IB 
Union Calendar No. 403 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 620 
[Report No. 115–539] 
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 
JANUARY 24, 2017 
Mr. POE of Texas (for himself, Mr. PETERS, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. BERA, Ms. 
SPEIER, and Mr. CONAWAY) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
JANUARY 30, 2018 
Additional sponsors: Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. CORREA, Mr. COLLINS 
of Georgia, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. DENHAM, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. MITCHELL, Mr. 
ISSA, Mr. EMMER, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. COFFMAN, Mrs. ROBY, 
Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. RUSSELL, Mr. COSTA, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. 
VALADAO, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. BACON, Mr. STEWART, Mr. DUNCAN of 
South Carolina, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. TIPTON, Mr. BYRNE, Mr. GALLA-
GHER, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. CURBELO of Florida, Mr. 
HUNTER, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. WALKER, Mr. BROOKS of 
Alabama, Mr. SMITH of Missouri, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, 
Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana, Mr. NUNES, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. CARTER of 
Georgia, Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana, Mr. LAMBORN, Miss GONZA´LEZ- 
COLO´N of Puerto Rico, Mr. GOHMERT, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. 
GOSAR, Mr. WOMACK, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. DENT, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. 
WESTERMAN, Mr. LONG, Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, Mr. LUETKE-
MEYER, Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. 
MACARTHUR, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. BUCK, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. 
LEWIS of Minnesota, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. TURNER, Mr. BARR, 
Mr. CHABOT, Mr. RATCLIFFE, Mr. YOHO, Mr. HILL, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT 
of Georgia, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. BABIN, Mr. MAST, Mr. TAYLOR, Mr. 
FRANCIS ROONEY of Florida, Mr. HOLDING, Mr. COMER, Mr. KNIGHT, 
Mr. COOK, Mr. COLE, Mr. MARINO, Mr. BARTON, Mrs. MIMI WALTERS 
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of California, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mrs. HANDEL, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. LUCAS, 
Mr. PITTENGER, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. BUDD, Mr. ROSS, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. 
RICE of South Carolina, Mr. MESSER, Ms. JENKINS of Kansas, Mr. 
REED, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, Mr. HULTGREN, Ms. HERRERA 
BEUTLER, Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia, and Mr. WILSON of South 
Carolina 
Deleted sponsors: Mr. RUSH (added May 19, 2017; deleted October 31, 2017) 
and Mr. SUOZZI (added June 15, 2017; deleted July 20, 2017) 
JANUARY 30, 2018 
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 
and ordered to be printed 
A BILL 
To amend the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to 
promote compliance through education, to clarify the re-
quirements for demand letters, to provide for a notice 
and cure period before the commencement of a private 
civil action, and for other purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘ADA Education and 
Reform Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE THROUGH EDUCATION. 
Based on existing funding, the Disability Rights Sec-
tion of the Department of Justice shall, in consultation 
with property owners and representatives of the disability 
rights community, develop a program to educate State and 
local governments and property owners on effective and 
efficient strategies for promoting access to public accom-
modations for persons with a disability (as defined in sec-
tion 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 
12102)). Such program may include training for profes-
sionals such as Certified Access Specialists to provide a 
guidance of remediation for potential violations of the 
Americans with Disabilities Act. 
SEC. 3. NOTICE AND CURE PERIOD. 
Paragraph (1) of section 308(a) of the Americans 
with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12188(a)(1)) is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY OF REMEDIES AND PROCE-
DURES.— 
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), the remedies and procedures set 
forth in section 204(a) of the Civil Rights Act 
of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a–3(a)) are the rem-
edies and procedures this title provides to any 
person who is being subjected to discrimination 
on the basis of disability in violation of this title 
or who has reasonable grounds for believing 
that such person is about to be subjected to dis-
crimination in violation of section 303. Nothing 
in this section shall require a person with a dis-
ability to engage in a futile gesture if such per-
son has actual notice that a person or organiza-
tion covered by this title does not intend to 
comply with its provisions. 
‘‘(B) BARRIERS TO ACCESS TO EXISTING 
PUBLIC
ACCOMMODATIONS.—A 
civil 
action 
under section 302 or 303 based on the failure 
to remove an architectural barrier to access into 
an existing public accommodation may not be 
commenced by a person aggrieved by such fail-
ure unless— 
‘‘(i) that person has provided to the 
owner or operator of the accommodation a 
written notice specific enough to allow such 
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owner or operator to identify the barrier; 
and 
‘‘(ii)(I) during the period beginning on 
the date the notice is received and ending 
60 days after that date, the owner or oper-
ator fails to provide to that person a writ-
ten description outlining improvements 
that will be made to remove the barrier; or 
‘‘(II) if the owner or operator provides 
the written description under subclause (I), 
the owner or operator fails to remove the 
barrier or to make substantial progress in 
removing the barrier during the period be-
ginning on the date the description is pro-
vided and ending 120 days after that date. 
‘‘(C) SPECIFICATION OF DETAILS OF AL-
LEGED
VIOLATION.—The written notice re-
quired under subparagraph (B) must also speci-
fy in detail the circumstances under which an 
individual was actually denied access to a public 
accommodation, including the address of prop-
erty, the specific sections of the Americans with 
Disabilities Act alleged to have been violated, 
whether a request for assistance in removing an 
architectural barrier to access was made, and 
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whether the barrier to access was a permanent 
or temporary barrier.’’. 
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act and the amendments made by this Act take 
effect 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 5. MEDIATION FOR ADA ACTIONS RELATED TO ARCHI-
TECTURAL BARRIERS. 
The Judicial Conference of the United States shall, 
under rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or 
any other applicable law, in consultation with property 
owners and representatives of the disability rights commu-
nity, develop a model program to promote the use of alter-
native dispute resolution mechanisms, including a stay of 
discovery during mediation, to resolve claims of architec-
tural barriers to access for public accommodations. To the 
extent practical, the Federal Judicial Center should pro-
vide a public comment period on any such proposal. The 
goal of the model program shall be to promote access 
quickly and efficiently without the need for costly litiga-
tion. The model program should include an expedited 
method for determining the relevant facts related to such 
barriers to access and steps taken before the commence-
ment of litigation to resolve any issues related to access. 
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Union Calendar No. 403 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 620 
[Report No. 115–539] 
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. 
JANUARY 30, 2018 
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
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02:24 Jan 31, 2018
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