I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1493 

To amend the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to impose notice 

and a compliance opportunity to be provided before commencement of 

a private civil action. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 10, 2017 

Mr. DENHAM introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to 

impose notice and a compliance opportunity to be provided before commencement of a private civil action. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘ADA Lawsuit Clari5 fication Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 

7 Section 308(a)(1) of the Americans with Disabilities 

8 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12188(a)(1)) is amended— 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1493 IH

1 (1) by striking ‘‘PROCEDURES.—’’ and all that 

2 follows through ‘‘The’’, and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘PROCEDURES.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara5 graph (B), the’’, and 

6 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(B) STRUCTURAL BARRIERS TO ENTRY

8 INTO EXISTING PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS.—A 

9 civil action for discrimination under section 

10 302(b)(2) based on the failure to remove a 

11 structural barrier to entry into an existing pub12 lic accommodation may not be commenced by a 

13 person aggrieved by such discrimination un14 less— 

15 ‘‘(i) such person has provided to the 

16 owner or operator of such accommodation 

17 a written notice specific enough to allow 

18 such owner or operator to identify such 

19 barrier; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) beginning on the date such no21 tice was received and— 

22 ‘‘(I) before the expiration of 60 

23 days after such date, such owner or 

24 operator failed to provide to such per25 son a written description outlining imVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Mar 17, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1493.IH H1493

SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1493 IH

1 provements that will be made to re2 move such barrier; or 

3 ‘‘(II)(aa) before the expiration of 

4 60 days after such date, such owner 

5 or operator provided such description 

6 to such person; and 

7 ‘‘(bb) before the expiration of 

8 120 days after such description is pro9 vided, such owner or operator failed to 

10 remove such barrier. 

11 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO STRUC12 TURAL BARRIERS.—An owner or operator may 

13 not be held civilly or criminally liable under 

14 Federal or State law for conduct constituting a 

15 violation described in subparagraph (B) that oc16 curs before the expiration of the 120-day period 

17 described in that subparagraph. 

18 ‘‘(D) MATERIALS PROVIDED IN OTHER

19 LANGUAGES.—The Attorney General shall take 

20 appropriate actions to make technical assistance 

21 publications relating to compliance with this 

22 Act available in all the languages commonly 

23 used by owners and operators, to the extent 

24 practicable’’. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 1493 IH

1 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

3 take effect on the first day of the first month beginning 

4 more than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this 

5 Act. 

Æ 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS