2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE NINE - Highways and Traffic (§§ 1-8 — 5725) › Chapter 27 - Vehicle and Traffic Law (2000) › Subchapter I - Definitions; Registry of Motor Vehicles, Trailers or Semi-Trailers, and Authorization to Operate on Public Roads (§§ 5001 — 5044) › § 5022 - Removable placards—[Issuance] to authorize parking in areas designated for disabled persons

The Secretary shall issue removable placards to allow parking in areas designated for disabled persons, to any person whose impairment of permanent or indefinite duration, makes access to places or buildings difficult due to their substantially limited capacity of motion, subject to the following norms:
(a) No parking permit shall be issued on behalf of persons who have not attained the age of eighteen (18) months of age, except in those cases where the applicant requires the use of a portable ventilator or an adjustable wheelchair.
(b) The Secretary, with previous coordination and direct consultation with the Advocate for Persons with Disabilities, shall establish the procedures for certification and shall watch for faithful compliance with this chapter.
(c) Subject to the regulations promulgated by the Secretary for such a purpose, the removable placard may be requested with the prior direct coordination and consultation with the Advocate for the Disabled and taking into consideration all the requirements established by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-191), by any person with a permanent physical condition which substantially makes his/her mobility permanently difficult or which makes it permanently difficult to freely gain access to places or buildings due to any of the conditions listed below, as well as by any person who has legal custody of dependents whose mobility is limited or whose condition requires close supervision because of any of the conditions listed below:
(1) Total and permanent paralysis of the lower extremities, ankylosis of any of the major joints, or other permanent condition that impedes ease of mobility, or that requires the permanent use of a wheelchair or equipment to assist ambulation.
(2) Partial paralysis of any lower extremity, which at least, requires the use of braces or equipment to assist ambulation.
(3) Amputation of one (1) or both lower extremities.
(4) Hemiplegics who require equipment to assist ambulation.
(5) Severe pulmonary conditions that limit the vital capacity by sixty percent (60%) or more.
(6) Chronic severe renal failures that require hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis treatments at least twice (2) a week.
(7) Cardiovascular conditions of Grade III-C or higher.
(8) Implanted ankle, hip or knee prostheses that severely or permanently limit mobility.
(9) Spine injury or post-surgery condition resulting in severe or permanent neuromuscular deficiency that limits mobility.
(10) Congenital or acquired deformities and post-surgery condition involving any of the joints of the lower extremities, which markedly limits mobility.
(11) Intermittent and peripheral vascular impairment of the lower extremities that markedly limits mobility.
(12) Total blindness or legal blindness which is defined as corrected visual sharpness of 20/200 or having a visual periphery of less than 20–20 degrees in its broadest diameter.
(13) Injury to the central peripheral nervous system that severely or permanently affects mobility.
(14) Autism.
(15) Pigmentose Xeroderma, also known as the Sanctis Cacchione Syndrome.
(16) Down Syndrome in its severe modality.
(17) Mental retardation in its severe modality.
(18) Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Systemic Erythematous Lupus or Rheumatoid Arthritis conditions, after clinical examination that determines a severe or permanent ambulatory disability exists. A physiatrist or rheumatologist shall perform the clinical examination.
(19) Morbid obesity, when body mass index (BMI) is equal to or exceeds forty (40), upon clinical examination that determines the existence of a severe or permanent ambulatory disability.
(d) Those public or private institutions, for profit or nonprofit, dedicated to the care or transportation of people with physical disabilities shall use the removable placard of the person that they are taking care of or transporting, while they are performing such function. This provision shall not apply to disabled persons transportation vehicles of the Metropolitan Bus Authority Special Program, or of any other entity or agency of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, including municipalities, that are duly equipped for such purpose and while they are being used for such purpose, as determined by the Secretary through regulations.
(e) Special cards and removable placards for disabled people issued by the pertinent authorities of the states, or jurisdictions of the United States of America, or by any other country, shall be entitled to full faith and credit and automatically shall have full force and effect in Puerto Rico for a period of one hundred twenty (120) days.
(f) Possession of a removable placard does not authorize the disabled person to park in areas where parking normally is prohibited and the areas are duly signaled.
(g) The issuance of this removable placard, as expressed in this section and § 5023 of this title, shall be free of charge for the disabled person. However, the Secretary is hereby empowered to impose the requirements for the issuance of a duplicate removable placard, through regulations. For the purposes of the application and obtaining a duplicate removable placard, and subject to the regulations implemented by the Secretary, the latter is authorized to charge the amount of five dollars ($5) for which a voucher of internal revenue shall be cancelled, and said amount shall be deposited in the DISCO fund to pay for the cost of producing the same. The issuance of a duplicate due to theft or illegal appropriation shall be free of cost, in which case an official copy of the report filed before the Police of Puerto Rico for said criminal incident must be presented.
(h) The Secretary shall issue a removable placard bearing a distinctive symbol for persons with permanent physical conditions who require a wheelchair for transportation. Provided, That only the persons who have a removable placard bearing the distinctive symbol shall be authorized to use parking spaces designated “van accessible”, as defined in the “ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities”.
History —Jan. 7, 2000, No. 22, § 2.21; Sept. 11, 2002, No. 227, § 1; Sept. 26, 2005, No. 120, § 1; Sept. 27, 2006, No. 204, § 1; July 12, 2011, No. 123, § 1; July 13, 2011, No. 138, § 1, eff. 6 months after July 13, 2011.