Access and Dignity for All People Who Travel Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4049 To provide seating accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 12, 2023 Mr. STANTON (for himself and Mr. MOLINARO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To provide seating accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities, 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 ‘‘Access and Dignity 4 for All People Who Travel Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 7 (1) AIR CARRIER.—The term ‘‘air carrier’’ has 8 the meaning given that term in section 40102 of 9 title 49, United States Code. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4049.IH H4049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 4049 IH (2) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 1 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 2 gress’’ means the Committee on Commerce, Science, 3 and Transportation of the Senate and the Com- 4 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 5 House of Representatives. 6 (3) FOREIGN AIR CARRIER.—The term ‘‘foreign 7 air carrier’’ has the meaning given that term in sec- 8 tion 40102 of title 49, United States Code. 9 (4) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL WITH A DIS- 10 ABILITY.—The term ‘‘qualified individual with a dis- 11 ability’’ has the meaning given that term in section 12 382.3 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations. 13 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 14 the Secretary of Transportation. 15 (6) SERVICE ANIMAL.—The term ‘‘service ani- 16 mal’’ has the meaning given that term in section 17 382.3 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations. 18 SEC. 3. SEATING ACCOMMODATIONS FOR QUALIFIED INDI- 19 VIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.— 21 (1) ADVANCED NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE- 22 MAKING.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 23 enactment of this section, the Secretary shall issue 24 an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking regard- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4049.IH H4049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 4049 IH ing seating accommodations for any qualified indi- 1 vidual with a disability. 2 (2) NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING.—Not 3 later than 1 year after the date on which the ad- 4 vanced notice of proposed rulemaking under para- 5 graph (1) is completed, the Secretary shall issue a 6 notice of proposed rulemaking regarding seating ac- 7 commodations for any qualified individual with a 8 disability. 9 (3) FINAL RULE.—Not later than 1 year after 10 the date on which the notice of proposed rulemaking 11 under paragraph (2) is completed, the Secretary 12 shall issue a final rule regarding seating accom- 13 modations for any qualified individual with a dis- 14 ability. 15 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out any rule- 16 making under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consider 17 the following: 18 (1) The scope and anticipated number of quali- 19 fied individuals with a disability who— 20 (A) may need to be seated with a com- 21 panion to receive assistance during a flight; or 22 (B) should be afforded bulkhead seats or 23 other seating considerations. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4049.IH H4049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 4049 IH (2) The types of disabilities that may need seat- 1 ing accommodations. 2 (3) Whether such qualified individuals with a 3 disability are unable to obtain, or have difficulty ob- 4 taining, such a seat. 5 (4) The scope and anticipated number of indi- 6 viduals assisting a qualified individual with a dis- 7 ability who should be afforded an adjoining seat pur- 8 suant to section 382.81 of title 14, Code of Federal 9 Regulations. 10 (5) Any notification given to qualified individ- 11 uals with a disability regarding available seating ac- 12 commodations. 13 (6) Any method that is adequate to identify 14 fraudulent claims for seating accommodations. 15 (7) Any other information determined appro- 16 priate by the Secretary. 17 SEC. 4. KNOWN SERVICE ANIMAL USER TRAVEL PILOT PRO- 18 GRAM. 19 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.— 20 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es- 22 tablish a pilot program to allow approved pro- 23 gram participants as known service animal 24 users for the purpose of exemption from the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4049.IH H4049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 4049 IH documentation requirements under part 382 of 1 title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, with re- 2 spect to air travel with a service animal. 3 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—The pilot program 4 established under subparagraph (A) shall— 5 (i) be optional; 6 (ii) provide to applicants assistance, 7 including over-the-phone assistance, 8 throughout the application process for the 9 program; 10 (iii) with respect to any web-based 11 components of the pilot program, meet or 12 exceed the standards described in section 13 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 14 U.S.C. 794d) and the regulations imple- 15 menting that Act as set forth in part 1194 16 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations; 17 and 18 (iv) exempt participants of the pilot 19 program from any documentation require- 20 ments under part 382 of title 14, Code of 21 Federal Regulations. 22 (2) CONSULTATION.—In establishing the pilot 23 program under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 24 consult with— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4049.IH H4049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 4049 IH (A) disability advocacy entities, including 1 nonprofit organizations focused on ensuring 2 that individuals with disabilities are able to live 3 and participate in their communities; 4 (B) air carriers and foreign air carriers; 5 (C) accredited service animal training pro- 6 grams and authorized registrars, such as the 7 International Guide Dog Federation, Assistance 8 Dogs International, and other similar organiza- 9 tions and foreign and domestic governmental 10 registrars of service animals; 11 (D) other relevant departments or agencies 12 of the Federal Government; and 13 (E) other entities determined to be appro- 14 priate by the Secretary. 15 (3) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to participate 16 in the pilot program under this subsection, an indi- 17 vidual shall— 18 (A) be a qualified individual with a dis- 19 ability; 20 (B) require the use of a service animal be- 21 cause of a disability; and 22 (C) submit an application to the Secretary 23 at such time, in such manner, and containing 24 such information as the Secretary may require. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4049.IH H4049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 4049 IH (4) CLARIFICATION.—The Secretary may award 1 a grant or enter into a contract or cooperative agree- 2 ment in order to carry out this subsection. 3 (5) NOMINAL FEE.—The Secretary may require 4 an applicant to pay a nominal fee (not to exceed 5 $25) to participate in the pilot program. 6 (6) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 7 (A) PLANNING REPORT.—Not later than 1 8 year after the date of enactment of this section, 9 the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate 10 committees of Congress a publicly available re- 11 port describing the implementation plan for the 12 pilot program under this subsection. 13 (B) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 14 year after the establishment of the pilot pro- 15 gram under this subsection, and annually there- 16 after until the date described in paragraph (7), 17 the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate 18 committees of Congress a publicly available re- 19 port on the progress of the pilot program. 20 (C) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 5 21 years after the date of enactment of this sec- 22 tion, the Secretary shall submit to the appro- 23 priate committees of Congress a publicly avail- 24 able final report that includes recommendations 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4049.IH H4049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 4049 IH for the establishment and implementation of a 1 permanent known service animal user travel 2 program for the Federal Government. 3 (7) SUNSET.—The pilot program shall termi- 4 nate on the date that is 5 years after the date of en- 5 actment of this section. 6 (b) ACCREDITED SERVICE ANIMAL TRAINING PRO- 7 GRAMS AND AUTHORIZED REGISTRARS.—Not later than 8 6 months after the date of enactment of this section, the 9 Secretary shall publish on the website of the Department 10 of Transportation and maintain a list of— 11 (1) accredited programs that train service ani- 12 mals; and 13 (2) authorized registrars that evaluate service 14 animals. 15 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON SERVICE ANIMAL RE- 16 QUESTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enact- 17 ment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Sec- 18 retary shall submit to the appropriate committees of Con- 19 gress a report on requests for air travel with service ani- 20 mals, including— 21 (1) during the reporting period, how many re- 22 quests to board an aircraft with a service animal 23 were made; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4049.IH H4049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 4049 IH (2) the number and percentage of such re- 1 quests, categorized by type of request, that were re- 2 ported by air carriers or foreign air carriers as— 3 (A) granted; 4 (B) denied; or 5 (C) fraudulent. 6 (d) TRAINING.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 8 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec- 9 retary shall, in consultation with the Air Carrier Ac- 10 cess Act Advisory Committee, issue guidance regard- 11 ing improvements to training for airline personnel 12 (including contractors) in recognizing when a quali- 13 fied individual with a disability is traveling with a 14 service animal. 15 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The guidance issued 16 under paragraph (1) shall— 17 (A) take into account respectful engage- 18 ment with and assistance for individuals with a 19 wide range of visible and non-visible disabilities; 20 (B) provide information on— 21 (i) service animal behavior and wheth- 22 er the service animal is appropriately har- 23 nessed, leashed, or otherwise tethered; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4049.IH H4049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 4049 IH (ii) the various types of service ani- 1 mals, such as guide dogs, hearing or signal 2 dogs, psychiatric service dogs, sensory or 3 social signal dogs, and seizure response 4 dogs; and 5 (C) outline the rights and responsibilities 6 of the handler of the service animal. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4049.IH H4049 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB