This means the decision-maker begins by assuming that accessibility can be incorporated into the design and construction of the trail or trail segment. In the first place, the standards apply only to new construction or substantial alterations to existing trails or trail segments. New shelters, bridges, and new sections of trail longer than five hundred feet, however, will not be exempt, and trail designers will have to consider access issues as they are being designed. Even so the proposed policy includes exceptions that may permit them to be built in many circumstances and locations without elaborate access features. The affected segment must be connected to an accessible trailed or to another accessible segment.
Routine maintenance is excepted from the regulations.
Clearly, one or more of these circumstances may exist along many sections of the national scenic and historic trails. Thus in the proposed regulations the AT and the other scenic and historic trails as they presently exist are largely exempt from new access requirements. The changes will be incremental, as new tramway and trail facilities are built, and even those changes should be of the common-sense variety. A few unresolved issues, presented as questions in the final report, will be highlighted during the public-comment phase. Based on the feedback received, a final determination will be made by the Access Board.