Maine's Milestones in Accessibility History
Author: Denis Pratt, AIA, Alpha One
Background and History
Accessibility in building construction has been an issue of public concern since the mid 1960’s. The Civil Rights Act passed in 1964, together with an increasing awareness of the problems many Americans were encountering with barriers to accessibility, lead Congress to take a careful and extensive look at the problem in 1965 while considering the Vocational Rehabilitation Act Amendment.
The Disability Civil Rights Movement, active since the sixties and seventies, was instrumental in the passage of accessibility legislation, such as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and other major legislation following in the 70’s, 80’s and as recent as 1990, with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Although access laws have been enacted, enforcement has been scattered and undocumented. The ADA emphasizes civil rights, self-enforcement, and empowerment of people with disabilities. Ignorance and unawareness or “attitudinal barriers” that have been the major obstacles to compliance with access regulations are being replaced with a growing sensitivity to issues surrounding the disability community and accessibility.
The Architectural Barriers Act Becomes Law
On August 12, 1968, Congress began implementing the National Commission on Architectural Barriers to Rehabilitation of the Handicaps Recommendations by enacting the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA). In passing this law, Congress expected two major outcomes:
- That Federal buildings and facilities would become fully accessible to people with disabilities.
- That the Federal governments activity in eliminating barriers with the showcase setting an example for state and local governments and private industry.
Maine’s First Accessibility Legislation
Maine has long been regarded as a pioneer in providing accessibility to persons with disabilities. Taking the Federal government’s lead, in 1969 the state of Maine adopted Title 25 MRSA, Chapter 331 that covers buildings the public customarily uses and are constructed in whole or in part with state funds or its political subdivisions. With passage of Title 25, MRSA Chapter 331 for publicly funded buildings, Maine was one of the first states in the country to adopt legislation to require access to publicly funded buildings.
The Maine Human Rights Act
In 1974, in what would later be called Pioneer Legislation in field of accessibility, the state of Maine passed the Maine Human Rights Act. The Act protects individuals from discrimination in employment, housing, access to public accommodations, credit extension and educational opportunity. The Maine Human Rights Act policy reads as follows:
“To protect the public health, safety and welfare, it is declared to be the policy of this state to keep continually in review all practices infringing on the basic human right to a life with dignity and the causes of these practices so that corrective measures may where possible be promptly recommended and implemented, and to prevent discrimination in employment, housing or access to public accommodations on account of race, color, sex, physical or mental handicap, religion, ancestry or national origin; and in employment, discrimination on account of age, and in housing because of familial status; and to prevent discrimination in the extension of credit on account of age, race, color, sex, marital status, religion, ancestry or national origin; and to prevent discrimination in education on account of sex or physical or mental handicap.”
Relative to housing, public accommodations and employment, the Maine Human Rights Act established requirements and standards that needed to be met in order to comply with the Maine Human Rights Act Non-discrimination Provisions. These standards applied to new and renovated construction, and established basic physical requirements for both of these categories and have been amended over the years.
In 1977, the original law was amended to also include places of employment where five or more persons would be employed, or public housing that was also constructed in whole or in part with either state or Federal funds.
It should be noted that the Maine Human Rights Act accessibility requirements were regarded as a boilerplate for the standards and requirements that were incorporated into the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The original regulations, Chapter 331, have since been superseded by the Maine Human Rights Act Title 5, Subchapter 5, Public Accommodations, Paragraph 4594D, after 1991. The new regulations included state, municipal and county buildings within its provisions and required mandatory plan, review, certification and inspection.
Maine Adopts ADAAG as MHRA Construction Standard
In June 1995, after a year-long effort by an appointed commission named “People with Disabilities Access Commission”, the state of Maine implemented the recommendations of this commission and amended the Maine Human Rights Act to incorporate the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines into Maine law. The new language incorporated into the Maine Human Rights Act renders the Maine law comparable to the Americans with Disabilities Act regulations, and includes provisions for non-discrimination in the workplace, barrier removal, reasonable accommodations and design and construction requirements for places of public accommodation, places of employment, and commercial facilities. The new design guidelines reference the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines and replace the old American National Standards Institute 1986 Guidelines that had been in effect since 1988. Also incorporated within the new regulations are permitting and mandatory plan review requirements and the re-authorization of those responsibilities to the Maine State Fire Marshall’s office.
The Maine Human Rights Act Certified Equivalent to ADA Title III
In December of 1996, the Department of Justice in Washington ruled that the Maine Human Rights Act, Title 5, Sub-Chapter V is equivalent to the Title III provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This “certification” of the MHRA assures compliance with ADA Title III provisions if MHRA provisions are met but does not guarantee immunity from federal lawsuits. Compliance with the MHRA will probably lessen the likelihood of a lawsuit and if sued an entity has the advantage of rebuttable evidence of compliance. Under ADA provisions, the Dept. of Justice has the authority to certify that State laws, local building codes, or similar ordinances meet or exceed the Title III accessibility requirements.
Certification is advantageous to Maine citizens involved in development for the following reasons:
- When an entity is designing, constructing, or altering a building in accordance with the Maine Human Rights Act, the designer or contractor needs only to consult the MHRA in order to determine the applicable accessibility requirements.
- The covered entity has some degree of assurance in advance of construction or alteration that the ADA requirements will be met.
- If a covered entity is subject to a lawsuit, compliance with the MHRA will be rebuttable evidence of compliance with the ADA.
- The ME State Fire Marshal’s Office which enforces the MHRA is for practical, but not legal, purposes facilitating compliance with the ADA and could help to eliminate confusion concerning possible inconsistencies in standards.
- The amount of unnecessary litigation can be reduced, particularly because the administrative method of handling complaints concerning violations already exists within the Maine Human Rights Act.
Currently, only five states [Texas, Maine, Florida, Maryland and North Carolina] have ADA certified accessibility requirements in place.
MHRC Chapter 7 is Adopted
In July of 1997, the Maine Human Rights Commission adopted rules and regulations aimed at clarifying and enforcing the new MHRA accessibility statutes for Places of Public Accommodations and Employment enacted in January of 1996. The rules adopted by the MHRC are intended to make facilities covered under this section accessible to, functional for and safe for use by persons with physical or mental disabilities in accordance with the new regulations. The rules also contain procedures and requirements for alterations with will threaten or destroy the historic significance of qualified historic buildings and facilities.
