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DOJRulemakingDOJ-CRT-2008-0016

Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in State and Local Government Services

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Center for Biological Diversity filed 1 comment on this docket between Aug 19, 2008 and Aug 19, 2008. 60 other organizations filed here. The comment window closed 6553d ago.

What Center for Biological Diversity filed (1)

Aug 19, 2008· Comment submitted by Cyndi Tuell, Center for Biological Diversity· DOJ-CRT-2008-0016-1338

August 18, 2008 ADA NPRM P.O. Box 2846 Fairfax, VA 22031-0846 Re: Department of Justice 28 CFR Part 35 [CRT Docket No. 105; AG Order No. 2967– 2008] RIN 1190–AA46 Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in State and Local Government Services in Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 117 / Tuesday, June 17, 2008 / Proposed Rules To Whom It May Concern: The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) appreciates the opportunity to respond to the proposed rule to adopt enforceable accessibility standards under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. CBD is a non-profit, public interest conservation organization with over 40,000 members, dedicated to the conservation of imperiled species and their threatened habitats through science, policy, and environmental law. Our knowledge and involvement in preserving and protecting the future of America's public lands including its unparalleled but fragile ecosystems prompts us to submit the following comments. First and foremost, CBD strongly supports the use of wheelchairs in wilderness areas in order to provide mobility impaired visitors to enjoy these remarkable public lands. Our comments will concentrate on the proposed definitions for "wheelchair" and "other power-driven mobility device." As proposed, those definitions could cause confusion with legal mandates under the Wilderness Act and create an exemption for vehicles known to cause damaging impacts to natural resources on public lands where those impacts are illegal or contravene land management laws, regulations, policies, and decisions. I. Access to Wilderness for visitors with mobility impairments We believe the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Wilderness Act have clear standards for ensuring access to National Wilderness Preservation System lands for individuals with mobility impairments. These standards ensure visitors with mobility impairments can enjoy the solitude, primitive recreation, scenic and historic features and natural wonders of Wilderness areas. To this end, Congress has spoken definitively on the use of wheelchairs and prohibition of motorized vehicles and other forms of mechanized transport in Wilderness Areas-- we believe the proposed rule must acknowledge both laws. The Wilderness Act of 1964 (U.S. C. 1131) defines Wilderness Areas as: Section 2(c) "A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. An area of wilderness is further defined to mean in this chapter an area of underdeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions and which (1) generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation; (3) has at least five thousand acres of land or is of sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition; and (4) may also contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value." Furthermore, in regards to the use of motor vehicles and motorized equipment, the Wilderness Act of 1964 (U.S. C. 1133) states: Section 4(c) "Except as specifically provided for in this Act,…there shall be no temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanical transport and no structure or installation within such area." Congress determined in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that wilderness areas are accessible to people with mobility impairments. The ADA states: Sec. 12207.…

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Abstract

The Department of Justice (Department) is issuing this notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in order to: Adopt enforceable accessibility standards under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) that are ‘‘consistent with the minimum guidelines and requirements issued by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board’’ (Access Board); and perform periodic reviews of any rule judged to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, and a regulatory assessment of the costs and benefits of any significant regulatory action as required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act, as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA).

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