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Unit: $U96

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646

BRAGDON v. ABBOTT

Opinion of the Court

C

Our conclusion is further reinforced by the administrative
guidance issued by the Justice Department to implement the
public accommodation provisions of Title III of the ADA.
As the agency directed by Congress to issue implementing
regulations, see 42 U. S. C. § 12186(b), to render technical as-
sistance explaining the responsibilities of covered individuals
and institutions, § 12206(c), and to enforce Title III in court,
§ 12188(b), the Department’s views are entitled to deference.
See Chevron, 467 U. S., at 844.

The Justice Department’s interpretation of the deﬁnition
of disability is consistent with our analysis. The regulations
acknowledge that Congress intended the ADA’s deﬁnition of
disability to be given the same construction as the deﬁnition
of handicap in the Rehabilitation Act.
28 CFR § 36.103(a)
(1997); id., pt. 36, App. B, pp. 608, 609. The regulatory deﬁ-
nition developed by HEW to implement the Rehabilitation
Act is incorporated verbatim in the ADA regulations.
§ 36.104. The Justice Department went further, however.
It added “HIV infection (symptomatic and asymptomatic)”
to the list of disorders constituting a physical impairment.
§ 36.104(1)(iii). The technical assistance the Department has
issued pursuant to 42 U. S. C. § 12206 similarly concludes that
persons with asymptomatic HIV infection fall within the
ADA’s deﬁnition of disability. See, e. g., U. S. Dept. of Jus-
tice, Civil Rights Division, The Americans with Disabilities
Act: Title III Technical Assistance Manual 9 (Nov. 1993); Re-
sponse to Congressman Sonny Callahan, 5 Nat. Disability L.
Rep. (LRP) ¶ 360, p. 1167 (Feb. 9, 1994); Response to A. Lau-
rence Field, 5 Nat. Disability L. Rep. (LRP) ¶ 21, p. 80 (Sept.
10, 1993). Any other conclusion, the Department reasoned,
would contradict Congress’ afﬁrmative ratiﬁcation of the ad-
ministrative interpretations given previous versions of the
same deﬁnition.
28 CFR pt. 36, App. B, pp. 609, 610 (1997)
(citing the OLC opinion and HUD regulations); 56 Fed. Reg.
7455, 7456 (1991) (same) (notice of proposed rulemaking).