Rules Regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act Proposed

July 25, 2008 - The Department of Justice has proposed new rules under the Americans with Disabilities Act (Act or ADA) to update the standards originally contained in the 1990 Act and to make the requirements “consistent with the minimum guidelines and requirements issued by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board,” published in 2004.

The DOJ is proposing several modifications to existing definitions and requirements.  A number of of these changes could impact race tracks, horse shows, equestrian facilities, convention centers hosting equine events, and parks and wilderness areas.  

The full text of the proposed rules can be reviewed at:

http://www.ada.gov/NPRM2008/t3NPRM_federalreg.pdf   

Comments on the proposals are due August 18th.

PLEASE NOTE:  These proposed rules are quite complex.  Please have someone familiar the various requirements of the ADA review them.

The ADA is intended to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities in employment, in access to state and local government services, public accommodations, transportation, and other areas.  The Act requires that newly-designed and constructed or altered public accommodations and commercial facilities be readily accessible to, and usable by, individuals with disabilities.

Potential Affect on Horse Industry

Among the proposed changes that may affect the horse industry are requirements for disabled seating in stadium-type facilities, the ticketing process for disabled individuals, auxiliary aids and services, such as captioning and video interpreting services, an expansion of the definition of wheelchairs and mobility devices and its affect on access to Wilderness areas, and the exclusion of horses as “service animals.”  

Stadium Seating

The DOJ proposal includes provisions that regulate where accessible seating can be and what form it must take.  It would require that wheelchair and companion seating be dispersed and available on all accessible levels, that companion seats be equivalent in all respects to other seats in the area and that such seats have unobstructed viewing angles equivalent or better than the view available to other spectators. 

Facilities with more than 5,000 seats would be required to have at least five wheelchair spaces and three accompanying companion seats for each. 

Ticketing

The proposed regulations include a variety of provisions regarding ticketing policies.  The Department is proposing that the sale and distribution of tickets to individuals with disabilities be during the same hours and methods as other seating is sold.  They also propose that the same procedures be used for sale of season tickets or multiple tickets as are used for general sales.  This would apply to tickets sold on a preassigned basis in stadiums, arenas and other facilities in which sporting events are held.  This would likely include racetracks, horse shows, rodeos and similar events.

The proposed rules provide regulatory guidance for ticket distribution methods, presales, promotions, lotteries or waitlists.  The rules clarify that public accommodations and accessible seating must be made available in each of these stages of ticket sales.   Accurate information about the location of accessible seating must be made available to purchasers and sales must be made in the same manner as sales for those purchasing general seating.  The rules also apply to secondary market ticket sales and resales of unsold accessible seats.  They also go into the release of unsold accessible seating once standard seats have been sold.  The rules also codify the Department’s policy that public accommodations cannot impose a surcharge on wheelchair spaces.

The proposed rules also provide that individuals with disabilities and their companions may purchase the same maximum number of tickets for an event as other spectators.  The event must accommodate groups with a disabled person and put the group together or as close to accessible seats as possible. 

Captioning at Sporting Venues

The Department is proposing that sports stadiums with a capacity of 25,000 or more provide captioning for patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing for safety and emergency information announcements made over the public address system.  Such captioning could be put on a scoreboard, a line board, on a handheld device or other means.  The Department also asks for comment on requiring captioning in all stadiums, regardless of size. 

The rule proposal also seeks comment on requiring captioning for game-related information, such as play-by-play information.  This could be interpreted to apply to equine events, such as the calling of a race or the announcer’s description of the class in a horse show.

Wheelchairs – Wilderness and Park Access

The DOJ rule proposal seeks to address the expanding use of power-driven mobility devices by disabled individuals.  The DOJ proposes that such devices include “any of a large range of devices powered by batteries, fuel, or other engines—whether or not designed solely for use by individuals with mobility impairments—that are used by individuals with mobility impairments for the purpose of locomotion, including golf cars, bicycles, electronic personal assistance mobility devices (EPAMDs), or any mobility aid designed to operate in areas without defined pedestrian routes.”

The DOJ proposes to define a “wheelchair” as “a device designed solely for use by an individual with mobility impairment for the primary purpose of locomotion in typical indoor and outdoor pedestrian areas.  A wheelchair may be manually operated or power-driven.”

Currently, we understand that “conventional” wheelchairs are allowed access to Wilderness areas, but motor or manually-driven vehicles are not.   

The rule proposal notes that the ADA provides that the Wilderness Act is not to be construed as prohibiting the use of a wheelchair in a Wilderness area by someone whose disability requires the use of a wheelchair.  At the same time, the Act provides that no agency is required to provide accommodation, construct a facility or modify Wilderness land to facilitate such use. 

The DOJ is recommending that public accommodations, including parks, allow persons with disabilities to utilize these “other power-driven mobility devices” when possible and to develop policies to accommodate these mobility devices. The DOJ anticipates such policies would be based on the particular device, the risk of harm to others, the environment or natural or cultural resources, or conflict with Federal land management laws and regulations.

The proposed rules specifically list the factors that public accommodations may take into consideration when deciding whether to allow an individual to use a power-driven mobility device.  Included is the risk of harm to the environment or natural resources or conflicts with federal land management laws and regulations. 

The AHC would appreciate guidance regarding whether the proposed rules might affect access to wilderness areas and parks by wheelchairs and other additional mobility devices.  Is this appropriate?

Service Animals and Horses

The Department has received complaints from individuals with service animals who ask that they be accommodated with their service animals.  Service animals have been defined as “any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability….”  When the current regulations were adopted in the early 1990s, the rule proposal notes, the Department did not define the parameters of acceptable animals and few anticipated the wide variety of animals that are now being used, ranging from pigs and miniature horses to snakes and iguanas. 

The Department also recognizes that accommodating some of these animals would result in a fundamental alteration of what the public accommodation provides or the safe operation of the accommodation.  The DOJ is proposing to clarify the obligations of public accommodations to accommodate individuals with “service animals” by narrowing the definition.  The Department is proposing to limit the definition of acceptable service animals for accommodation purposes to “dogs or other common domestic animals.”  The proposed rule would exclude all but specially-trained domestic animals, barring certain animals from being considered service animals for public accommodation purposes and specifically excluding “any breed of horse, miniature horse or pony.”

Conclusion

These proposed rules are quite complicated.  Please have someone look them over to decide if they might apply to your activities. 

The AHC would very much appreciate hearing any concerns prompted by the proposed regulations.  If you have any comments you would like the AHC to make, please let us know. 

If you have any questions, please contact us.