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| Accessibility | 1040.71 – 1040.74 | |||||||||||||
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20 U.S.C. 1681-1686; 29 U.S.C. 794; 42 U.S.C. 2000d to 2000d-7, 3601-3631, 5891, 6101-6107, 7101 et seq.
45 FR 40515, June 13, 1980, unless otherwise noted.
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No handicapped person shall, because a recipient's facilities are inaccessible to or unuseable by handicapped persons, be denied the benefits of, be excluded from participation in, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity that receives or benefits from Federal financial assistance from DOE.
(a) Accessibility. A recipient shall operate any program or activity to which this subpart applies so that when each part is viewed in its entirety it is readily accessible and usable by handicapped persons. This paragraph does not require a recipient to make each of its existing facilities or every part of a facility accessible to and useable by handicapped persons.
(b) Methods. A recipient may comply with the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section through such means as redesign of equipment, reassignment of classes or other services to accessible buildings, assignment of aids to beneficiaries, home visits, delivery of health, welfare, or other social services at alternate accessible sites, alteration of existing facilities and construction of new facilities in conformance with the requirements of § 1040.73 or any other methods that result in making its program or activity accessible to handicapped persons. A recipient is not required to make structural changes in existing facilities where other methods are effective in achieving compliance with paragraph (a) of this section. In choosing among available methods for meeting the requirement of paragraph (a) of this section, a recipient shall give priority to those methods that serve handicapped persons in the most integrated setting appropriate.
(c) Time period. A recipient shall comply with the requirement of paragraph (a) of this section within 60 days of the effective date of this subpart except that where structural changes in facilities are necessary, the changes are to be made as expeditiously as possible, but in no event later than three years after the effective date of this subpart.
(d) Transition plan. In the event that structural changes to facilities are necessary to meet the requirement of paragraph (a) of this section, a recipient shall develop, within 6 months of the effective date of this subpart, a transition plan setting forth the steps necessary to complete the changes. The plan is to be developed with the assistance of interested persons, including handicapped persons or organizations representing handicapped persons, and the plan is to meet with the approval of the Director, Federally Assisted Programs Division, Office of Equal Opportunity, DOE. A copy of the transition plan is to be made available for public inspection. At a minimum, the plan is to:
(1) Identify physical obstacles in the recipient's facilities that limit the accessibility to and usability by handicapped persons of its program or activity.
(2) Describe in detail the methods that will be used to make the facilities accessible;
(3) Specify the schedule for taking the steps necessary to achieve full accessibility under § 1040.72(a) and, if the time period or the transition plan is longer than one year, identify steps that will be taken during each year of the transition period; and
(4) Indicate the person responsible for implementation of the plan.
(e) Notice. The recipient shall adopt and implement procedures to ensure that interested persons, including persons with impaired vision or hearing, can obtain information concerning the existence and location of services, activities, and facilities that are accessible to, and useable by, handicapped persons.
[45 FR 40515, June 13, 1980, as amended at 68 FR 51347, Aug. 26, 2003]
(a) Design and construction. Each facility or part of a facility constructed by, on behalf of, or for the use of a recipient is to be designed and constructed in a manner that the facility or part of the facility is readily accessible to, and useable by, handicapped persons, if the construction was commenced after the effective date of this subpart.
(b) Alteration. Each facility or part of a facility which is altered by, on behalf of, or for the use of a recipient after the effective date of this subpart in a manner that affects or could affect the usability of the facility or part of the facility is, to the maximum extent feasible, to be altered in a manner that the altered portion of the facility is readily accessible to and useable by handicapped persons.
(c) Conformance with Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards.
(1) Effective as of January 18, 1991, design, construction, or alteration of buildings in conformance with sections 3-8 of the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (USAF) (appendix A to 41 CFR subpart 101-19.6) shall be deemed to comply with the requirements of this section with respect to those buildings. Departures from particular technical and scoping requirements of UFAS by the use of other methods are permitted where substantially equivalent or greater access to and usability of the building is provided.
(2) For purposes of this section, section 4.1.6(1)(g) of UFAS shall be interpreted to exempt from the requirements of UFAS only mechanical rooms and other spaces that, because of their intended use, will not require accessibility to the public or beneficiaries or result in the employment or residence therein of persons with physical handicaps.
(3) This section does not require recipients to make building alterations that have little likelihood of being accomplished without removing or altering a load-bearing structural member.
[45 FR 40515, June 13, 1980, as amended at 55 FR 52138, 52140, Dec. 19, 1990]
(a) Methods to accomplish accessibility. Recipients shall operate each program or activity involving historic properties so that when each part is viewed in its entirety it is readily accessible to and usable by handicapped persons. The recipient shall exhaust subsection (b)(1) (methods to accomplish accessibility without building alterations or structural changes) before proceeding to subsection (b)(2) (methods to accomplish program accessibility resulting in building alterations). The recipient shall exhaust subsection (b)(2) (methods to accomplish accessibility resulting in building alterations) before proceeding to subsection (b)(3) (methods to accomplish accessibility resulting in structural changes).
(1) Methods to accomplish accessibility without building alterations or structural changes. The recipient shall investigate compliance methods which do not alter the historic character or architectural integrity of the property and shall utilize such methods unless such methods are ineffective in achieving accessibility. Such methods may include, but are not limited to:
(i) Reassigning aid, benefits, or services to accessible locations within the facility.
(ii) Assigning persons to aid handicapped persons into or through an otherwise inaccessible facility.
(iii) Delivering aid, benefits, or services at alternative accessible sites operated by or available for such use by the recipient.
(iv) Adopting other innovative methods which make aid, benefits, or services accessible to the handicapped.
(2) Methods to accomplish accessibility resulting in building alterations. The recipient shall determine that accessibility cannot feasibly be accomplished by Methods to Accomplish Accessibility without Building Alterations or Structural Changes, subsection (b)(1) prior to utilizing building alteration as a method of accomplishing program accessibility. Alterations must comply with the accessibility standards adopted in these regulations. Building alterations shall be undertaken so as not to alter or destroy historically, architecturally, or culturally significant elements or features.
(3) Methods to accomplish accessibility resulting in structural changes. The recipient shall determine that accessibility cannot feasibly be accomplished by Methods to Accomplish Accessibility without Building Alterations or Structural Changes, subsection (b)(2) before considering structural changes as a method of accomplishing program accessibility. Structural changes must comply with the accessibility standards adopted in these regulations. Structural changes shall be undertaken so as not to alter or destroy historically, architecturally or culturally significant elements or features.
(b) Modification or waiver of accessibility standards. The applicability of the accessibility standards set forth in these regulations may be modified or waived on a case-by-case basis, upon application to the Director, FAPD, where the recipient can demonstrate that, because of the nature of the activity, the provision of access would be infeasible or would substantially impair the historic, architectural or cultural integrity of the historic property.
(National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, Pub. L. 89-665, 80 Stat 915, 16 U.S.C. 470; 11593, 3 CFR 1971 Comp., p. 154; 36 CFR part 800)
[45 FR 40515, June 13, 1980, as amended at 68 FR 51347, Aug. 26, 2003]