Access Board Update
New Accessibility Standards Adopted for Federal Facilities
The General Services Administration (GSA) has adopted new accessibility standards for federally funded facilities. The adopted standards will apply to a wide range of new or altered buildings under the architectural barriers act (ABA), which requires access to facilities designed, built, altered or leased with Federal money.
The standards apply to the design and construction of new facilities, altered areas of existing facilities, and leased facilities. The new standards will apply to construction and alterations that commence after May 8, 2006 and to leases entered into after this date. Compliance with the previous standards, the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (USAS) will be permitted for construction and alterations that began before this date and for projects whose design is substantially complete by this date.
As adopted by the GSA, the new standards apply to all federally funded facilities, except the following, which are covered by standards maintained by other Federal agencies.
- U.S. Postal Service - U.S. Postal Standards
- Residential facilities - Housing & Urban Development
- Military facilities - Department of Defense
- Transit facilities - US Department of Transportation
Last May, the US Postal Service similarly updated its standards which govern post offices and other postal facilities. The departments of Housing and Urban Development and Defense will follow suit and complete the implementation of new standards under the ABA.
New standards based on the Board's guidelines also must be adopted under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which complements the ABA by ensuring access to facilities in the private and state and local government sectors. ADA standards are maintained by the Department of Justice. The Board updated its ABA and ADA guidelines jointly in order to establish a uniform level of accessibility under both laws.
Board Places Draft Right-of-Way Guidelines in Docket
In November, the Board released a draft of guidelines for accessible public rights-of-way to facilitate its work preparing an impact analysis. This analysis must be completed before the Board can officially release the guidelines for public comment. The guidelines cover pedestrian access to sidewalks and streets, including crosswalks, curbing ramps, street furnishings, pedestrian signals, parking, and other components of public rights-of-way.
The Board's aim in this rulemaking is to ensure that access for persons with disabilities is provided wherever a pedestrian way is newly built or altered, and that the same degree of convenience, connection, and safety afforded the public generally is available to pedestrians with disabilities.
Source: U.S. Access Board, Access Currents, Volume 11 No. 6 November/December 2005
