49 CFR Parts 37 & 38 - Department of Transportation (DOT) ADA Regulations

Amendments to 49 CFR Part 27

Section 27.67(d) has been revised to reference the Access Board facility guidelines (found in appendix A to part 37) as well as the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standard (UFAS). This change was made to ensure consistency between requirements under section 504 and the ADA. Several caveats relating to the application of UFAS (e.g., that spaces not used by the public or likely to result in the employment of individuals with disabilities would not have to meet the standards) have been deleted. It is the Department's understanding that provisions of the Access Board standards and part 37 make them unnecessary.

The Department is aware that there is a transition period between the publication of this rule and the effective date of many of its provisions (e.g., concerning facilities and paratransit services) during which section 504 remains the basic authority for accessibility modifications. In this interval, the Department expects recipients' compliance with section 504 to look forward to compliance with the ADA provisions. That is, if a recipient is making a decision about the shape of its paratransit service between the publication of this rule and January 26, 1992, the decision should be in the direction of service that will help to comply with post-January 1992 requirements. A recipient that severely curtailed its present paratransit service in October, and then asked for a three- or five-year phase-in of service under its paratransit plan, would not be acting consistent with this policy.

Likewise, the Department would view with disfavor any attempt by a recipient to accelerate the beginning of the construction, installation or alteration of a facility to before January 26, 1992, to "beat the clock" and avoid the application of this rule's facility standards. The Department would be very reluctant to approve grants, contracts, exemption requests etc., that appear to have this effect. The purpose of the Department's administration of section 504 is to ensure compliance with the national policy stated in the ADA, not to permit avoidance of it.