II 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3446 

To amend the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 regarding remedies 

and procedures, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 

Mr. FLAKE (for himself and Mr. WICKER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 

regarding remedies and procedures, 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 Education and 

5 Reform Act of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE THROUGH EDUCATION. 

7 From amounts made available to the Disability 

8 Rights Section of the Department of Justice as of the ef9 fective date of this Act, the Disability Rights Section of 

10 the Department of Justice shall, in consultation with propVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Oct 04, 2016 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3446.IS S3446

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1 erty owners and representatives of the disability rights 

2 community, develop a program to educate State and local 

3 governments and property owners on effective and effi4 cient strategies for promoting access to public accom5 modations for persons with a disability (as defined in sec6 tion 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 

7 12102)). Such program may include training for profes8 sionals such as Certified Access Specialists to provide 

9 guidance about remediation for potential violations of the 

10 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 

11 et seq.). 

12 SEC. 3. NOTICE AND CURE PERIOD. 

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

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

15 amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY OF REMEDIES AND PROCE17 DURES.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara19 graph (B), the remedies and procedures set 

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

21 of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a–3(a)) are the rem22 edies and procedures this title provides to any 

23 person who is being subjected to discrimination 

24 on the basis of disability in violation of this title 

25 or who has reasonable grounds for believing 


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1 that such person is about to be subjected to dis2 crimination in violation of section 303. Nothing 

3 in this section shall require a person with a dis4 ability to engage in a futile gesture if such per5 son has actual notice that a person or organiza6 tion covered by this title does not intend to 

7 comply with its provisions. 

8 ‘‘(B) BARRIERS TO ACCESS TO EXISTING

9 PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS.—A civil action 

10 under section 302 or 303 based on the failure 

11 to remove an architectural barrier to access into 

12 an existing public accommodation may not be 

13 commenced by a person aggrieved by such fail14 ure unless— 

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

16 owner or operator of the accommodation a 

17 written notice specific enough to allow such 

18 owner or operator to identify the barrier; 

19 and 

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

21 the date the notice is received and ending 

22 60 days after that date, the owner or oper23 ator fails to provide to that person a writ24 ten description outlining improvements 

25 that will be made to remove the barrier; or 


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

2 the written description under subclause (I), 

3 the owner or operator fails to remove the 

4 barrier or to make substantial progress in 

5 removing the barrier during the period be6 ginning on the date the description is pro7 vided and ending 120 days after that date. 

8 ‘‘(C) SPECIFICATION OF DETAILS OF AL9 LEGED VIOLATION.—The written notice re10 quired under subparagraph (B) must also speci11 fy in detail the circumstances under which an 

12 individual was actually denied access to a public 

13 accommodation, including the address of the 

14 property, the specific sections of this Act al15 leged to have been violated, whether a request 

16 for assistance in removing an architectural bar17 rier to access was made, and whether the bar18 rier to access was a permanent or temporary 

19 barrier.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

21 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

22 take effect 30 days after the date of the enactment of this 

23 Act. 


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1 SEC. 5. MEDIATION FOR ADA ACTIONS RELATED TO ARCHI2 TECTURAL BARRIERS. 

3 The Judicial Conference of the United States shall, 

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

5 any other applicable law, in consultation with property 

6 owners and representatives of the disability rights commu7 nity, develop a model program to promote the use of alter8 native dispute resolution mechanisms, including a stay of 

9 discovery during mediation, to resolve claims of architec10 tural barriers to access for public accommodations. To the 

11 extent practical, the Federal Judicial Center should pro12 vide a public comment period on any such proposal. The 

13 goal of the model program shall be to promote such access 

14 quickly and efficiently without the need for costly litiga15 tion. The model program should include an expedited 

16 method for determining the relevant facts related to such 

17 barriers to access and steps taken before the commence18 ment of litigation to resolve any issues related to access. 

Æ 


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