Federal

ACCESS Act

Source: Congress.gov · 1,308 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill amends the Americans with Disabilities Act to create a new process before people can sue businesses over disability access barriers. The bill requires property owners to get written notice of access problems and have time to fix them before facing a lawsuit. It also directs the Department of Justice to educate businesses on how to comply with disability access laws.

Who It Affects

State and local governments, property owners, businesses operating public accommodations (places open to the public), people with disabilities, the Department of Justice, the Judicial Conference of the United States, and the Attorney General.

Key Provisions

• The Disability Rights Section of the Department of Justice must develop an education program to teach state and local governments and property owners strategies for providing access to public accommodations for people with disabilities (Sec. 2(a)) • The Department of Justice shall make technical assistance publications available in languages commonly used by owners and operators of United States businesses, to the extent practical (Sec. 2(b)) • Before filing a lawsuit over an architectural barrier (a physical obstacle preventing access), a person must send the property owner a written notice specific enough to identify the barrier (Sec. 3(B)(i)) • The property owner has 60 days to respond with a written description of improvements they will make, or the person can sue (Sec. 3(B)(ii)(I)) • If the property owner provides a description, they have 60 days to remove the barrier or make substantial progress removing it, or face a lawsuit (Sec. 3(B)(ii)(II)) • The written notice must specify details of how access was denied, including the property address, whether help was requested, and whether the barrier was permanent or temporary (Sec. 3(C)) • The Judicial Conference shall develop a model program promoting mediation (a process where a neutral person helps parties reach agreement) to resolve architectural barrier claims without litigation (Sec. 5) • The Attorney General must complete a study within one year to determine whether WCAG 2.0 standards, accessibility widgets (small interactive tools), or providing a telephone number for information would provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities (Sec. 6)

What Changes

Before this bill, people could file lawsuits immediately when they encountered accessibility barriers at public businesses. Under this bill, they must first send written notice to the property owner and wait 60 days to see if the owner agrees to fix the problem or starts fixing it. The Department of Justice must also create educational programs and materials in multiple languages to help businesses understand how to comply with disability access laws.

Important Definitions

The bill references "persons with a disability" as defined in section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act, but does not redefine this term. The bill defines "architectural barrier" as physical obstacles preventing access to existing public accommodations.

Effective Date

30 days after the date the bill becomes law.

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 241 To amend the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to promote compliance through education, to clarify the requirements for demand letters, to provide for a notice and cure period before the commencement of a private civil action, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 10, 2023 Mr. CALVERT (for himself, Mr. WALTZ, and Mr. GROTHMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to promote compliance through education, to clarify the re- quirements for demand letters, to provide for a notice and cure period before the commencement of a private civil action, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘ADA Compliance for 4 Customer Entry to Stores and Services Act’’ or the ‘‘AC- 5 CESS Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jan 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H241.IH H241 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 241 IH SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE THROUGH EDUCATION. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Based on existing funding, the 2 Disability Rights Section of the Department of Justice 3 shall, in consultation with property owners and represent- 4 atives of the disability rights community, develop a pro- 5 gram to educate State and local governments and property 6 owners on effective and efficient strategies for promoting 7 access to public accommodations for persons with a dis- 8 ability (as defined in section 3 of the Americans with Dis- 9 abilities Act (42 U.S.C. 12102)). Such program may in- 10 clude training for professionals such as Certified Access 11 Specialists to provide a guidance of remediation for poten- 12 tial violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 13 (b) MATERIALS PROVIDED IN OTHER LANGUAGES.— 14 The Disability Rights Section of the Department of Jus- 15 tice shall take appropriate actions, to the extent prac- 16 ticable, to make technical assistance publications relating 17 to compliance with this Act and the amendments made 18 by this Act available in all the languages commonly used 19 by owners and operators of United States businesses. 20 SEC. 3. NOTICE AND CURE PERIOD. 21 Paragraph (1) of section 308(a) of the Americans 22 with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12188(a)(1)) is 23 amended to read as follows: 24 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY OF REMEDIES AND PROCE- 25 DURES.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jan 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H241.IH H241 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 241 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 1 graph (B), the remedies and procedures set 2 forth in section 204(a) of the Civil Rights Act 3 of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a–3(a)) are the rem- 4 edies and procedures this title provides to any 5 person who is being subjected to discrimination 6 on the basis of disability in violation of this title 7 or who has reasonable grounds for believing 8 that such person is about to be subjected to dis- 9 crimination in violation of section 303. Nothing 10 in this section shall require a person with a dis- 11 ability to engage in a futile gesture if such per- 12 son has actual notice that a person or organiza- 13 tion covered by this title does not intend to 14 comply with its provisions. 15 ‘‘(B) BARRIERS TO ACCESS TO EXISTING 16 PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS.—A civil action 17 under section 302 or 303 based on the failure 18 to remove an architectural barrier to access into 19 an existing public accommodation may not be 20 commenced by a person aggrieved by such fail- 21 ure unless— 22 ‘‘(i) that person has provided to the 23 owner or operator of the accommodation a 24 written notice specific enough to allow such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jan 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H241.IH H241 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 241 IH owner or operator to identify the barrier; 1 and 2 ‘‘(ii)(I) during the period beginning on 3 the date the notice is received and ending 4 60 days after that date, the owner or oper- 5 ator fails to provide to that person a writ- 6 ten description outlining improvements 7 that will be made to remove the barrier; or 8 ‘‘(II) if the owner or operator provides 9 the written description under subclause (I), 10 the owner or operator fails to remove the 11 barrier or, in the case of a barrier, the re- 12 moval of which requires additional time as 13 a result of circumstances beyond the con- 14 trol of the owner or operator, fails to make 15 substantial progress in removing the bar- 16 rier during the period beginning on the 17 date the description is provided and ending 18 60 days after that date. 19 ‘‘(C) SPECIFICATION OF DETAILS OF AL- 20 LEGED VIOLATION.—The written notice re- 21 quired under subparagraph (B) must also speci- 22 fy in detail the circumstances under which an 23 individual was actually denied access to a public 24 accommodation, including the address of prop- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jan 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H241.IH H241 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 241 IH erty, whether a request for assistance in remov- 1 ing an architectural barrier to access was made, 2 and whether the barrier to access was a perma- 3 nent or temporary barrier.’’. 4 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 5 This Act and the amendments made by this Act take 6 effect 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 7 SEC. 5. MEDIATION FOR ADA ACTIONS RELATED TO ARCHI- 8 TECTURAL BARRIERS. 9 The Judicial Conference of the United States shall, 10 under rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or 11 any other applicable law, in consultation with property 12 owners and representatives of the disability rights commu- 13 nity, develop a model program to promote the use of alter- 14 native dispute resolution mechanisms, including a stay of 15 discovery during mediation, to resolve claims of architec- 16 tural barriers to access for public accommodations. To the 17 extent practical, the Federal Judicial Center should pro- 18 vide a public comment period on any such proposal. The 19 goal of the model program shall be to promote access 20 quickly and efficiently without the need for costly litiga- 21 tion. The model program should include an expedited 22 method for determining the relevant facts related to such 23 barriers to access and steps taken before the commence- 24 ment of litigation to resolve any issues related to access. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jan 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H241.IH H241 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 241 IH SEC. 6. STUDY REGARDING WCAG 2.0 STANDARDS. 1 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 2 of this Act, the Attorney General shall complete a study 3 to determine whether WCAG 2.0 standards, accessibility 4 widgets, or providing a telephone number through which 5 members of the public can obtain the same information 6 and services as they would on a website would all provide 7 reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabil- 8 ities who are protected by the provisions of the Americans 9 with Disabilities Act of 1990. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jan 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H241.IH H241 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

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