Comment Period to Conclude on August 18, 2008

Several organizations have asked that the Department of Justice provide an extension of time for the public comment period on the Department’s two proposals to amend the Department’s regulations implementing Titles II and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  The public comment period is scheduled to close on August 18, 2008.

After careful consideration of these requests, the Department has decided to maintain the existing comment period as it was originally proposed.  The ADA design standards in the Department’s two proposals are premised on the Access Board’s 2004 ADA Accessibility Guidelines.  The Access Board conducted multiple rounds of public comment in five separate proceedings prior to their completion and adoption.  Following publication of the 2004 Accessibility Guidelines, the Justice Department published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which raised many of the issues that are the subject of the current comment period.  The public comment period for this rulemaking lasted eight months, and the comments received by the Department during that time served as the basis for many of the issues now contained in the Department’s proposals.  The Department believes that this multi-year process has already provided significant opportunity for public comment.

---

| ADA Publications | Enforcement | Search