Opinion ID: 392957
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Events Leading to the Adoption of the 1979 Regulations

Text: 4 The regulations challenged in this appeal are not the first DOT regulations dealing with mass transit systems and the handicapped. In 1976, DOT issued regulations designed to implement section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, section 16 of the UMTA, and section 165(b) of the FAHA. See 41 Fed.Reg. 18,234 (1976). Each of these statutes deals with the handicapped. Section 504 provides that any program receiving federal funds must not discriminate against the handicapped. 1 Section 16 of the UMTA provides that, as a matter of national policy, handicapped and elderly persons have the same rights as others to use mass transit facilities. This provision imposes an obligation on local planners to make special efforts ... in the planning and design of mass transportation facilities and services so that the availability of such services to the elderly and the handicapped will be assured. 2 FAHA section 165(b) authorizes the Secretary of DOT to require that a mass transit system, aided by grants from highway funds under the FAHA, be planned, designed, constructed, and operated to allow effective utilization by elderly or handicapped persons. 3 5 The 1976 DOT regulations implemented these provisions by mandating that state and local planners make special efforts in planning public mass transportation facilities and services that can effectively be utilized by elderly and handicapped persons. 41 Fed.Reg. 18,234 (1976). Approval of project grants was conditioned on satisfactory special efforts. Id. The regulations were accompanied by guidelines issued jointly by the Urban Mass Transit Administration and the Federal Highway Administration to illustrate the kinds of plans that would satisfy the special efforts requirement. These guidelines allowed each local authority to choose a plan responsive to local needs. For example, a community could provide door-to-door special services, rather than make fixed-route transportation modes accessible. Id. 6 On April 28, 1976, two days before the regulations were published in their final form, President Ford issued Executive Order Number 11,914, 41 Fed.Reg. 17,871 (1976). The order directed the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) 4 to coordinate implementation of section 504 for all federal agencies and departments by establishing standards and guidelines for determining what practices were discriminatory. The President directed other agencies to promulgate regulations consistent with the guidelines established by HEW. 7 HEW issued its guidelines in 1978. See 43 Fed.Reg. 2132 (1978), 45 C.F.R. §§ 85.1-85.58 (1980). They require that all recipients of federal funds mainstream handicapped persons, that is, integrate such persons into the same programs available to others, rather than treat them as a separate group in special programs. Under the guidelines, separate treatment may be provided only when necessary to ensure equal opportunities. See 43 Fed.Reg. at 2134. 5 8 In the context of public transportation, mainstreaming means the physical integration of the handicapped with other members of the travelling public, and the HEW guidelines require that each mode of transportation in a transit system be accessible to the handicapped. See id. at 2138-39, 45 C.F.R. §§ 85.56, 85.57. The 1976 DOT regulations clearly violated this requirement; they sanctioned the provision of separate transit services for the handicapped as an alternative to accessible bus and rail systems. 9 DOT's inconsistent regulations were soon rescinded. Six months after HEW promulgated the guidelines, DOT published its notice of proposed rulemaking, together with proposed rules. See 43 Fed.Reg. 25,016 (1976). The notice stated that DOT felt bound by the HEW guidelines to adopt only such options as would constitute mainstreaming. Id. at 25,017. A regulatory analysis, prepared by DOT to explain its rationale and choices, analyzed the various options in terms of their consistency with the HEW guidelines. See Department of Transportation Section 504 Regulation Regulatory Analysis, Joint Appendix (J.A.) at 95. Before publication of the final rules, DOT submitted its draft rules to HEW for approval. Based on discussions with HEW, DOT agreed to a number of changes so that former HEW Secretary Califano could find the DOT regulations in compliance with the HEW guidelines. See 44 Fed.Reg. 31,468 (1979).