I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4099 

To amend the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to promote compliance 

through education, to clarify the requirements for demand letters, to 

provide for a notice and cure period before the commencement of a 

private civil action, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2019 

Mr. CALVERT (for himself, Mr. COOK, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. WALKER, Mr. 

GROTHMAN, Mr. TURNER, Mr. RICE of South Carolina, and Mr. WILSON

of South Carolina) 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 

promote compliance through education, to clarify the requirements for demand letters, to provide for a notice 

and cure period before the commencement of a private 

civil action, and for other purposes. 

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 Compliance for 

5 Customer Entry to Stores and Services Act’’ or the ‘‘AC6 CESS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE THROUGH EDUCATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Based on existing funding, the 

3 Disability Rights Section of the Department of Justice 

4 shall, in consultation with property owners and represent5 atives of the disability rights community, develop a pro6 gram to educate State and local governments and property 

7 owners on effective and efficient strategies for promoting 

8 access to public accommodations for persons with a dis9 ability (as defined in section 3 of the Americans with Dis10 abilities Act (42 U.S.C. 12102)). Such program may in11 clude training for professionals such as Certified Access 

12 Specialists to provide a guidance of remediation for poten13 tial violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

14 (b) MATERIALS PROVIDED IN OTHER LANGUAGES.— 

15 The Disability Rights Section of the Department of Jus16 tice shall take appropriate actions, to the extent prac17 ticable, to make technical assistance publications relating 

18 to compliance with this Act and the amendments made 

19 by this Act available in all the languages commonly used 

20 by owners and operators of United States businesses. 

21 SEC. 3. NOTICE AND CURE PERIOD. 

22 Paragraph (1) of section 308(a) of the Americans 

23 with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12188(a)(1)) is 

24 amended to read as follows: 

25 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY OF REMEDIES AND PROCE26 DURES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara2 graph (B), the remedies and procedures set 

3 forth in section 204(a) of the Civil Rights Act 

4 of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a–3(a)) are the rem5 edies and procedures this title provides to any 

6 person who is being subjected to discrimination 

7 on the basis of disability in violation of this title 

8 or who has reasonable grounds for believing 

9 that such person is about to be subjected to dis10 crimination in violation of section 303. Nothing 

11 in this section shall require a person with a dis12 ability to engage in a futile gesture if such per13 son has actual notice that a person or organiza14 tion covered by this title does not intend to 

15 comply with its provisions. 

16 ‘‘(B) BARRIERS TO ACCESS TO EXISTING

17 PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS.—A civil action 

18 under section 302 or 303 based on the failure 

19 to remove an architectural barrier to access into 

20 an existing public accommodation may not be 

21 commenced by a person aggrieved by such fail22 ure unless— 

23 ‘‘(i) that person has provided to the 

24 owner or operator of the accommodation a 

25 written notice specific enough to allow such 


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1 owner or operator to identify the barrier; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(ii)(I) during the period beginning on 

4 the date the notice is received and ending 

5 60 days after that date, the owner or oper6 ator fails to provide to that person a writ7 ten description outlining improvements 

8 that will be made to remove the barrier; or 

9 ‘‘(II) if the owner or operator provides 

10 the written description under subclause (I), 

11 the owner or operator fails to remove the 

12 barrier or, in the case of a barrier, the re13 moval of which requires additional time as 

14 a result of circumstances beyond the con15 trol of the owner or operator, fails to make 

16 substantial progress in removing the bar17 rier during the period beginning on the 

18 date the description is provided and ending 

19 60 days after that date. 

20 ‘‘(C) SPECIFICATION OF DETAILS OF AL21 LEGED VIOLATION.—The written notice re22 quired under subparagraph (B) must also speci23 fy in detail the circumstances under which an 

24 individual was actually denied access to a public 

25 accommodation, including the address of propVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:59 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4099.IH H4099

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1 erty, whether a request for assistance in remov2 ing an architectural barrier to access was made, 

3 and whether the barrier to access was a perma4 nent or temporary barrier.’’. 

5 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

6 This Act and the amendments made by this Act take 

7 effect 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

8 SEC. 5. MEDIATION FOR ADA ACTIONS RELATED TO ARCHI9 TECTURAL BARRIERS. 

10 The Judicial Conference of the United States shall, 

11 under rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or 

12 any other applicable law, in consultation with property 

13 owners and representatives of the disability rights commu14 nity, develop a model program to promote the use of alter15 native dispute resolution mechanisms, including a stay of 

16 discovery during mediation, to resolve claims of architec17 tural barriers to access for public accommodations. To the 

18 extent practical, the Federal Judicial Center should pro19 vide a public comment period on any such proposal. The 

20 goal of the model program shall be to promote access 

21 quickly and efficiently without the need for costly litiga22 tion. The model program should include an expedited 

23 method for determining the relevant facts related to such 

24 barriers to access and steps taken before the commence25 ment of litigation to resolve any issues related to access. 


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1 SEC. 6. STUDY REGARDING WCAG 2.0 STANDARDS. 

2 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, the Attorney General shall complete a study 

4 to determine whether WCAG 2.0 standards, accessibility 

5 widgets, or providing a telephone number through which 

6 members of the public can obtain the same information 

7 and services as they would on a website would all provide 

8 reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabil9 ities who are protected by the provisions of the Americans 

10 with Disabilities Act of 1990. 

Æ 


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