28 CFR Part 36 Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodations and in Commercial Facilities NPRM (2008 Title III NPRM)

§ 36.302 Modifications in policies, practices, or procedures.

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(2) Exceptions. A public accommodation may ask an individual with a disability to remove a service animal from the premises if: 

(i) The animal is out of control and the animal's handler does not take effective action to control it;

(ii) The animal is not housebroken or the animal's presence or behavior fundamentally alters the nature of the service the public accommodation provides (e.g., repeated barking during a live performance); or

(iii) The animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others that cannot be eliminated by reasonable modifications.

(3) If an animal is properly excluded.  If a place of accommodation properly excludes a service animal, it shall give the individual with a disability the opportunity to obtain goods, services, and accommodations without having the service animal on the premises.

(4) General requirements.  The work or tasks performed by a service animal shall be directly related to the handler's disability.  A service animal that accompanies an individual with a disability into a place of public accommodation shall be individually trained to do work or perform a task, housebroken, and under the control of its handler.  A service animal shall have a harness, leash, or other tether.

(5) Care or supervision of service animals.  A public accommodation is not responsible for caring for or supervising a service animal.

(6) Inquiries. A public accommodation shall not ask about the nature or extent of a person's disability, but can determine whether an animal qualifies as a service animal. For example, a public accommodation may ask if the animal is required because of a disability; and what work or task the animal has been trained to perform. A public accommodation shall not require documentation, such as proof that the animal has been certified or licensed as a service animal.

(7) Access to areas open to the public, program participants, and invitees.  Individuals with disabilities who are accompanied by service animals may access all areas of a place of public accommodation where members of the public, program participants, and invitees are allowed to go.

(8) Fees or surcharges.  A public accommodation shall not ask or require an individual with a disability to post a deposit, pay a fee or surcharge, or comply with other requirements not generally applicable to other patrons as a condition of permitting a service animal to accompany its handler in a place of public accommodation, even if people accompanied by pets are required to do so.  If a public accommodation normally charges its clients or customers for damage that they cause, a customer with a disability may be charged for damage caused by his or her service animal.

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(e) Hotel reservations.  A public accommodation that owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of lodging shall: 

(1) Modify its policies, practices, or procedures to ensure that individuals with disabilities can make reservations, including reservations made by telephone, in-person, or through a third party, for accessible guest rooms during the same hours and in the same manner as individuals who do not need accessible rooms;

(2) Identify and describe accessible features in the hotels and guest rooms offered through the reservations service; and

(3) Guarantee that an accessible guest room reserved through the reservations service will be held for the reserving customer during the reservation period to the same extent that it guarantees reservations made by others.

(f) Ticketing.

(1) General.  A public accommodation shall modify its policies, practices, or procedures to ensure that individuals with disabilities can purchase tickets for accessible seating during the same hours, through the same methods of distribution, and in the same types and numbers of ticketing sales outlets, including telephone service, in-person ticket sales at the facility, or third-party ticketing services, as other patrons.

(2) Availability. Tickets for accessible seating shall be made available during all stages of ticket sales, including, but not limited to, presales, promotions, lotteries, waitlists, and general sales.

(3) Identification of accessible seating.  Wheelchair seating and companion seats shall be identified on seating maps, plans, brochures, or other information provided to the general public to describe the seating layout or configurations at an assembly area.

(4) Notification of accessible seating locations.  A public accommodation that sells or distributes tickets for seating at assembly areas shall, upon inquiry, inform spectators with disabilities and their companions of the locations of all unsold or otherwise available accessible seating for any ticketed event at the facility. 

(5) Sale of season tickets or other tickets for multiple events.  Season tickets or other tickets sold on a multi-event basis to individuals with disabilities and their companions shall be sold under the same terms and conditions as other tickets sold for the same series of events.  Spectators purchasing tickets for accessible seating on a multi-event basis shall also be permitted to transfer tickets for single-event use by friends or associates in the same fashion and to the same extent as permitted other spectators holding tickets for the same type of ticketing plan.

(6) Hold and release of accessible seating.  A public accommodation may release unsold accessible seating to any person with or without a disability following any of the circumstances described below:

(i) When all seating (excluding luxury boxes, club boxes, or suites) for an event have been sold;

(ii) When all seating in a designated area in the facility has been sold and the accessible seating being released is in the same designated area; or

(iii) When all seating in a designated price range has been sold and the accessible seating being sold is within the same designated price range.  Nothing in this provision requires a facility to release wheelchair seats for general sale.

(7) Ticket prices. The price of tickets for accessible seating shall not be set higher than for tickets to seating located in the same seating section for the same event. Accessible seating must be made available at all price levels for an event.  If an existing facility has barriers to accessible seating at a particular price level for an event, then a percentage (determined by the ratio of the total number of  seats at that price level to the total number of seats in the assembly area) of the number of accessible seats must be provided at that price level in an accessible location.  In no case shall the price of any particular accessible seat exceed the price that would ordinarily be charged for an inaccessible seat in that location.

(8) Prevention of fraudulent purchase of accessible seating.  A public accommodation may not require proof of disability before selling a wheelchair space. 

(i) For the sale of single-event tickets, it is permissible to inquire whether the individual purchasing the wheelchair space uses a wheelchair. 

(ii) For season tickets, subscriptions or other multi-events, it is permissible to ask the individual to attest in writing that the wheelchair space is for an individual who utilizes a wheelchair.  A public accommodation may investigate the potential misuse of accessible seating where there is good cause to believe that such seating has been purchased fraudulently.

(9) Purchasing multiple tickets. 

(i) Individuals with disabilities and their companions shall be permitted to purchase the same maximum number of tickets for an event per sales transaction as other spectators seeking to purchase seats for the same  event.  If there is an insufficient number of seats for all members of a party to sit together, seats shall be provided that are as close as possible to the wheelchair spaces.  For accessible seating in a designated wheelchair area, a public accommodation shall provide up to three companion seats for each person with a disability who requires a wheelchair space, provided that at the time of purchase there are sufficient available wheelchair spaces. 

(ii) For group sales, if a group includes one or more individuals who use a wheelchair, the group shall be placed in a seating area that includes wheelchair spaces so that, if possible, the group can sit together.  If it is necessary to divide the group, it should be divided so that the individuals in the group who use wheelchairs are not isolated from their group.