On Monday, July 26, 2010, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published new Americans with Disabilities Act regulations which will directly affect convenience retailers.
Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in public accommodations and requires places of public accommodation and commercial facilities (i.e., any facility whose operations affect commerce) to be designed and constructed in compliance with the accessibility standards established. Alterations or renovations to such facilities also must comply with the Standards. Title III applies to all companies, regardless of size. Accessibility standards are established by the DOJ, but the ADA mandates that these Standards be consistent with minimum accessibility guidelines issues by the U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (“Access Board”). On July 23, 2004, the Access Board issued extensive revisions to the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (“ADAAG”). These revised guidelines were then forwarded to DOJ for the next step in the rulemaking process.
On September 30, 2004, the DOJ issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) & the DOJ Proposal to Revise ADA Regulations under Title III implementing the revised guidelines for describing accessibility of public facilities (Revised ADAAG). DOJ was seeking initial comments on several issues raised by the revisions, including their applicability to existing facilities and the costs of compliance with the revised guidelines. On June 4, 2008, the DOJ proposed its final regulations implementing the revised guidelines for describing accessibility of public facilities (Revised ADAAG). NACS submitted comments at both opportunities expressing concern for the effect the new standards would have on convenience stores.
On July 26, 2010, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published on its ADA home page a revised rule, stating that the Rule would be effective 6 months after publication in the Federal Register and that the 2004 ADAAG adopted by the revised Rule would take effect 18 months after publication. On September 15th, 2010, the Rule was published in the Federal Register.
The new 2010 ADA Regulations have approximately 1,000 new “rules.” Of those 1,000 new rules, approximately 450 of them will directly affect convenience stores. Recently, the Department of Justice has increased enforcement of current ADA regulations forcing convenience stores across the country to pay large sums of money on litigation and sign consent decrees.
NACS has advocated for reasonable standards in the application of the ADA, to ensure that they do not impose unnecessary financial burdens on retailers.
NACS is working with an architectural firm to seek clarification of certain regulations.