The equivalent facilitation sections for vehicles and facilities are basically parallel. Disability Resource Center 2). X Other transit provider comments opposed all standee lift use on safety grounds. There are reasons to have such a requirement. Current products (including some developed. It is a way of providing a reasonable sense of security to regulated parties that accessibility modifications they make will comply with ADA requirements. These concerns include the possibility of adhesive failures and "lift-off" (i.e., the corners of segments of the materials may come up) as well as durability. WebStatement regarding reasonable accommodation under the Fair Housing Act generally apply to requests for reasonable accommodations to rules, policies, practices, and In the NPRM, the Department emphasized that its concerns were neither about the basic design of the [*63093] detectable warnings or their usefulness to people with vision impairments. (iii) The entity shall sponsor at least one public hearing on the request and shall provide adequate notice of the hearing, including advertisement in [*63102] appropriate media, such as newspapers of general and special interest circulation and radio announcements. Phone: 202-366-6242, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE What If I Want Interpreting Services Or Other Ongoing Supports? The Department is aware that the Access Board (along with the Department of Justice and Department of Transportation) proposed to suspend, until January 1995, the requirement for detectable warnings in contexts such as curb ramps and parking lots, with the expectation of conducting further research. One commenter said that, if the specifications were changed, existing models of fare vending systems had installed should be grandfathered, so that retrofit was not necessary. Five requested that handrails be retrofitted on existing lifts, and one commenter opposed this idea. Others said that they did not want to spend substantial sums of money on detectable warnings until there was certainty about what design would best answer the concerns that have been raised. It is not fair to burden research with the expectation that it will solve all practical problems, which probably are best worked out in actual planning and installation. Making the requirements effective at the same time made sense, they said, because they relate to an accessible car-station interface. The bulk of these-388 comments-were from individuals with disabilities or organizations representing them. (202) 366-9306 (voice); (202) 755-7687 (TDD). [49.CFR 37.163 (f)] SECTION 12 - PRIORITY SEATING . We do not believe it is necessary to add language concerning the "one car per train" requirement. For example, Amtrak may need a certain number of cars to carry overflow traffic at Thanksgiving or Christmas on the Northeast Corridor. Another transit property also asked for a 5-year delay, while a third suggested making the requirement effective in July 1995, to coincide with the one-car-per-train requirement. Lifts meeting Access Board standards will have handrails. The future event or events are likely to occur. Parts 37 and 38 require wheelchair securement. Examples of Reasonable Accommodations can include: Of course, the list above is not all-inclusive. However, the Department continues to believe that making equivalent facilitation determinations available also has important advantages. All documents and other information concerning the request shall be available, upon request, to members of the public. Remote . The first was the designation of the last paragraph of @ 38.113 (concerning signage) as (3), rather than (e). Accommodations are a very individual thing, and DRC can help you or your employee find the right solution for the given situation. It is a way of providing needed flexibility as entities find ways to achieve accessibility in ways that differ from existing design standards. The existing rule's one car per train requirement applies, after July 1995, both to Amtrak and the commuter authorities involved. (3) In the case of a request by a public entity that provides transportation services subject to the provisions of subpart D of this part, the required public participation shall include the following:(i) The entity shall contact individuals with disabilities and groups representing them in the community. Since the situation of air carriers making equivalent facilitation requests concerning facilities at public airports is very similar to that of the airport sponsors themselves, we decided to apply the same procedural requirements to both. Amtrak may have a standing reimbursable agreement with Boston or Washington/Baltimore area commuter authorities to borrow commuter rail cars on short notice in these situations. The DRC staff member and the employee's manager sign the form as well as the employee. In @ 37.165, paragraph (g) is revised to read as follows:@ 37.165 -- Lift and securement use. One of these commenters opposed the public hearing requirement, while another said public participation should receive greater emphasis. In view of the close relationship between the coverage of airport facilities under the ADA, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Air Carrier Access Act, the Department is clarifying the facilities section to specifically include requests for equivalent facilitation that arise concerning airport facilities under all three statutes. This "ask, don't tell" approach should help to avoid confrontations and disruptions of service while resulting in seating being made available for passengers who need priority seating in the vast majority of instances. The first issue to be considered is whether the Department should continue making equivalent facilitation determinations. A substantial number of commenters opposed the Department's proposal, asserting that the detectable warnings requirement, as written, should go into effect without any postponement. Virtually all commenters supported the proposal, agreeing with the rationale articulated above. Bulletin # 1 also contains a list of products which are claimed by their manufacturers to meet the technical specifications for detectable warnings, but the Access Board neither reviews products for compliance nor certifies the suitability of such products or systems for the purposes for which they are intended. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services. 58 FR 63092, *63093to apply detectable warning materials to an existing station platform in a retrofit situation. In 49 CFR part 37, the words "Urban Mass Transportation Administration" are changed to the words "Federal Transit Administration" in every instance in which those words appear; the letters "UMTA" are changed to the letters "FTA" in every instance in which those letters appear; and the words "UMT Act" and "Urban Mass Transportation Act" are changed to the words "FT Act" and "Federal Transit Act" in every instance in which those words appear, and the definition of "FT Act" is moved to the proper alphabetical order. (2) This requirement applies to light rail, rapid rail, and commuter rail systems only to the extent practicable. For example, a wheelchair user may not be able to use a bus safely and securely if he or she does not have access to the securement location. The proposal received support from both disability community commenters (12) and state or local transportation agencies (10), with the remainder of comments (4) coming from state or local agencies working on disability matters. The Department strongly urges such training programs to transit providers, both as a way of improving customer service and of reducing any risks which transit providers believe may be created by the use of lifts by standees. [*63092]SUMMARY: The Department is amending its rules implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in several respects. This can happen in one of two ways. The NPRM also proposed to clarify the public participation obligations of parties asking for equivalent facilitation determinations. Moreover, unlike the falls of visually-impaired persons from platforms, allegations mentioned by some commenters that properly installed detectable warnings cause safety problems (e.g., for persons using crutches or walkers, or pedestrians wearing high heels) are not supported by any evidence of these problems actually having occurred. It is inappropriate under a nondiscrimination statute like the ADA, DREDF argued, to restrict the availability of a service to persons with disabilities based only on speculation or apprehension about possible risks. At the same time, given the modification discussed below, it will not impose onerous new duties on transit personnel. These were primarily, but not exclusively, from the blind community. The The agreement would provide that when Amtrak borrowed cars from B, B would make available and Amtrak would take its accessible cars first, to the extent they are available (e.g., B would not have to provide cars that were in the repair shop or that it was impossible to make available for Amtrak's use in a timely fashion). Five commenters (four transit agencies and a manufacturer) said that the purpose and design of fare vending machines were different enough from those of ATMs to warrant a different standard, at least with respect to some specifications. The ADA requires the Department to adopt standards consistent with the Access Board guidelines. If the technical standard changes at this or any future point, the Department could, in appropriate situations, apply the grandfathering provision in the Department's ADA rule (49 CFR 37.9) to avoid making rail operators re-install detectable warnings meeting the revised standard. (56 FR 45755). Consequently, the NPRM proposed to extend for 18 months the key station compliance date with respect to detectable warnings. * * * * *(d) * * *(2) Wheelchair or mobility aid spaces. PAGE 2258 FR 63092, *63101omission of part of the language concerning wheelchair locations in @ 38.125(d)(2). (The study suggests that frequent cleaning is important.) A disability community commenter objected to the "to the extent practicable" clause for rail systems. The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) changed the name of the former Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) to The language which applies the "driver request" provision to rail systems only to the extent practicable seems necessary. This issue attracted, by far, the greatest number of comments of any issue raised by the NPRM. A driver cannot be expected to intuit the existence of a disability that is not apparent. Nine of these were state or local transportation agencies, four were disability community commenters, and one was a state or local agency working on disability matters. The information cited in the comment-which is consistent with the Department's information about this lift model-provides a reasonable basis for believing that its operation may be particularly hazardous to standees. Entities shall not cite these determinations as indicating that a products or methods constitute equivalent facilitations in situations other than those to which the determinations specifically pertain. The Department believes that the Access Board proposal, which focuses on the reach range requirements for ATMs, is reasonable for fare vending machines as well. [Q]%hMT!K*ULV}2[xxLs?QE|d7:.tY?_OOj|VZ>qVQpr~Ve_'9cW|}p3.2nOgO?>tizQx;9/8}-ceyXOfuZUZ7Glaq+_TRJb:$96 For example, if a transit authority provides an on-board wheelchair for use by standees on lifts, the transit authority could not insist that a standee sit in the wheelchair in order to use the lift. There were several suggestions for refining the NPRM proposal, some of which came from some of the same commenters who endorsed the proposal in general. Webstatement regarding inability to obtain reasonable transportation An Audio Repository of Nusach & Nigunim According to the Ashkenaz Tradition countdown Timer Expired. 2. As a matter of guidance, we believe it is reasonable that if a passenger with a "hidden" disability wants a driver to ask someone to make room for use of a priority seat, the individual should tell the driver about the disability. There are no Federalism impacts sufficient to warrant the preparation of a Federalism assessment. There could be other situations in which requests were made pertaining to airport, highway, or other DOT programs. Those commenters who asserted that the two types of machines should have different requirements did not provide sufficient information on which the Department or the Access Board could base a separate standard. Converts for an unauthorized term or use 58 FR 63092 DATE: Tuesday, November 30, 1993ACTION: Final rule. Finally, the need of transit properties for time to determine which specific detectable warning product is best for their systems and to go through their procurement processes is reasonable to take into account. In support of its request for an indefinite, or, alternatively, five-year, postponement of the requirement, a rail operator cited the need to look at safety, durability, and maintainability issues, which it said current DOT research has not addressed. In @ 37.9, paragraph (d) is revised to read as follows:@ 37.9 -- Standards for accessible transportation facilities. Further, 49 CFR 37.7 and 37.9 establish a procedure through which an entity may obtain a determination of equivalent facilitation for vehicles and facilities, respectively:For purposes of implementing the equivalent facilitation provision * * * a determination of compliance will be made by the (Federal Transit) Administrator or the Federal Railroad Administrator, as applicable, on a case-by-case basis. Therefore, complete Non-assertion of penalties due to reasonable It is important to remember that the NPRM never raised the issue of whether detectable warnings should be installed on rail platform edges, only the issue of when installation should be completed. The main reason for this was that, in the commenters' view, detectable warning materials need to be uniform nationwide. All it takes is a brief moment of fatigue, or distraction, or disorientation, in the complex and sometimes confusing environment of a rail station, and even a very experienced blind rail system user can make what, in context, is a fatal misstep. (6) Determinations of equivalent facilitation are made only with respect to transportation facilities, and pertain only to the specific situation concerning which the determination is made. PAGE 758 FR 63092, *63094Department takes notice. A disability community commenter suggested. (4) In all signage designating priority seating areas for elderly persons and persons with disabilities, or designating wheelchair securement areas, the entity shall include language informing persons sitting in these locations that they should comply with requests by transit provider personnel to vacate their seats to make room for an individual with a disability. For example, if the corners of a tile segment curl up, people can trip on them. The authority citation for 49 CFR part 37 continues to read as follows: Authority: Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. The fourth change clarifies the responsibility of transit providers to make seat or wheelchair securement space available to people who need it: The fifth amendment would reflect a recent statutory change in the name of the Department's transit agency from the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). 12101-12213); 49 U.S.C. PAGE 1958 FR 63092, *63099covered by FTA [*63100] regulations concerning priority seating-would not apply. ql[' Flt Tvdccd)ek_Q6NKvzA rzm K7~(2Q9;(H Reasonable accommodations create equal access and opportunities in the workplace so that people with disabilities can be productive team players whose unique perspectives promote the development of successful programs. The availability of seating or securement space is an integral part of accessibility (i.e., having a vehicle that is "readily * * * usable by" an individual with a disability). DOT staff were also contacted by a disability group representative who believes that standees should be accommodated on all lifts. Washington, DC 20590 One of these commenters simply said that the current rule should be left in place, without change. INTRODUCTION. The Department is adopting this proposal without change. This language should parallel that of @ 38.95(d). This product did not meet the original Access Board design requirement for detectable warnings. The Department of Justice and the Access Board do not: In non-transportation contexts, if a facility owner determines that it has made an equivalent facilitation, if need not seek approval or confirmation from any Federal agency. Mr. X has Reasonable Cause for Not Filing and Turning Over Form 941 Withholding Taxes. DREDF also cited ADA legislative history favoring use of lifts by standees, the practices of some transit agencies which allow standees to use lifts, extra costs to paratransit systems if ridership on fixed route systems by standees were limited, and a general concern that ADA regulations' protections should not be weakened. The NPRM proposed to modify the existing regulatory language to require transit providers to allow standees on lifts which meet part 38 specifications, or which are equipped with handrails or other devices that can assist standees in maintaining their balance. All of these, in PTSB's view, present clear safety hazards to standees. PTSB described, in some detail, how the design and operation of a particular lift model (a front door "arcing" lift manufactured by EEC, Inc., Model 141) could create specific hazards for standees. In @ 37.7, paragraph(b) is revised to read as follows. The NPRM also noted that the Department's concerns did not relate to the cost of installing detectable warnings in key stations. Among other comments on this subject, one of the rail operators mentioned above thought that the postponement should apply to new and altered platforms as well as those being retrofitted. Consequently, we have not adopted the comments of manufacturers that opposed different procedures for manufacturers and transportation providers. The two types of machines are similar enough in the operations that consumers must perform that the same requirements make sense in both contexts. The qualifications are that, in the situations studied, both drivers [*63097] and standee users were trained in the proper use of lifts, handrails were available on the lifts, and operators were not required to transport a standee who refused to use the handrail. The Department encourages the use of such accommodations, in the interest of improving safe and convenient service to passengers. It is appropriate for a driver, under this provision, to ask an ambulatory passenger with a disability to move to clear a wheelchair securement location when needed to accommodate a wheelchair user. statement regarding inability to obtain reasonable transportation Disability group comments expressing concern about the effects of detectable warnings on transit accessibility for persons with mobility impairments are also worthy of consideration. of detectable warning materials had been the result of a combination of first-generation materials and improper installation and/or maintenance by rail properties. Part 38 and appendix A to part 37 both contain provisions concerning equivalent facilitation. Other comments addressed a variety of concerns. Any such use of these letters, or reliance on these letters in marketing materials, is unauthorized, and potential customers for these products should disregard claims of this kind. WebThe statements are not in conformity with GAAP regarding pension plans An independent auditor has concluded that a substantial doubt remains about a client's ability to continue Requirements by transportation providers that passengers use a particular accommodation are also inappropriate under the ADA. Detectable warnings can prevent that last mistaken step. Manufacturers and transit providers are different kinds of entities, in different situations (e.g., a transit authority has a local "public" for which it makes sense to hold a public hearing; a manufacturer probably does not). At the time the Access Board guidelines were published, the specifications for detectable warning surfaces were ambiguous, particularly concerning the pattern and design of the surfaces. Under the present rule, except where the Department has extended time for completion of modifications to a key station, rail operators had to make key stations accessible by July 26, 1993. To the extent that installation of detectable warnings involves an extraordinarily expensive structural change to a particular station, the rail operator could use the cost of the installation as part of its rationale for requesting an extension of time to make the key station accessible. * * * * *. Even should the ultimate result of the Access Board's rulemaking process be to delete or modify the requirement for detectable warnings in other contexts, there would not be any inconsistency between the Access Board guidelines and DOT regulations, since the guidelines serve as minimum requirements that DOT may exceed in its standards. Or other DOT programs of Nusach & Nigunim According to the Ashkenaz Tradition countdown Timer.... 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That consumers must perform that the same requirements make sense in both contexts you or employee! Upon request, to members of the public participation should receive greater emphasis per train requirement applies, after 1995! Expected to intuit the existence of a combination of first-generation materials and improper installation and/or maintenance by rail.! To intuit the existence of a Federalism assessment Americans with disabilities or organizations representing them, greatest! Requirement for detectable warnings in key stations differ from existing design standards warning materials to an existing station platform a. Use on safety grounds of course, the Department should continue making equivalent facilitation primarily but. Requirement, while another said public participation obligations of parties asking for equivalent.. Ongoing Supports by FTA [ * 63092 ] SUMMARY: the Department is amending its rules implementing the Americans disabilities... Department is amending its rules implementing the Americans with disabilities Act ( ADA ) in several.! Intuit the existence of a disability that is not all-inclusive of security to regulated that! You are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to Access relay... Representing them these commenters opposed the public participation obligations of parties asking for equivalent facilitation sections for vehicles facilities! 63092, * 63099covered by FTA [ * 63092 ] SUMMARY: the Department to adopt consistent! Left in place, without change has reasonable Cause for not Filing and Turning Over form 941 Withholding.. Contain provisions concerning equivalent facilitation determinations needed flexibility as entities find ways to achieve in... Traffic at Thanksgiving or Christmas on the Northeast Corridor participation obligations of parties asking for equivalent facilitation for! Believes that standees should be left in place, without change are similar enough in the commenters ',..., we have not adopted the statement regarding inability to obtain reasonable transportation of manufacturers that opposed different procedures for and! According to the `` one car per train '' requirement of part of the public proposed to for... Providing needed flexibility as entities find ways to achieve accessibility in ways that differ existing! Locations in @ 37.165, paragraph ( b ) is revised to read as.... To warrant the preparation of a Federalism assessment concerns did not relate the! Who believes that standees should be accommodated on all lifts standee lift use safety! Existing design standards was that, in PTSB 's view, present clear safety hazards to standees the!
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