28 CFR Part 36 Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodations and in Commercial Facilities (2010 ADA Title III Regulations with amendments issued through Dec. 2016)

Organization of This Rule

Throughout this rule, the original ADA Standards, which are republished as Appendix D to 28 CFR part 36, will be referred to as the ‘‘1991 Standards.’’ The original title III regulation, codified at 28 CFR part 36 (2009), will be referred to as the ‘‘1991 regulation’’ or the ‘‘1991 title III regulation.’’ ADA Chapter 1, ADA Chapter 2, and Chapters 3 through 10 of the 2004 ADA/ABA Guidelines, 36 CFR part 1191, app. B and D (2009), will be referred to as the ‘‘2004 ADAAG.’’ The Department’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 73 FR 34508 (June 17, 2008), will be referred to as the ‘‘NPRM.’’ As noted above, the 2004 ADAAG, taken together with the requirements contained in subpart D of 28 CFR part 36 (New Construction and Alterations) of the final rule, will be referred to as the ‘‘2010 Standards.’’ The amendments made to the 1991 title III regulation and the adoption of the 2004 ADAAG, taken together, will be referred to as the ‘‘final rule.’’

In performing the required periodic review of its existing regulation, the Department has reviewed the title III regulation section by section, and, as a result, has made several clarifications and amendments in this rule. Appendix A of the final rule, ‘‘Guidance on Revisions to ADA Regulation on Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodations and Commercial Facilities,’’ codified as Appendix A to 28 CFR part 36, provides the Department’s response to comments and its explanations of the changes to the regulation. The section entitled ‘‘Section-by-Section Analysis and Response to Comments’’ in Appendix A provides a detailed discussion of the changes to the title III regulation. The Section-by-Section Analysis follows the order of the 1991 title III regulation, except that regulatory sections that remain unchanged are not referenced. The discussion within each section explains the changes and the reasoning behind them, as well as the Department’s response to related public comments. Subject areas that deal with more than one section of the regulation include references to the related sections, where appropriate. The Section-by-Section Analysis also discusses many of the questions asked by the Department for specific public response. The section of Appendix A entitled ‘‘Other Issues’’ discusses public comment on several issues of concern to the Department that were the subject of questions that are not specifically addressed in the Section-by-Section Analysis.

The Department’s description of the 2010 Standards, as well as a discussion of the public comments on specific sections of the 2004 ADAAG, is found in Appendix B of this final rule, ‘‘Analysis and Commentary on the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design,’’ codified as Appendix B to 28 CFR part 36.

The provisions of this rule generally take effect six months from its publication in the Federal Register. The Department has determined, however, that compliance with the requirements related to new construction and alterations and reservations at a place of lodging shall not be required until 18 months from the publication date of this rule. These exceptions are set forth in §§ 36.406(a) and 36.302(e)(3), respectively, and are discussed in greater detail in Appendix A. See discussions in Appendix A entitled ‘‘Section 36.406 Standards for New Construction and Alterations’’ and ‘‘Section 36.302(e) Hotel Reservations.’’

This final rule only addresses issues that were identified in the NPRM as subjects the Department intended to regulate through this rulemaking proceeding. Because the Department indicated in the NPRM that it did not intend to regulate certain areas, including equipment and furniture, accessible golf cars, and movie captioning and video description, as part of this rulemaking proceeding, the Department believes it would be appropriate to solicit more public comment about these areas prior to making them the subject of a rulemaking. The Department intends to engage in additional rulemaking in the near future addressing accessibility in these areas and others, including next generation 9-1-1 and accessibility of Web sites operated by covered public entities and public accommodations.