ATBCB) the obligation to establish minimum guidelines regarding accessibility. ATBCB has already established such minimum guidelines for accessibility under

Guidelines and Requirements for Accessible Design (MGRAD), and these guidelines, along with similar, existing, widely accepted standards, such as the ANSI standards (promulgated by the American National Standards Institute) and the UFAS (Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards) will be used as models, with necessary modification to establish standards that apply to particular types of facilities.

ANSI Standards

ANSI is a well-recognized standards-setting organization which has promulgated codes covering many aspects of the built environment which are used in most parts of the country. The large majority of states already have some form of accessibility requirements, and ANSI's accessibility standards are the standards most-often referenced by existing local and state accessibility laws.

UFAS

UFAS are a set of standards similar in many respects to ANSI, but which have been carefully reworked by the four principal standard-setting federal departments (HUD, GSA, DOT, and the Postal Service) for use in enforcing existing federal rules requiring non-discrimination on the basis of handicap. particularly pertinent for standards pursuant to the ADA, because UFAS includes thorough scoping requirements which make clear

UFAS is

exactly what standards apply in what situations. UFAS affords designers great deal of clarity by specifying exactly what is required, and eliminates potential confusion that might be

engendered by a less-specific set of standards.

The ADA provides that the Department of Justice will issue standards, consistent with minimum guidelines developed by the ATBCB, to extrapolate upon existing UFAS requirements (including scoping) and apply them to the various types of

facilities and places of public accommodation covered by the

bill.

Industry familiarity with standards

It is not foreseen that local establishments will have any difficulty in learning about the standards established pursuant to the ADA. Such accessibility requirements as those in UFAS and ANSI are already widely known and recognized by planners, architects, and builders. The building industry's organizations and associations have disseminated information and conducted training on standards affecting their members in the past and can be expected to continue to do so. Also, as a part of their rulemaking authority, appropriate federal agencies can undertake training for private entities affected by the ADA.

Limits upon accessibility requirements

Provisions in sections 302 and 303 of the ADA explicitly set limits upon the obligation of achieving full accessibility.