Justice Department Issues Advanced Text of New Proposed Regulations to Revise ADA Regulations

These proposals are part of the Department’s comprehensive review of its regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act. On September 30, 2004, the Department issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking announcing its intention to adopt design standards that are consistent with the revised ADA Accessibility Guidelines published by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (also known as the Access Board) on July 23, 2004. The ADA requires the Department to publish regulations that include accessibility standards that are consistent with the Access Board’s guidelines. Until the Department’s rulemaking is complete, the revised ADA Guidelines are effective only as guidance to the Department and the public.

The Department cannot accept comments on the Department’s proposals through www.regulations.gov until they are published in the Federal Register. Once they are published, interested parties will have sixty days to comment on them. Although the text that is published in the Federal Register may have slight variances in font, punctuation, and format from the advance text, there will be no substantive changes in the Federal Register text from the advance text. The Department will update its ADA website at www.ada.gov and provide notice of the publication date in the Federal Register. At that time, the Department will remove the advance text from its website and replace it with the published version of the Department’s proposals. The regulations will also then be available at www.regulations.gov

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