Board Issues New Accessibility Guidelines for Recreation Facilities Sept. 3, 2002
On September 3, 2002, the Access Board published new guidelines that address access for persons with disabilities to a variety of recreation facilities. The guidelines specify the minimum level of accessibility required in the construction or alteration of amusement rides, boating facilities, fishing piers and platforms, golf courses, miniature golf courses, sports facilities, swimming and wading pools, and spas. The Board issued these guidelines under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which ensures access to a wide range of facilities in the private and public sectors. The Board is also making these guidelines applicable to facilities covered by the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA), which requires certain federally funded facilities to be accessible.
The
new guidelines supplement the Board’s ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) by
adding a new chapter specific to recreation facilities. ADAAG, as originally
published, covered many types of buildings and facilities but did not
specifically address recreation facilities in particular detail. The Board had
determined that specific guidance was needed on how to achieve access at
recreation facilities. The published guidelines provide new requirements for
such facilities and also clarify how existing requirements in ADAAG are to be
applied. New provisions take into consideration certain design features unique
to the facilities covered.
The Board developed these guidelines based on recommendations prepared by an advisory committee established by the Board. The Recreation Access Advisory Committee, which represented recreation associations and trade groups, disability organizations, designers, and others, submitted its recommendations to the Board in the form of a report, which the Board made widely available as a source of guidance pending the development of these guidelines. In July 1999, the Board published the guidelines in proposed form and made them available for public comment for six months. During the comment period, the Board held public hearings on the proposed guidelines in Dallas and Boston. The Board received approximately 300 comments on the proposed guidelines. Comments were submitted by operators of amusement parks, recreation and sporting associations, disability groups, designers, and others. In an effort to provide the public with an additional opportunity for input on the rule before it was finalized, the Board published a summary of changes it intended to make to the guidelines based on its review of comments. The Board held public meetings in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco on the planned revisions. The Board finalized the guidelines based on the additional input it received from commenters.
As issued by the Board, the final guidelines are not mandatory on the public. Instead, they set the minimum baseline for enforceable standards maintained by the Department of Justice (DOJ) under the ADA and other agencies under the ABA. In the interim, the public may use the new guidelines as a resource in addressing access to the types of facilities covered until they are made part of the standards used to enforce the ADA and ABA.