Accessibility Guidebook for Outdoor Recreation and Trails

Documenting Exceptions

Recording and retaining documentation of determinations of the basis for exceptions for any outdoor recreation feature is a good practice. These records will become very valuable accounts of decisions and rationale when future changes are required or the public inquires about conditions.

Documentation is especially important for exceptions taken due to Condition 4. Federal laws and applicable State or local laws specified in Condition 4 prescribe certain activities or require certain analyses or procedures to be followed when planning to construct or alter facilities that may affect the cultural, historic, or natural features or species protected by that law. When work necessary to meet the technical requirements would directly or indirectly substantially harm the protected aspect, document the reason for the determination and then apply the exception. The documentation also may need to be included in the analysis or procedure records if required by specific laws.

Documentation of the basis for exceptions is required only when a condition for an exception prohibits full compliance with technical requirements on a portion of a trail or beach access route. An explanation of the condition that resulted in the determination that full compliance could not be achieved, the date the decision was made, and the name of the individuals who made the decision must be recorded and the documentation must be retained with the records for the construction or alteration project.

For trails or beach access routes only, if the entire trail or route must be exempted from the technical requirements because extreme or numerous conditions for exemptions make it impractical to provide a trail or route that meets the requirements, documentation must be sent to the U.S. Access Board. More information about this requirement is available in "Notifying the U.S. Access Board About Exemptions" and in "Documenting Exceptions and Notifying the U.S. Access Board About Exemptions" of this guidebook. Contact information for the U.S. Access Board is available at http://www.access-board.gov.