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Administration To Urge Better Access For Disabled

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The New York Times

Published: June 16, 2008

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is about to propose far-reaching new rules that would give people with disabilities greater access to tens of thousands of courtrooms, swimming pools, golf courses, stadiums, theaters, hotels and stores.

The proposal would substantially update and rewrite federal standards for enforcement of the Americans With Disabilities Act, a landmark civil rights law passed with strong bipartisan support in 1990. The new rules would set more stringent requirements in many areas and address some issues for the first time.

More than 7 million businesses and all state and local government agencies would be affected. The proposal includes some exemptions for parts of existing buildings, but any new construction or renovations would have to comply.

The new standards would affect everything from the location of light switches to the height of retail service counters, to the use of monkeys as service animals for people with disabilities.

The White House approved the proposal in May. It is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, with 60 days for public comment.

Already, the proposal is stirring concern. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says it would be onerous and costly, while advocates for the disabled say it does not go far enough.

The Justice Department acknowledged that some of the changes would have significant costs. But over all, it said, the value of the public benefits, estimated at $54 billion, exceeds the expected costs of $23 billion.

In an economic analysis of the proposed rules, the Justice Department said the need for an accessible environment was greater than ever because the Iraq war was "creating a new generation of young men and women with disabilities."

PROPOSED ADA CHANGES

The proposed rules, under development for more than four years, flesh out the meaning of the 1990 Americans With Disabilities law. The proposal includes these new requirements:

•Courts would have to provide a lift or a ramp to ensure that people in wheelchairs could get into the witness stand.

•Auditoriums would have to provide a lift or a ramp so wheelchair users could "participate fully and equally in graduation exercises and other events" at which members of the audience have direct access to the stage.

•Any sports stadium with a seating capacity of 25,000 or more would have to provide safety and emergency information by posting written messages on scoreboards and video monitors. This would alert people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

•Theaters must provide specified numbers of seats for wheelchair users (at least five in a 300-seat facility).

•At least 25 percent of the railings at fishing piers would have to be no more than 34 inches high, so that a person in a wheelchair could fish over the railing.

Source: The New York Times

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