Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2004 / Proposed Rules 69245

ARCHITECTURAL AND 

TRANSPORTATION BARRIERS 

COMPLIANCE BOARD 

36 CFR Part 1195 

[Docket No. 2004–2] 

RIN 3014–AA11 

Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) 

Accessibility Guidelines for Passenger 

Vessels; Small Vessels

AGENCY: Architectural and 

Transportation Barriers Compliance 

Board.

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking; notice of hearing. 

SUMMARY: The Architectural and 

Transportation Barriers Compliance 

Board (Access Board) is considering the 

development of accessibility guidelines 

under the Americans with Disabilities 

Act of 1990 for newly constructed or 

altered passenger vessels which carry 

150 or fewer passengers or 49 or fewer 

overnight passengers. This notice seeks 

comment on various issues related to 

the development of accessibility 

guidelines for these types of passenger 

vessels.

DATES: Comments should be received by 

March 28, 2005. Comments received 

after this date will be considered to the 

extent practicable. The Access Board 

will hold a hearing on January 10, 2005, 

from 1:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to 

the Office of Technical and Information 

Services, Architectural and 

Transportation Barriers Compliance 

Board, 1331 F Street, NW., suite 1000, 

Washington, DC 20004–1111. E-mail 

comments should be sent to 

pvag@access-board.gov. Comments sent 

by e-mail will be considered only if they 

contain the full name and address of the 

sender in the text. Comments will be 

available for inspection at the above 

address from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on regular 

business days. The hearing on January 

10, 2005 will be held at the Marriott at 

Metro Center Hotel, 775 12th Street, 

NW., Washington, DC 20005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul 

Beatty, Office of Technical and 

Information Services, Architectural and 

Transportation Barriers Compliance 

Board, 1331 F Street, NW., suite 1000, 

Washington, DC 20004–1111. 

Telephone number (202) 272–0012 

(Voice); (202) 272–0082 (TTY). 

Electronic mail address: pvag@accessboard.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Architectural and Transportation 

Barriers Compliance Board (Access 

Board) is responsible for developing 

accessibility guidelines under the 

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 

of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) to 

ensure that facilities and vehicles 

covered by the law are readily 

accessible to and usable by individuals 

with disabilities. The ADA is a 

comprehensive civil rights law that 

prohibits discrimination on the basis of 

disability. Title II of the ADA 

establishes requirements for the 

purchase, lease, and remanufacture of 

vehicles operated by State and local 

government entities to provide 

designated public transportation. 42 

U.S.C. 12141, 12142, 12144. For 

purposes of title II of the ADA, the term 

‘‘designated public transportation’’

means ‘‘transportation * * * by bus, 

rail, or any other conveyance * * * that 

provides the general public with general 

or special service (including charter 

service) on a regular and continuing 

basis.’’ 42 U.S.C. 12141(2). Passenger 

vessels such as ferries operated by State 

and local government entities provide 

designated public transportation and are 

thus subject to the transportation 

vehicle requirements of title II of the 

ADA. 

Title III of the ADA establishes 

requirements for the purchase and lease 

of vehicles operated by private entities, 

who are primarily engaged in the 

business of transporting people and 

whose operations affect commerce. 42 

U.S.C. 12184. For purposes of title III of 

the ADA, the term ‘‘specified public 

transportation’’ means ‘‘transportation 

by bus, rail, or any other conveyance 

* * * that provides the general public 

with general or special service 

(including charter service) on a regular 

basis’’. Cruise ships and excursion boats 

operated by private entities to provide 

specified public transportation services 

are thus subject to the transportation 

vehicle requirements of title III of the 

ADA. 42 U.S.C. 12181. 

Title III of the ADA also establishes 

requirements for the purchase and lease 

of vehicles by private entities who are 

not primarily engaged in the business of 

transporting people but operate a 

demand responsive or fixed route 

system. 42 U.S.C. 12182(b)(2) (B) and 

(C). For example, an amusement park or 

hotel that operates shuttle boats to 

transport patrons from a parking area to 

the main attraction or hotel itself would 

be subject to the transportation vehicle 

requirements of title III of the ADA. In 

addition to the transportation vehicle 

requirements, title III of the ADA 

establishes requirements for new 

construction and alteration of places of 

public accommodation operated by 

private entities. 42 U.S.C. 12183. There 

are twelve categories of places of public 

accommodation covered by title III of 

the ADA, including places of lodging, 

establishments serving food or drink, 

and places of exhibition or 

entertainment. 42 U.S.C. 12181(7) (A)–

(L). Passenger vessels or portions of 

vessels that are within any of the twelve 

categories of places of public 

accommodation such as cruise ships, 

dinner boats, gaming boats, and 

sightseeing vessels are thus subject to 

the public accommodation requirements 

of title III of the ADA. 

In 1998, the Access Board established 

a 21-member advisory committee to 

provide recommendations to assist the 

Board in developing passenger vessel 

accessibility guidelines. The committee 

included disability organizations, 

industry trade groups, State and local 

government agencies, and passenger 

vessel operators. The Passenger Vessel 

Access Advisory Committee (PVAAC) 

met nine times between September 1998 

and September 2000 and submitted a 

final report ‘‘Recommendations for 

Accessibility Guidelines for Passenger 

Vessels’’ (http://www.access-board.gov/

pvaac/commrept/index.htm) to the 

Board in December 2000. 

The PVAAC report addresses two 

types of passenger vessels. Passenger 

vessels which are subject to U.S. Coast 

Guard regulations found at 46 CFR 

Subchapters H or K, and smaller 

passenger vessels subject to Subchapters 

C or T. Most of the PVAAC report 

focused on access in larger vessels, with 

only one chapter of the report 

specifically addressing smaller vessels 

(see option 2 below for a summary of 

the chapter). Determining which 

Subchapter of the Coast Guard 

regulations applies to a passenger vessel 

is based on the number of passengers a 

vessel is permitted to carry and the 

volume tonnage of a vessel. 

Also today, the Access Board issued 

in the Federal Register a notice 

announcing that the Board’s draft 

guidelines for large passenger vessels 

are available for public review on the 

Board’s Web site (http://www.accessboard.gov). Because determining the 

tonnage of a passenger vessel is a 

complicated process and because many 

large foreign-flagged passenger vessels 

are not subject to Subchapters H or K, 

the Board’s draft guidelines would 

apply to passenger vessels which are 

permitted to carry more than 150 

passengers or more than 49 overnight 

passengers. These numbers were 

derived from Subchapter K and are used 

to distinguish Subchapter K passenger 

vessels from Subchapter T passenger 

vessels, which are generally smaller. It 

is possible for some Subchapter H 

69246 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2004 / Proposed Rules 

passenger vessels to have fewer than 

these passenger numbers.

To assist the Board in developing 

accessibility guidelines for the design, 

construction, and alteration of smaller 

passenger vessels, the Board seeks 

comment on four options. Comment is 

sought in the following areas for each 

option: 

• The feasibility of each option and 

the rationale for selecting one option 

over others; 

• How a selected option should be 

modified to correct any identified 

weaknesses; 

• Data relating to the costs and 

benefits of each of the options; and 

• Recommendations on other ways to 

address the accessible design, 

construction, and alteration of smaller 

passenger vessels. 

Option 1. Require vessels which are 

permitted to carry fewer than 150 

passengers or fewer than 49 overnight 

passengers to comply with the same 

design, construction, and alteration 

requirements applicable to larger vessels 

addressed in the Board’s draft 

guidelines except where it is not 

operationally or structurally feasible. 

Where a provision is not operationally 

or structurally feasible, compliance 

would be to the maximum extent 

practicable. The Board seeks comment 

on which particular provisions might be 

considered operationally or structurally 

infeasible. 

Option 2. Require these smaller 

vessels to comply with the PVAAC 

report. In Chapter 12 of its report

(http://www.access-board.gov/pvaac/

commrept/chapter12.htm,) PVAAC 

provided access recommendations for 

smaller vessels but applied the 

recommendations differently to sailing 

vessels and power vessels. Any 

Subchapter C or T sailing vessel could 

use the small vessel access provisions 

(summarized below). However, only 

Subchapter C or T power vessels that 

are within at least two of the following 

three measurements could use the small 

vessel provisions. The three 

measurements are: 

• The length on deck of the vessel is 

65 feet or less; 

• The maximum beam (width) of the 

vessel is 16 feet or less; and 

• On the vessels main deck, each of 

the following three areas (weather deck, 

major program area, and boarding deck) 

is 750 square feet or less in size. 

Therefore, for example, a new water 

taxi with a length on deck of 65 feet and 

a beam of 16 feet could use the small 

vessel provisions. Other Subchapter C 

or T power vessels that do not meet at 

least two of the above three 

measurements would need to comply 

with the access provisions applicable to 

larger passenger vessels. 

The small vessel provisions generally 

address access only in a few areas 

including vessel embarkation and 

debarkation points, clear decks spaces 

and transfer seats, toilet rooms, 

accessible routes and transfer systems, 

and means of escape. The accessible 

route technical provisions also 

addressed brow and gangway 

requirements but did not include 

recommendations regarding gangway 

slopes. These small vessel provisions 

were based on language similar to what 

is found in the Board’s draft guidelines 

which address larger vessels, but were 

extensively modified to be compatible 

with smaller passenger vessels. 

Option 3. Develop general 

performance requirements which must 

be met when designing, constructing or 

altering smaller vessels. General 

performance requirements list 

objectives, rather than detailed design 

requirements, which must be 

accomplished to determine if a vessel is 

accessible. For example, general 

performance requirements for newly 

constructed smaller passenger vessels 

could include the following: 

• Passengers with disabilities must be 

able to get on and off a passenger vessel 

by a roll-on access method or by use of 

a transfer device; 

• Within the vessel, except for spaces 

and areas only connected by ladders, 

passengers with disabilities must be 

able to approach, enter, maneuver 

within, and exit each program area; 

• Within the vessel, except for spaces 

and areas only connected by ladders, 

passengers with disabilities must be 

able to approach, enter, maneuver 

within, and exit each passenger toilet 

facility; 

• Within the vessel, provide a 

circulation path usable by passengers 

with disabilities which connects 

accessible spaces and areas to an 

accessible entry and departure point. 

Option 4. The Board’s draft guidelines 

apply to larger passenger vessels 

(including sailing vessels) which carry 

more than 150 passengers or more than 

49 overnight passengers. It may be 

feasible to apply the draft guidelines to 

some sailing and power vessels which 

carry fewer than 150 passengers or 49 

overnight passengers. The Board is 

interested in receiving comment to 

determine at what passenger count the 

application of the draft guidelines to 

smaller passenger vessels becomes 

infeasible or at what size vessel the 

application of the draft guidelines 

becomes infeasible. 

In addition to welcoming written 

comments, the Board will hold a 

hearing on January 10, 2005 to give the 

public an additional opportunity to 

provide input on the Board’s draft 

guidelines. Interested members of the 

public are encouraged to contact the 

Access Board at (202) 272–0012 (voice) 

or (202) 272–0082 (TTY) to pre-register 

to attend the hearing. A second hearing 

may be held later in 2005. The location, 

date, and time of the second hearing 

will be announced in a subsequent 

Federal Register notice and on the 

Board’s Web site. The hearings will be 

accessible to persons with disabilities. 

Sign language interpreters and an 

assistive listening system will be 

available. Persons attending the 

hearings are requested to refrain from 

using perfume, cologne, and other 

fragrances for the comfort of other 

participants. 

Availability of Copies and Electronic 

Access 

Single copies of the passenger vessels 

rulemaking (ANPRM on Access to and 

in Smaller Passenger Vessels, 

Availability of Draft Guidelines, Draft 

Guidelines and Supplementary 

Information, and Draft Plan for 

Regulatory Assessment) may be 

obtained at no cost by calling the Access 

Board’s automated publications order 

line (202) 272–0080, by pressing 2 on 

the telephone keypad, then 1 and 

requesting publication S–45. Please 

record your name, address, telephone 

number and publication code S–45. 

Persons using a TTY should call (202) 

272–0082. Documents are available in 

alternate formats upon request. Persons 

who want a publication in an alternate 

format should specify the type of format 

(cassette tape, Braille, large print, or 

ASCII disk). Documents are also 

available on the Board’s Web site

(http://www.access-board.gov).

Emil H. Frankel, 

Chair, Architectural and Transportation 

Barriers Compliance Board.

[FR Doc. 04–25999 Filed 11–24–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8150–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary 

49 CFR Part 37 

[Docket No. OST–2004–19700] 

RIN 2105–AB87 

Nondiscrimination on the Basis of 

Disability: Passenger Vessels

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary of 

Transportation (OST), DOT.