43452 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 142 / Monday, July 26, 2010 / Proposed Rules 

F. Defenses 

The title II rule does not require a 

public entity to take any action that it 

can demonstrate would result in a 

fundamental alteration in the nature of 

a service, program, or activity or in 

undue financial and administrative 

burdens. 28 CFR 35.164. The 

Department has taken a long-standing 

position that, because of the essential 

nature of 9-1-1 services, that limitation 

would rarely be applied to the 

obligation to ensure effective 

communication in the context of 9-1-1. 

Question 19. The Department seeks 

comments on whether there are certain 

circumstances where providing direct 

access to emerging NG 9-1-1 would be 

considered a fundamental alteration to 

the nature of the 9-1-1 service or be an 

undue financial or administrative 

burden on the PSAP. Please provide as 

much detail as possible. 

G. Cost and Benefits of NG 9-1-1 

Regulations 

Because this is an ANPRM, the 

Department is not required, at this time, 

to conduct certain economic analyses or 

written assessments that otherwise may 

be required for other more formal types 

of agency regulatory actions (e.g., 

notices of proposed rulemaking or final 

rules) that, for example, are deemed to 

be economically ‘‘significant’’ regulatory 

actions with an annual economic impact 

of $100 million or more or that are 

expected to have a significant economic 

effect on a substantial number of small 

entities or non-Federal governmental 

jurisdictions (such as State, local, or 

Tribal governments). See, e.g., 

Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 

U.S.C. 603–04 (2006); E.O. 13272, 67 FR 

53461 (Aug. 13, 2002); E.O. 12866, 58 

FR 51735 (Sept. 30, 1993), as amended 

by E.O. 13497, 74 FR 6113 (Jan. 30, 

2009); OMB Budget Circular A–4, 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/OMB/ 

circulars/a004/a-4.pdf (last visited June 

5, 2010). The Department does not 

currently believe that any future 

proposed rules relating to the 

accessibility of NG 9-1-1 services will 

likely meet the economic threshold for 

these types of formal economic analyses 

and written assessments. 

Nonetheless, one of the purposes of 

this ANPRM is to seek public comment 

on various topics relating to NG 9-1-1 

services, including perspectives from 

stakeholders concerning the benefits 

and costs of revising the Department’s 

title II regulation to ensure the 

accessibility of NG 9-1-1 services (from 

both a quantitative and qualitative 

perspective), particularly from members 

of the disability community, 

governmental entities, and public safety 

organizations. The Department thus asks 

for information so that the Department 

can determine whether such a proposed 

rule (1) should be deemed an 

economically ‘‘significant regulatory 

action’’ as defined in section 3(f) of E.O. 

12866; or (2) would have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities within the 

meaning of the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act (RFA) and, if so, suggested 

alternative regulatory approaches to 

minimize any such impact. The RFA 

defines small governmental 

jurisdictions as governments of cities, 

counties, towns, townships, villages, 

school districts, or special districts with 

a population of less than 50,000. 

Question 20. The Department 

encourages commenters, whenever 

possible, to submit detailed quantitative 

or qualitative information along with 

their respective comments relating to: 

the cost of NG 9-1-1 technology or 

services; the incremental impact on 

covered governmental entities to 

transition from current requirements for 

accessible analog 9-1-1 services to 

proposed accessible NG 9-1-1 services, 

including but not limited to training 

PSAP employees and updating 9-1-1 

plans and operating procedures; 

personal anecdotes or experiences of 

individuals with disabilities illustrating 

the potential benefits of accessible NG 

9-1-1 services; and any other 

information that would assist the 

Department in assessing the benefits 

and costs of proposed regulatory 

revisions for NG 9-1-1. 

H. Other Issues 

Question 21. Are there additional 

issues or information not addressed by 

the Department’s questions that are 

important for the Department to 

consider? Please provide as much detail 

as possible in your response. 

Dated: July 21, 2010. 

Thomas E. Perez, 

Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights 

Division. 

[FR Doc. 2010–18336 Filed 7–22–10; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4410–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

28 CFR Parts 35 and 36 

[CRT Docket No. 113] 

RIN 1190–AA64 

Nondiscrimination on the Basis of 

Disability by State and Local 

Governments and Places of Public 

Accommodation; Equipment and 

Furniture 

AGENCY: Department of Justice, Civil 

Rights Division. 

ACTION: Advance Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Justice 

(Department) is considering possible 

changes to requirements under titles II 

and III of the Americans with 

Disabilities Act (ADA) to ensure that 

equipment and furniture used in 

programs and services provided by 

public entities and public 

accommodations are accessible to 

individuals with disabilities. In this 

Advance Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (ANPRM), the Department 

is seeking public input on issues 

relating to possible revisions of ADA 

regulations to ensure the accessibility of 

equipment and furniture in such 

programs and services and also is 

seeking background information for the 

regulatory assessment that the 

Department may need to prepare if it 

revises its regulations. 

DATES: The Department invites written 

comments from members of the public. 

Written comments must be postmarked 

and electronic comments must be 

submitted on or before January 24, 2011. 

Commenters should be aware that the 

electronic Federal Docket Management 

System will not accept comments after 

Midnight Eastern Time on the last day 

of the comment period. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN 1190–AA64 (or Docket 

ID No. 113), by any one of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Web site: 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the Web 

site instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Regular U.S. mail: Disability Rights 

Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. 

Department of Justice, P.O. Box 2885, 

Fairfax, VA 22031–0885. 

• Overnight, courier, or hand 

delivery: Disability Rights Section, Civil 

Rights Division, U.S. Department of 

Justice, 1425 New York Avenue, NW., 

Suite 4039, Washington, DC 20005. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah DeCosse, Attorney Advisor, 

Disability Rights Section, Civil Rights 


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Division, U.S. Department of Justice, at 

(202) 307–0663 (voice or TTY). This is 

not a toll-free number. Information may 

also be obtained from the Department’s 

toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 

514–0301 (voice) or (800) 514–0383 

(TTY). 

You may obtain copies of this 

ANPRM in large print or Braille or on 

audiotape or computer disk by calling 

the ADA Information Line at (800) 514– 

0301 (voice) and (800) 514–0383 (TTY). 

This ANPRM is also available on the 

ADA Home Page at http://www.ada.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Electronic Submission of Comments 

and Posting of Public Comments 

You may submit electronic comments 

to: http://www.regulations.gov. When 

submitting comments electronically, 

you must include CRT Docket No. 113 

in the subject box, and you must 

include your full name and address. 

Electronic files should avoid the use of 

special characters or any form of 

encryption and should be free of any 

defects or viruses. 

Please note that all comments 

received are considered part of the 

public record and made available for 

public inspection online at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Submission 

postings will include any personal 

identifying information (such as your 

name, address, etc.) included in the text 

of your comment. If you include 

personal identifying information (such 

as your name, address, etc.) in the text 

your comment, but do not want it to be 

posted online, you must include the 

phrase ‘‘PERSONAL IDENTIFYING 

INFORMATION’’ in the first paragraph 

of your comment. You must also 

include all the personal identifying 

information you want redacted along 

with this phrase. Similarly, if you 

submit confidential business 

information as part of your comment but 

do not want it posted online, you must 

include the phrase ‘‘CONFIDENTIAL 

BUSINESS INFORMATION’’ in the first 

paragraph of your comment. You must 

also prominently identify confidential 

business information to be redacted 

within the comment. If a comment has 

so much confidential business 

information that it cannot be effectively 

redacted, all or part of that comment 

may not be posted on: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

Comments on this ANPRM will also 

be made available for public viewing by 

appointment at the Disability Rights 

Section, located at 1425 New York 

Avenue, NW., Suite 4039, Washington, 

DC 20005, during normal business 

hours. To arrange an appointment to 

review the comments, please contact the 

ADA Information Line at (800) 514– 

0301 (voice) or (800) 514–0383 (TTY). 

The reason that the Civil Rights 

Division is requesting electronic 

comments before midnight Eastern Time 

on the day the comment period closes 

is because the inter-agency 

Regulations.gov/Federal Docket 

Management System (FDMS) which 

receives electronic comments terminates 

the public’s ability to submit comments 

at midnight on the day the comment 

period closes. Commenters in time 

zones other than Eastern may want to 

take this fact into account so that their 

electronic comments can be received. 

The constraints imposed by the 

Regulations.gov/FDMS system do not 

apply to U.S. postal comments, which 

will be considered as timely filed if they 

are postmarked before midnight on the 

day the comment period closes. 

II. Public Hearing 

The Department will hold at least one 

public hearing to solicit comments on 

the issues presented in this notice. The 

Department plans to hold the public 

hearing during the 180-day public 

comment period. The date, time, and 

location of the public hearing will be 

announced to the public in the Federal 

Register and on the Department’s ADA 

Home Page: http://www.ada.gov. 

III. Proposed Action/Summary 

The Department is seeking 

information to assist it in determining if 

it should propose specific accessibility 

requirements for non-fixed equipment 

and furniture, including medical 

equipment, exercise equipment, 

accessible golf cars, accessible beds, and 

electronic and information technology, 

by entities subject to title II or title III 

of the ADA. 

IV. Background 

A. Statutory and Rulemaking History 

On July 26, 1990, President George 

H.W. Bush signed into law the ADA, a 

comprehensive civil rights law 

prohibiting discrimination on the basis 

of disability. The ADA broadly protects 

the rights of individuals with 

disabilities in employment, access to 

State and local government services, 

places of public accommodation, 

transportation, and other important 

areas of American life. The ADA also 

requires newly designed and 

constructed or altered State and local 

government facilities, public 

accommodations, and commercial 

facilities to be readily accessible to and 

usable by individuals with disabilities. 

42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq. Section 204 (a) 

of title II and section 306(b) of title III 

direct the Attorney General to 

promulgate regulations to carry out the 

provisions of titles II and III, other than 

certain provisions dealing specifically 

with transportation. 42 U.S.C. 12134; 42 

U.S.C. 12186(b). 

Title II applies to State and local 

government entities, and, in Subtitle A, 

protects qualified individuals with 

disabilities from discrimination on the 

basis of disability in services, programs, 

and activities provided by State and 

local government entities. Title II 

extends the prohibition on 

discrimination established by section 

504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as 

amended, 29 U.S.C. 794 (section 504), to 

all activities of State and local 

governments regardless of whether these 

entities receive Federal financial 

assistance. 42 U.S.C. 12131–65. 

Title III prohibits discrimination on 

the basis of disability in the activities of 

places of public accommodation 

(private entities whose operations affect 

commerce and that fall into one of 

twelve categories listed in the ADA, 

such as restaurants, movie theaters, 

schools, day care facilities, recreational 

facilities, and doctors’ offices) and 

requires newly constructed or altered 

places of public accommodation—as 

well as commercial facilities (privately 

owned, nonresidential facilities such as 

factories, warehouses, or office 

buildings)—to comply with the ADA 

Standards. 42 U.S.C. 12181–89. 

On July 26, 1991, the Department 

issued its final rules implementing title 

II and title III, which are codified at 28 

CFR part 35 (title II) and part 36 (title 

III). Appendix A of the title III 

regulation, at 28 CFR part 36, contains 

the ADA Standards for Accessible 

Design (1991 Standards). These 

Standards resulted from the 

Department’s incorporation into the rule 

of the 1991 ADA Accessibility 

Guidelines (1991 ADAAG) promulgated 

by the U.S. Architectural and 

Transportation Barriers Compliance 

Board (Access Board). The Department 

is a member of the Access Board and 

participates in its development of 

accessibility guidelines. On September 

30, 2004, the Department published an 

advance notice of proposed rulemaking 

(2004 ANPRM) to begin the process of 

updating the 1991 regulations and to 

adopt revised ADA Standards based on 

the relevant parts of the Access Board’s 

2004 ADA/Architectural Barriers Act 

(ABA) Accessibility Guidelines. 69 FR 

44084. The Department issued Notices 

of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) to 

revise the title II and title III regulations 

and these incorporated the 2004 ADA/ 

ABA Accessibility Guidelines into the 

revised ADA Standards. 73 FR 34466 


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(June 17, 2008). The NPRMs addressed 

the issues raised in the comments to the 

ANPRM and sought additional 

comment. 

The 2004 ANPRM asked for public 

comment on a range of issues not 

specifically addressed in the ADA 

regulations, including coverage of 

movable or portable equipment and 

furniture. 59 FR 58768. Although the 

Department received public comments 

in response to the ANPRM supporting 

its regulation of equipment and 

furniture, when the Department issued 

its 2008 NPRM, it announced its 

decision not to address equipment at 

that time. 73 FR 34466, 34474–75 (June 

17, 2008). Instead, the Department 

continued its approach of requiring 

accessible equipment and furniture on a 

case-by-case basis. Under the regulatory 

provisions governing reasonable 

modifications of policies, practices, or 

procedures, program accessibility, 

effective communication, and barrier 

removal, the Department has continued 

its long-standing practice of requiring 

accessible equipment and furniture. 

The Department received numerous 

comments urging it to issue equipment 

and furniture regulations. Based on 

these comments and for the reasons 

detailed below, the Department has 

decided to begin the process of 

soliciting comments and suggestions 

with respect to what an NPRM regarding 

equipment and furniture should 

contain. 

B. Legal Foundation for Equipment and 

Furniture Coverage 

The ADA prohibits discrimination on 

the basis of disability in all services, 

programs, and activities offered by 

public entities and in the operation of 

privately owned places of public 

accommodation. The provision of 

accessible equipment and furniture has 

always been required by the ADA and 

the Department’s implementing 

regulations under the program 

accessibility, reasonable modification, 

auxiliary aids and services, and barrier 

removal requirements. Each of the types 

of equipment and furniture discussed in 

this ANPRM is subject to coverage 

under both title II and title III of the 

ADA. 

Title II of the ADA applies to services, 

programs, or activities of public entities 

within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. 

12133(1)(A). The program accessibility 

requirement of Title II mandates public 

entities to operate each service, 

program, or activity so that, when 

viewed in its entirety, the service, 

program, or activity is readily accessible 

to and usable by individuals with 

disabilities, subject to a defense of 

fundamental alteration or undue 

burden. 28 CFR 35.150(a). Section 

35.150(b) specifies that such entities 

may meet their obligation to make each 

program accessible to individuals with 

disabilities through the ‘‘redesign of 

equipment.’’ If an entity invokes a 

fundamental alteration defense, the 

entity nonetheless must take other steps 

that would not fundamentally alter the 

nature of the services provided. For 

example, the provision of a height 

adjustable examination table in a 

doctor’s office may meet the 

requirement for program accessibility. 

However, if the provision of an 

adjustable examination table in a 

doctor’s office would fundamentally 

alter the nature of the services provided, 

based on a fact specific inquiry, then the 

use instead of a nonadjustable 

examining table of suitable height, 

might afford an individual with a 

disability an equal opportunity to 

participate in the services, programs, 

and activities offered by that entity. 

Title II entities also must ensure that 

communications with individuals with 

disabilities are as effective as 

communications with others and 

provide appropriate auxiliary aids and 

services where necessary to ensure that 

individuals with disabilities have an 

equal opportunity to participate in and 

benefit from a service, program, or 

activity. 28 CFR 35.160. These auxiliary 

aids include the ‘‘[a]cquisition or 

modification of equipment or devices.’’ 

28 CFR 35.104. In addition, equipment 

and personal property, such as 

furniture, is specifically included in the 

definition of ‘‘facility’’ in title II. 28 CFR 

35.104. There is an identical definition 

of ‘‘facility’’ in the regulation 

implementing title III. 28 CFR 36.104. 

Title III of the ADA applies to persons 

who own, lease or lease to, or operate 

places of public accommodation, such 

as doctors’ offices, hospitals, nursing 

homes, hotels and motels, shopping 

centers, specified public transportation 

terminals, recreational facilities, such as 

health clubs or golf courses, restaurants, 

movie theaters, schools, and day care 

facilities. 42 U.S.C. 12182(a). Public 

accommodations discriminate against 

individuals with disabilities when they 

enact discriminatory policies or 

practices, or fail to remove barriers or 

make requested reasonable 

modifications in order to accommodate 

an individual’s disability, unless barrier 

removal is not readily achievable or a 

modification would fundamentally alter 

the nature of the business. See 28 CFR 

36.304 (barrier removal) and 36.302(a) 

(reasonable modification). If barrier 

removal is not readily achievable, then 

an alternative means must be provided 

if that alternative means is readily 

achievable. For example, a standardheight, nonadjustable examining table 

constitutes an architectural barrier to 

persons with certain mobility 

impairments. Therefore, an adjustable 

table must be provided if it is readily 

achievable. If it is not readily achievable 

to obtain such a table, then an 

alternative, such as a nonadjustable 

lower height table, must be provided if 

that alternative is readily achievable. 

Public accommodations also must 

ensure that no individuals with 

disabilities are excluded, denied 

services, segregated or otherwise treated 

differently from other individuals 

because of the absence of auxiliary aids 

and services, unless taking such steps 

would fundamentally alter the nature of 

the goods, services, facilities, privileges, 

advantages, or accommodations being 

offered or result in an undue burden. 28 

CFR 36.303(a). The preamble to the 

Department’s 1991 regulation clarified 

the manner in which equipment and 

furniture are covered by the title III 

regulation. 28 CFR part 36, app. B, at 

733 (Proposed Section 36.309 Purchase 

of Furniture and Equipment). Some 

types of equipment and furniture are 

covered specifically by the Department’s 

adoption of the 1991 ADAAG as the 

ADA Standards for Accessible Design. 

Equipment and furniture may also be 

covered by other regulatory provisions 

including reasonable modifications, 28 

CFR 36.302; auxiliary aids, 28 CFR 

36.303; and barrier removal, 28 CFR 

36.304. 

While some types of fixed equipment 

and furniture are explicitly covered by 

the 1991 Standards, there are no specific 

provisions in the regulations governing 

the accessibility of equipment and 

furniture that are not fixed. See 28 CFR 

pt. 36, app. A. (Automatic Teller 

Machines (ATMs) and Fixed or Built-in 

Seating or Tables). A fixed item is 

something that is built into the facility, 

for example, through plumbing. In 

contrast, an item that is not fixed is not 

attached to the facility. In order to 

ensure that not only fixed equipment 

and furniture be accessible, the 

Department seeks to provide specific 

regulatory guidance for the accessibility 

of equipment and furniture that are not 

fixed. Whether a type of equipment or 

furniture is fixed or not is generally not 

relevant from the perspective of the 

user. For example, an ATM or vending 

machine that is fixed is used for the 

same purpose and in the same manner 

as an equivalent ATM or vending 

machine that is not fixed. To the extent 

that ADA standards apply requirements 

for fixed equipment and furniture, the 

Department will look to those standards 


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for guidance on accessibility standards 

for equipment and furniture that are not 

fixed. 

With regard to making electronic or 

information technology equipment and 

furniture accessible to individuals with 

disabilities, including individuals who 

are blind or have low vision, Section 

508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 

which applies to federal agencies, 

provides guidance for the public on how 

to make electronic and information 

technology accessible. See, e.g., 29 

U.S.C. 794d. 

The Department’s experience in the 

twenty years since the ADA was enacted 

has given it a better understanding of 

the barriers posed by inaccessible 

equipment and furniture and the 

solutions provided by accessible 

equipment and furniture. Accessible 

equipment and furniture is often critical 

to an entity’s ability to provide a person 

with a disability equal access to its 

services. Changes in technology have 

resulted in the development and 

improved availability of accessible 

equipment and furniture that benefit 

individuals with disabilities. Use of the 

Internet, video interpreting services, 

screen readers, and text messaging, are 

just a few examples of technologies that 

were rare or nonexistent twenty years 

ago, but are now widely used by 

individuals with disabilities. New 

technologies have led to accessible 

equipment and furniture ranging from 

accessible medical exam tables for 

individuals who use wheelchairs to 

‘‘talking’’ ATMs and interactive kiosks, 

which can be used independently and 

while preserving privacy through the 

use of headphones by individuals who 

are blind or have low vision. 

Consequently, it is easier now to specify 

appropriate accessibility standards for 

such equipment and furniture, as the 

Access Board has done for several types 

of fixed equipment and furniture, 

including ATMs, washing machines, 

dryers, tables, benches, and vending 

machines. See sections 903, 902, 707, 

611, and 228 of the ADA/ABA 

Accessibility Guidelines. 

For all of these reasons, the 

Department believes that providing 

specific requirements for accessible 

equipment and furniture is consistent 

with the mandates of the ADA and 

necessary and appropriate at this time. 

V. Request for Public Comments 

The Department seeks input from the 

public and from those in the disability 

community, representatives of Federal, 

State, or local governments, public 

safety organizations, and industry 

professionals. The Department invites 

comments on types and features of 

equipment and furniture that will 

effectively provide equal opportunity to 

access all services and programs 

covered by titles II and III of the ADA, 

on scoping (which refers to the amount 

of equipment or furniture that should be 

provided in different types of facilities 

in order to meet the needs of 

individuals with disabilities needing 

access to those facilities), on events or 

time frames that should trigger the 

replacement or modification of 

inaccessible equipment or furniture 

with accessible equipment or furniture, 

and on the costs and benefits of 

accessible equipment and furniture. In 

your responses to the questions 

presented below, please refer to each 

question by number. Please provide any 

additional information that you believe 

will be helpful. 

A. Medical Equipment and Furniture 

Without accessible medical 

examination tables, dental chairs, 

radiological diagnostic equipment, 

scales, and rehabilitation equipment, 

individuals with disabilities do not have 

an equal opportunity to receive medical 

care. Individuals with disabilities may 

be less likely to get routine preventative 

medical care than people without 

disabilities because of barriers to 

accessing that care. The Department has 

entered into settlement agreements with 

several medical care providers that have 

required the medical care provider to 

purchase accessible equipment and 

furniture for its facilities, including at 

least one accessible examination table in 

each medical department and additional 

accessible examination tables, 

radiologic equipment, scales, beds, and 

lifting devices, as needed. These 

settlement agreements are available to 

the public at http://www.ada.gov. The 

Department has also issued technical 

assistance on this issue. See Access to 

Medical Care for Individuals with 

Mobility Disabilities, on May 17, 2010. 

The health care reform law, the 

Patient Protection and Affordable Care 

Act, added a new Section 510 to the 

Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Section 510 

directs the Access Board to promulgate 

regulatory standards setting forth the 

minimum technical criteria for medical 

diagnostic equipment used in (or in 

conjunction with) physician’s offices, 

clinics, emergency rooms, hospitals, and 

other medical settings. The standards 

shall ensure that such equipment is 

accessible to, and usable by, individuals 

with accessibility needs, and shall allow 

independent entry to, use of, and exit 

from the equipment or furniture by such 

individuals to the maximum extent 

possible. The Access Board has 

announced that it will draft new design 

standards for medical diagnostic 

equipment to satisfy this requirement. 

As an Access Board member, the 

Department will work closely with the 

Board in the development of these 

design standards. The Department will 

not issue a final rule on medical 

equipment until the Access Board has 

completed its medical diagnostic 

equipment standards. When the 

standards are completed, the 

Department will have the option to 

adopt them for ADA implementation 

and, if it does so, will, at that time, 

develop specific scoping requirements 

to establish the required number of 

accessible diagnostic elements for 

specific facility types. In addition, the 

Department may propose regulations to 

ensure the accessibility of medical 

equipment that is used for treatment, 

rehabilitative or other purposes. 

i. Medical Examination and Treatment 

Tables and Chairs 

Healthcare providers use examination 

and treatment tables and chairs for 

many different types of medical and 

dental examinations and treatments. 

Examples of specialty areas using 

examination or treatment tables or 

chairs include ophthalmology, 

optometry, podiatry, oncology, physical 

therapy, chiropractic, rehabilitation 

medicine, urology, and obstetrics and 

gynecology. If a person with a disability 

cannot get onto an examination table or 

chair and is thus not examined (as 

occurs, for example, with some women 

with disabilities who cannot access obgyn tables) or is examined in a 

wheelchair, any examination that does 

occur likely will be less thorough than 

it would have been on an examination 

table, and the medical provider may 

miss important medical information. 

The Department has received 

complaints and learned in the course of 

its enforcement efforts that medical and 

dental examination tables and chairs 

often are too high to be accessible, lack 

stabilization elements, and do not have 

adequate clear floor space nearby to 

permit access. Although Section 510 of 

the Rehabilitation Act does not 

specifically address tables and chairs 

used solely for treatment purposes, the 

Department anticipates that such 

treatment equipment would be subject 

to similar accessibility requirements, 

such as adjustable heights. 

ii. Accessible Scales 

Medical providers often do not weigh 

individuals who use wheelchairs 

because they do not have an accessible 

scale, even though that information is a 

routine part of medical examinations 

and is important to the patient’s health 


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and medical care. Patient weight can 

serve as a health indicator for many 

conditions, including depression, 

diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, 

high blood pressure, and pregnancy. 

Correct patient weight is crucial to 

correctly prescribing medicine. Scales 

should be accessible to individuals who 

use wheelchairs or have other mobility 

disabilities that would impede the use 

of step-on scales. 

Several different types of scales offer 

different means of accommodating 

patients with mobility disabilities while 

also affording flexibility to medical 

providers. Wheelchair scales are 

currently available as stand-alone 

devices or as equipment that is 

integrated into other medical 

equipment. Stand-alone wheelchair 

scales include wall-mounted stationary 

(folding or not folding), platform (in 

ground), and portable platform (folding 

or not folding). 

iii. Radiological Diagnostic Equipment 

Some types of radiological diagnostic 

equipment, such as Magnetic Resonance 

Imaging (MRI), Positron Emission 

Tomography (PET), and X-rays, 

including Computerized Axial 

Tomography (CAT) scans and 

mammography, are difficult to access 

for individuals with disabilities because 

of the height, shape, or configuration of 

the equipment. The Department has 

reached settlements with medical 

offices and hospitals providing 

diagnostic services because patients 

with mobility disabilities could not 

access medical diagnostic equipment. 

Some individuals with disabilities had 

difficulty transferring from wheelchairs 

onto scanning tables and were denied 

staff assistance or not provided access to 

medical equipment and furniture, such 

as gurneys or lifts, to facilitate the 

transfer to the diagnostic equipment and 

furniture. Different types of diagnostic 

equipment and furniture pose different 

challenges. For example, MRIs typically 

require individuals with disabilities to 

climb onto an MRI table and remain on 

the table while it is moved into and out 

of a scanning tube, a process that can 

take one to two hours. Mammograms 

may be inaccessible to individuals with 

mobility disabilities who cannot stand 

for the duration of the examination. 

iv. Lifts 

Medical providers may need lifts to 

transfer some patients with mobility 

disabilities safely to examination or 

treatment tables or chairs or to gurneys 

or hospital beds. The kind of assistance 

needed will depend on a patient’s 

disability. Using lifts may provide more 

security for a patient than being lifted 

by medical staff and may reduce the risk 

of injury to medical staff. Concerns 

about lifting injuries have given rise to 

proposed legislation at the federal and 

state levels designed to increase safety 

for patients and medical staff. See, e.g., 

Nurse and Health Care Worker 

Protection Act of 2009 (S. 1788); 

Recognizing the Need for Safe Patient 

Handling and Movement (H. Res. 510). 

There are several different types of 

patient lifts available now on the 

market, including free-standing, ceilingmounted, and sling lifts. The use of lifts 

by medical and dental providers may 

improve accessibility to medical and 

dental examination and treatments. 

v. Infusion Pumps 

Infusion pumps infuse fluids such as 

chemotherapy drugs, pain medications, 

or nutrients into the circulatory system 

in a controlled manner. Several kinds of 

infusion pumps, including Patient 

Controlled Analgesia pumps, are 

available. Problems can arise with 

infusion pumps when there are errors in 

dosing rate or fluid volume. Infusion 

pumps often rely on patients controlling 

settings on difficult-to-reach buttons or 

flat screens that may not be accessible 

to individuals with disabilities. 

Integrated alarms may not be audible to 

individuals with hearing disabilities. 

vi. Rehabilitation Equipment 

Medical providers offering 

rehabilitative services must make those 

services equally available to individuals 

with disabilities. Rehabilitation and 

exercise equipment and furniture, 

including balance equipment, 

cardiopulmonary equipment, exercise 

pulleys and stretching equipment, 

resistance equipment, and general 

exercise equipment, should be available 

to individuals with disabilities requiring 

such rehabilitative treatment on an 

equal basis with other patients. For 

example, individuals with hearing 

impairments or blindness or low vision 

might require equipment or furniture to 

permit their full participation in 

cardiopulmonary rehabilitative services. 

vii. Ancillary Equipment 

Ancillary equipment is equipment 

used with other medical equipment, 

such as examination tables or chairs or 

MRIs, and adapted to or adjustable for 

use by individuals with disabilities. 

Ancillary equipment includes items 

such as positioning straps or cushions; 

protective padding; adjustable, padded 

leg supports for gynecological 

examinations; and additional supports, 

rails, or bars needed to ensure the safety 

and comfort of patients with disabilities. 

Sliding boards or sheets and gait belts 

may assist in transfers of patients with 

disabilities to and from examination or 

treatment tables and chairs. Individuals 

with mobility disabilities may require 

air mattresses and cushions, stools, or 

other pressure relief equipment to aid in 

the avoidance or treatment of pressure 

sores. Accessible call buttons and 

telephones can address communication 

difficulties for patients with mobility or 

other types of disabilities. 

viii. Hospital Beds and Gurneys 

Hospital beds and gurneys can be 

inaccessible to individuals with 

mobility disabilities. Medical care and 

long-term care facilities do not always 

provide accessible beds in the patient 

and resident sleeping rooms required to 

be accessible. In order to permit 

transfers by individuals with mobility 

disabilities, including those using 

wheelchairs, accessible heightadjustable beds would allow persons 

using wheelchairs and other mobility 

devices to transfer in and out of bed as 

independently as possible. Gurneys 

used to transport patients from place to 

place in a medical facility or used in 

certain diagnostic procedures may need 

to meet the same height requirements. 

Hospital bed control devices, for raising 

and lowering the bed and for other 

functions, as well as call buttons, also 

should be accessible to patients with 

disabilities. 

ix. Medical Equipment Questions 

To assist the Department to develop 

appropriate requirements for medical 

equipment and furniture, we are seeking 

information that will inform the 

rulemaking process. With respect to 

medical equipment, for each type of 

medical equipment it would be helpful 

to know details about the accessible 

features and if particular types of 

equipment with accessible features are 

currently available. The Department is 

seeking the following information: 

Question 1. The Department is 

considering adopting the Access Board’s 

standards for medical diagnostic 

equipment. What other types of medical 

equipment and furniture should the 

Department include in its proposed 

regulation? What modifications to other 

types of medical equipment and 

furniture, including equipment and 

furniture used for treatment or other 

non-diagnostic purposes, such as 

hospital beds, should be included in the 

Department’s proposed regulations? 

Question 2. The Access Board is 

expected to promulgate design 

standards for medical and dental 

diagnostic tables and chairs. Are there 

tables or chairs used for medical, dental, 

ophthalmology, or optometry 


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treatments, which are not typically used 

for diagnostic purposes, that would pose 

unique accessibility challenges? What 

modified features would make these 

tables or chairs accessible? What 

features would enhance patient stability 

and facilitate correct positioning? 

Question 3. What types of lifts are the 

safest, most efficient, and most cost 

effective in transferring patients with 

disabilities in different medical or 

dental settings? Should the use of lifts 

or staff to lift patients be considered a 

substitute for providing independent 

access to medical equipment? 

Question 4. If a hospital or medical 

provider uses staff to lift patients onto 

and off of medical equipment and 

furniture, should it be excused from the 

requirement of having lifts in any or all 

situations? What types of training 

programs are available to provide 

information to staff on lifting and 

transferring patients with disabilities? 

Are there any particular situations 

where lifting by staff should not be 

allowed? 

Question 5. What features, such as 

low bed heights, can best enhance the 

accessibility of hospital beds and 

gurneys? Are these features available on 

products currently available? 

Question 6. What technologies are 

currently available to increase the 

accessibility of infusion pumps? What 

types of infusion pumps are partially or 

fully operated by patients in the normal 

course of treatment? 

Question 7. What are the greatest 

difficulties facing individuals with 

disabilities in accessing rehabilitative 

and exercise equipment and furniture in 

a therapeutic setting? What equipment 

and furniture most effectively permits 

accessibility for different types of 

rehabilitative needs? Can different types 

of equipment meet different access 

needs of, for example, people with lowvision who need access to visual 

displays on equipment? Are there 

differences between exercise equipment 

in therapeutic settings and exercise 

equipment in non-therapeutic settings 

(e.g., gym or fitness center)? What 

exercise equipment or machines are 

available to meet the needs of 

individuals with mobility impairments? 

Question 8. What types of ancillary 

equipment are most effective in 

different types of medical or dental 

examination or treatment settings? 

Question 9. Is there a need for 

separate standards for bariatric medical 

equipment and furniture in the 

Department’s equipment and furniture 

regulation? If so, what equipment and 

furniture are necessary to address the 

needs of patients with disabilities who 

are obese? 

x. Scoping and Triggering Events for 

Medical Equipment and Furniture 

If the Department proposes a rule 

recommending regulations requiring 

accessible medical equipment and 

furniture, it should provide guidance on 

the appropriate amount of different 

types of medical equipment and 

furniture that must be accessible. In 

making this determination, the 

Department might consider the size of a 

medical practice or the patient 

population and other factors. For 

example, in a doctor’s office with two 

exam rooms, one accessible examination 

table might be a reasonable number of 

accessible examination tables. However, 

in a hospital with multiple medical 

departments, a reasonable number 

might include at least one accessible 

examination table in each department. 

Radiologic and other diagnostic 

equipment is highly specialized and a 

reasonable number of accessible 

diagnostic equipment in a radiology 

department might be one of each type of 

diagnostic equipment. 

The Department is considering 

proposing that entities have eighteen 

months from the date of the publication 

of a rule to come into compliance with 

medical equipment and furniture 

requirements. The timeframes for 

replacing different types of medical 

equipment and furniture may vary 

widely. The very high cost of some 

radiological and diagnostic equipment, 

such as MRI machines and CAT scans, 

which often leads medical providers to 

lease rather than buy them, might 

require a later effective date. 

Question 10. What are the key criteria 

for scoping in different types of medical 

settings? What are appropriate scoping 

requirements for each of the types of 

medical equipment and furniture 

discussed above? 

Question 11. How could medical 

providers time replacement or 

modification of equipment and furniture 

to ensure that individuals with 

disabilities receive equal access to 

healthcare without undue delay? What 

types of triggering events are 

appropriate for different types of 

medical equipment and furniture? 

Should the Department require the 

purchase rather than the replacement of 

some accessible equipment and 

furniture at a certain point? Should the 

replacement of inaccessible medical 

equipment or furniture be triggered only 

by the end of the useful life of the 

equipment or furniture? 

B. Exercise Equipment and Furniture 

Individuals with disabilities have 

expressed concerns over the years about 

an inability to use exercise equipment 

and furniture in health clubs, hotel 

fitness centers, public recreation 

centers, public elementary, secondary, 

and postsecondary institutions, and 

other establishments that offer exercise 

facilities. The 1991 Standards contained 

no scoping or technical requirements 

relating to exercise facilities. The 

Department may propose additional 

regulations to enhance the accessibility 

and usability of exercise equipment by 

individuals with disabilities. 

Question 12. What types of accessible 

exercise equipment and furniture are 

available on the commercial market? 

What types of equipment and furniture 

are already accessible to individuals 

with disabilities? Is independently 

operable equipment and furniture 

available for individuals who are blind 

or who have low vision, or who have 

manual dexterity issues. 

Question 13. Should the Department 

require covered entities to provide 

accessible exercise equipment and 

furniture ? How much of each type of 

equipment and furniture should be 

provided? Should the requirements for 

accessible equipment and furniture be 

the same for small and large exercise 

facilities, and if not, how should they 

differ? 

C. Accessible Golf Cars 

The Department is considering 

issuing regulations specific to golf cars 

and may propose requiring golf courses 

that provide golf cars, when replacing or 

acquiring additional standard golf cars, 

to provide accessible golf cars for use by 

individuals with disabilities. 

An accessible golf car means a device 

that is designed and manufactured to be 

driven on all areas of a golf course, is 

independently usable by individuals 

with mobility disabilities, has a hand 

operated brake and accelerator, carries 

golf clubs in an accessible location, and 

has a seat that both swivels and rises to 

put the golfer in a standing or semistanding position. The 1991 regulation 

contained no language specifically 

referencing accessible golf cars. 

Although the 2004 ANPRM raised the 

possibility of requiring that golf courses 

make at least one specialized golf car 

available for the use of individuals with 

disabilities, the Department stated in the 

2008 NPRM that it was not going to 

propose a specific requirement at that 

time. The Department of Defense has 

required the use of single-rider 

accessible golf cars in federally-owned 

golf courses pursuant to Section 664 of 

the John Warner National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 

(Pub. L. 109–364). 


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Question 14. What is the most 

effective means of addressing the needs 

of golfers with mobility disabilities? Are 

golf cars currently available that are 

readily adaptable for the addition of 

hand controls and swivel seats? If so, 

are those cars suitable for driving on 

greens? To what extent are accessible 

golf cars of all types stable, lightweight, 

and moderately priced? 

Question 15. What are appropriate 

scoping requirements for accessible golf 

cars? Should the criteria used to 

determine scoping stem from factors 

including the number of golf course 

patrons, the number of golfing holes 

(e.g. nine, 18, or 27) at the facility, the 

number of inaccessible golf cars in use, 

or other criteria? Should each 18-hole 

course be required to provide a certain 

number of accessible golf cars? 

D. Beds in Accessible Guest Rooms and 

Sleeping Rooms 

The Department is considering 

regulating the accessibility of beds in 

accessible guest rooms and sleeping 

rooms, such as dormitories in 

educational institutions and social 

service establishments. Many 

individuals with disabilities have urged 

the Department to regulate the height of 

beds, particularly in accessible hotel 

guest rooms, and to require that such 

beds have clearance under the bed to 

accommodate a mechanical lift. In 

recent years, hotels have provided 

higher beds, using thicker mattresses 

that make it difficult or impossible for 

many individuals who use wheelchairs 

to transfer onto the beds. Some of these 

mattresses have pillow tops that raise 

the height of the bed by several inches 

and then, once the individual has 

transferred to it, compress and reduce 

the height of the bed. Thus, a bed with 

a pillow top that is low enough to 

transfer to from a wheelchair may be too 

low, once it is compressed, to transfer 

safely back to the wheelchair. In 

addition, many hotel beds use a solidsided platform base for beds with no 

clearance underneath, which prevents 

the use of a portable lift to transfer an 

individual onto the bed. 

Question 16. Should the Department 

develop a general standard that specifies 

requirements for beds wherever 

accessible sleeping accommodations are 

required? What are appropriate bed 

heights to ensure accessibility by 

individuals with mobility disabilities 

and should there be requirements for 

mattresses to ensure that the height of 

the mattress, even when compressed by 

the weight of a person sitting or laying 

down on it, remains within a certain 

range? Are there existing standards that 

the Department should look to for 

developing standards for beds in 

accessible rooms? What is the optimal 

clearance needed under a bed to 

accommodate a mechanical lift? Should 

any such requirements apply to all 

accessible guestrooms or sleeping rooms 

or only to a percentage of them? What 

time line should the Department 

establish for requiring accessible beds in 

accessible guest rooms and sleeping 

rooms and should such a time line be 

phased in? 

E. Beds in Nursing Homes and Other 

Care Facilities 

Nursing homes, assisted living 

facilities, and other care facilities may 

have beds that are too high or too low, 

which can be a problem for individuals 

with disabilities. In addition, many of 

these beds have electronic controls and 

switches that may not be accessible for 

individuals with mobility, dexterity, or 

visual or auditory disabilities. The 

Department may propose regulations to 

ensure the accessibility of beds in 

nursing homes and other care facilities. 

Question 17. Should the standards be 

different for adjustable beds, such as 

hospital beds, and for fixed height beds? 

Should the Department treat beds in 

nursing homes in the same manner as 

beds in hospitals? Should the 

Department treat beds in nursing homes 

or hospitals in the same manner as it 

treats beds in places of lodging? Should 

all accessible rooms have adjustable 

beds? 

F. Electronic and Information 

Technology 

The Department believes that it is 

important for individuals with 

disabilities to have an equal opportunity 

to use electronic and information 

technology (EIT) equipment and 

furniture, such as kiosks, interactive 

transaction machines (ITMs), point-ofsale (POS) devices, and automated teller 

machines (ATMs). Individuals with 

disabilities who engage in financial or 

other transactions should be able to do 

so independently and not have to 

provide third parties with private 

financial information, such as a 

personal identification number (PIN). 

Equipment and furniture are covered for 

both physical access and effective 

communication. 

Among the available equipment and 

furniture that use EIT are kiosks, which 

are interactive computer terminals that 

provide a wide range of services, 

including information sharing, ticketing, 

airline check-in, Internet access, movie 

ticket sales and DVD rentals, security 

screening, bill paying, and photo 

developing. ITMs include POS devices, 

such as credit card payment terminals, 

retail store self-checkout stations, 

machines used for ordering food at 

quick service restaurants, and gas 

station pay-at-the-pump systems. The 

number of POS machines used by 

businesses and state and local programs 

and activities (such as at student unions 

at state colleges and universities) 

nationwide continues to increase, as 

does the range of transactions handled 

by these machines. With the advent of 

touch screen technology, customers are 

now required to enter data using a flat 

screen while reading changing visual 

information and instructions. Persons 

who cannot see the flat screen must rely 

on other people to input their 

information, including their personal 

identification numbers (PINs). At least 

one state (California) already requires all 

check-out locations with a flat screen 

POS device to have a permanently 

attached tactile keypad that is usable by 

individuals with visual disabilities. Cal. 

Fin. Code 13082 (West 2006). While 

some POS devices are mounted at a 

height that fits within current reach 

range guidelines, the Department is 

aware that the fixed upward orientation 

of some of these devices can impede 

their accessibility by making it difficult 

for a person with a mobility disability 

to view the screen, enter a PIN, or sign 

an authorization. 

The Department’s preamble to its 

1991 regulations explained that, ‘‘[g]iven 

that § 36.304’s focus is on the removal 

of physical barriers, the Department 

believes that the obligation to provide 

communications equipment and devices 

* * * is more appropriately determined 

by the requirements for auxiliary aids 

and services under § 36.303.’’ 56 FR 

35544, 35568. The 1991 Standards 

contained requirements for physical 

accessibility for ATMs and also required 

that ‘‘[i]nstructions and all information 

for use shall be made accessible to and 

independently usable by persons with 

vision impairments.’’ 28 CFR part 36, 

app A, section 4.34.5. The Department 

has traditionally taken the position that 

the communication-related elements of 

ATMs are auxiliary aids and services, 

and are not physical elements. On 

March 22, 2010, the Access Board 

published an ANPRM seeking public 

comment on its plans to amend the 2004 

ADA/ABA Accessibility Guidelines to 

include technical guidelines for selfservice machines used for ticketing, 

check-in or check-out, seat selection, 

boarding passes, or ordering food in 

restaurants and cafeterias. See 75 FR 

13457. In the ANPRM, the Access Board 

noted the proliferation of inaccessible 

POS machines, kiosks, and other selfservice machines and referenced ADA 


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litigation against various public 

accommodations over the past ten years 

that has resulted in numerous 

settlement agreements and structured 

negotiations requiring the installation of 

tactile POS devices. 

Question 18. What are the challenges 

posed by the inaccessibility of EIT, 

including EIT kiosks, POS devices, and 

ITMs? Are there issues regarding other 

uses of EIT that the Department should 

consider adopting to ensure that EIT 

equipment is accessible? 

i. EIT for Effective Communication in 

Accessible Rooms 

The Department’s title III regulation, 

28 CFR 36.303(d)(1) requires places of 

public accommodation that provide 

customers, patients, or clients the 

opportunity to make outgoing telephone 

calls on more than an incidental 

convenience basis to make TTYs 

available for the use of customers, 

patients, or clients who have 

communication disabilities. It has been 

suggested that the Department should 

expand the coverage of this section to 

require covered entities to provide 

recognize that there are a wide range of 

devices now used as communication 

aids by individuals with disabilities. 

Therefore, the Department seeks 

comments regarding the incorporation 

of EIT into this requirement as it applies 

to accessible sleeping rooms in facilities 

such as hospitals, nursing homes, 

hotels, or other places of lodging to 

permit effective communication by 

individuals with disabilities, including 

those who are deaf or hard of hearing. 

New technologies have emerged that 

permit the use of EIT for effective 

communication. As telecommunication 

technologies are developing, persons 

with disabilities are transitioning from 

analog or legacy devices to digital 

telecommunication devices. Among 

these devices are video phones 

(including web cam), text messaging 

pagers and computers, and captioned 

telephones. Video relay services (VRS) 

permit individuals who use sign 

language for communication to use a 

video remote interpreting service (VRI). 

The relay services are under the 

jurisdiction of the Federal 

Communications Commission. Text 

communications can be divided into 

two types: Real time, and non-real time. 

Real-time text communications refer to 

those that are sent and received on a 

character-by-character basis; the 

characters are sent immediately once 

typed and also displayed immediately 

to the receiving person. Non-real time 

communications rely on messaging 

capabilities where users ‘‘type-enterwait-read-respond-reply’’—e.g., short 

messages service (SMS) texts, 

multimedia messaging service (MMS), 

instant messaging (IM), text chat, and email. 

Question 19. What types of EIT would 

permit individuals with communication 

disabilities to most effectively 

communicate from an accessible 

hospital room, nursing home facility, 

guest or sleeping room? Should the 

Department regulate effective 

communication from such facilities? 

What are the costs associated with 

various types of EIT in such settings? 

ii. Scoping and Triggering Events for 

EIT Equipment 

The Department is considering 

possible criteria for establishing scoping 

and triggering events for EIT devices 

and for particular features of such 

devices, such as tactile controls or voice 

output. Such criteria might include the 

total number of EIT devices in a certain 

facility. 

Question 20. What are appropriate 

scoping criteria for the availability of 

accessible EIT and triggering events for 

the replacement or refurbishing of EIT 

devices, including kiosks, ITMs and 

ATMs, to ensure accessibility? 

G. Other Types of Equipment and 

Furniture 

Different types of equipment and 

furniture can pose challenging 

accessibility problems or can serve as 

remedies to those problems. The 

Department welcomes public input on 

other types of equipment and furniture 

that warrant attention. For example, the 

Department is aware that equipment 

and furniture exists that may provide 

ready access for individuals with 

disabilities, including pool chairs that 

permit individuals who use wheelchairs 

to enter a pool with a sloped entrance 

without submerging their personal 

wheelchair and shower chairs for 

accessible hotel rooms with roll-in 

showers. The Department has learned 

that access to computer terminals in 

public libraries, which allow members 

of the public to access the Internet, often 

lack accessibility features (such as 

screen readers) and are in inaccessible 

locations. Another concern is access to 

television in hotels, hospitals, nursing 

homes, and other care facilities when 

certain television sets do not provide a 

way for consumers to turn closed 

captions on and off. 

Question 21. Are there other types of 

equipment or furniture that impede 

accessibility that should be specifically 

addressed in the Department’s 

regulation? What types of accessible 

equipment or furniture would 

effectively address any such concerns? 

What scoping would adequately address 

the impediments to accessibility and 

what triggering event would be 

appropriate for each type of other 

equipment or furniture? Are there 

particularly helpful types of equipment 

or furniture that are not generally 

available to the public that may assist 

individuals with disabilities, such as 

pool or shower chairs? 

VI. Regulatory Process Matters 

(SBREFA, Regulatory Flexibility Act, 

Executive Orders, Benefits and Costs) 

Since this proposal is an ANPRM, the 

Department is not required to conduct 

certain economic analyses or written 

assessments that otherwise may be 

required for more formal types of agency 

regulatory actions (e.g., notices of 

proposed rulemaking or final rules) that 

are deemed to be economically 

significant regulatory actions with an 

annual economic impact of $100 million 

or more or that are expected to have a 

significant economic effect on a 

substantial number of small entities or 

non-federal governmental jurisdictions 

(such as State, local, or tribal 

governments). See, e.g., Regulatory 

Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 U.S.C. 603TM04 

(2006); E.O. 13272, 67 FR 53461 (Aug. 

13, 2002); E.O. 12866, 58 FR 51735 

(Sept. 30, 1993), as amended by E.O. 

13497, 74 FR 6113 (Jan. 30, 2009); OMB 

Budget Circular A–4, http:// 

www.whitehouse.gov/OMB/circulars/ 

a004/a-4.pdf (last visited June 25, 2010). 

One of the purposes of this ANPRM 

is to seek public comment from 

members of the disability community, 

public accommodations, and 

governmental entities on various topics 

relating to accessible equipment and 

furniture, including perspectives from 

stakeholders concerning the benefits 

and costs of revising the Department’s 

titles II and III regulations to ensure the 

accessibility of equipment and 

furniture. 

Question 22. Do commenters have 

information available that can aid the 

Department in identifying existing 

accessible equipment and furniture? 

What are the costs of accessible 

equipment and furniture and how do 

these costs differ from the costs of 

inaccessible equipment and furniture? 

What are the normal replacement 

schedules for each of the types of 

equipment and furniture discussed in 

this ANPRM or other types proposed for 

coverage? What are the costs and 

benefits of different scoping 

requirements for different types of 

equipment and furniture? What are 

reasonable less costly or burdensome 

regulatory alternatives that would still 

achieve the objectives of the proposed 


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rules? What are the costs and benefits, 

both quantitatively and qualitatively, of 

providing individuals with disabilities 

an equal opportunity to access health 

care, recreational facilities, exercise 

equipment, furniture in hotels, nursing 

homes, and hospitals, and electronic 

information and transactions? The 

Department seeks specific cost 

information, including information on 

the costs and benefits, as well as 

anecdotal evidence of the costs and 

benefits of accessible equipment and 

furniture. 

A. Impact on Small Entities 

Consistent with the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act of 1980 and Executive 

Order 13272, the Department must 

consider the impacts of any proposed 

rule on small entities, including small 

businesses, small nonprofit 

organizations, and small governmental 

jurisdictions. See 5 U.S.C. 603–04 

(2006); E.O. 13272, 67 FR 53461 (Aug. 

13, 2002). The Department will make an 

initial determination as to whether any 

rule it proposes is likely to have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities, 

and if so, the Department will prepare 

an initial regulatory flexibility analysis 

analyzing the economic impacts on 

small entities and regulatory 

alternatives that reduce the regulatory 

burden on small entities while 

achieving the goals of the regulation. In 

response to this ANPRM, the 

Department encourages small entities to 

provide cost data on the potential 

economic impact of adopting a specific 

requirement for Web site accessibility 

and recommendations on less 

burdensome alternatives, with cost 

information. 

Question 23. The Department seeks 

input regarding the impact the measures 

being contemplated by the Department 

with regard to accessible equipment and 

furniture will have on small entities if 

adopted by the Department. The 

Department encourages you to include 

any cost data on the potential economic 

impact on small entities with your 

response. 

Question 24. Are there alternatives 

that the Department can adopt, which 

were not previously discussed, that will 

alleviate the burden on small entities? 

Should there be different compliance 

requirements or timetables for small 

entities that take into account the 

resources available to small entities or 

should the Department adopt an 

exemption for certain or all small 

entities from coverage of the rule, in 

whole or in part. Please provide as 

much detail as possible in your 

response. 

Dated: July 21, 2010. 

Thomas E. Perez, 

Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights 

Division. 

[FR Doc. 2010–18331 Filed 7–22–10; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4410–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

28 CFR Parts 35 and 36 

[CRT Docket No. 110] 

RIN 1190–AA61 

Nondiscrimination on the Basis of 

Disability; Accessibility of Web 

Information and Services of State and 

Local Government Entities and Public 

Accommodations 

AGENCY: Department of Justice, Civil 

Rights Division. 

ACTION: Advance Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Justice 

(Department) is considering revising the 

regulations implementing title III of the 

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA 

or Act) in order to establish 

requirements for making the goods, 

services, facilities, privileges, 

accommodations, or advantages offered 

by public accommodations via the 

Internet, specifically at sites on the 

World Wide Web (Web), accessible to 

individuals with disabilities. The 

Department is also considering revising 

the ADA’s title II regulation to establish 

requirements for making the services, 

programs, or activities offered by State 

and local governments to the public via 

the Web accessible. The Department is 

issuing this advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking (ANPRM) in order to solicit 

public comment on various issues 

relating to the potential application of 

such requirements and to obtain 

background information for the 

regulatory assessment the Department 

must prepare if it were to adopt 

requirements that are economically 

significant according to Executive Order 

12866. 

DATES: The Department invites written 

comments from members of the public. 

Written comments must be postmarked 

and electronic comments must be 

submitted on or before January 24, 2011. 

Commenters should be aware that the 

electronic Federal Docket Management 

System will not accept comments after 

Midnight Eastern Time on the last day 

of the comment period. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN 1190–AA61 (or Docket 

ID No. 110), by any one of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Web site: 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the Web 

site’s instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Regular U.S. mail: Disability Rights 

Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. 

Department of Justice, P.O. Box 2885, 

Fairfax, VA 22031–0885. 

• Overnight, courier, or hand 

delivery: Disability Rights Section, Civil 

Rights Division, U.S. Department of 

Justice, 1425 New York Avenue, NW., 

Suite 4039, Washington, DC 20005. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christina Galindo-Walsh, Attorney, 

Disability Rights Section, Civil Rights 

Division, U.S. Department of Justice, at 

(202) 307–0663 (voice or TTY). This is 

not a toll free number. Information may 

also be obtained from the Department’s 

toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 

514–0301 (voice) or (800) 514–0383 

(TTY). 

You may obtain copies of this 

ANPRM in large print, audiotape, 

Braille, or computer disk by calling the 

ADA Information Line at (800) 514– 

0301 (voice) or (800) 514–0383 (TTY). 

This ANPRM is also available on the 

ADA Home Page at http://www.ada.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Electronic Submission of Comments 

and Posting of Public Comments 

You may submit electronic comments 

to www.regulations.gov. When 

submitting comments electronically, 

you must include CRT Docket No. 110 

in the subject box, and you must 

include your full name and address. 

Electronic files should avoid the use of 

special characters or any form of 

encryption and should be free of any 

defects or viruses. 

Please note that all comments 

received are considered part of the 

public record and made available for 

public inspection online at 

www.regulations.gov. Submission 

postings will include any personal 

identifying information (such as your 

name, address, etc.) included in the text 

of your comment. If you include 

personal identifying information (such 

as your name, address, etc.) in the text 

of your comment but do not want it to 

be posted online, you must include the 

phrase ‘‘PERSONAL IDENTIFYING 

INFORMATION’’ in the first paragraph 

of your comment. You must also 

include all the personal identifying 

information you want redacted along 

with this phrase. Similarly, if you 

submit confidential business 

information as part of your comment but 

do not want it posted online, you must 

include the phrase ‘‘CONFIDENTIAL 

BUSINESS INFORMATION’’ in the first 


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