AH&LA supports efforts to restore common sense to the goals of the landmark 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.

SUMMARY OF ADA

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law by President George Bush in July, 1990. This landmark legislation prohibits discrimination on the basis of a disability. Title III of the ADA requires that commercial facilities that are open to the public (including lodging properties) allow individuals with disabilities to participate equally in the goods and services they offer. Title III mandates modifications in policies, practices and procedures; the provision of auxiliary aids and services; the provision of accessible transportation services when transportation services are offered; and the removal of architectural and communication barriers. Other titles of the ADA deal with employment, public services and telecommunications.

AH&LA’s members have spent billions of dollars in the last 16 years making their facilities accessible to individuals with disabilities in compliance with the ADA.  They have done so not only because it is the law but because their mission is to make every guest feel comfortable and welcome. 

CURRENT STATUS OF REGULATIONS

Currently, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is proposing numerous changes to the Accessibility Guidelines of the ADA. These are the regulations outlining the specific requirements of ADA compliance on the lodging industry. AH&LA is concerned that many of these onerous changes are unfair and will cost the lodging industry millions to comply with very little expectation that these rooms would ever be used by a disabled traveler. AH&LA has met with White House officials from the Office of Management and Budget and has met several times in the past with DOJ officials and submitted comments and documents outlining our industry concerns.

These ADA compliance efforts have at times been challenging for industry members, particularly in lodging facilities that were constructed for first occupancy before the last revision of the ADA regulations in January 1993.  The new ADA proposal will affect the industry for decades to come, so its significance cannot be understated.

Proposed Changes to ADA Guidelines Released
DOJ released in early summer 2008 their proposed changes to the Accessibility Guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  The proposed regulations were published in the Federal Register on June 17, 2008.  These changes, if enacted, will have significant impacts to the lodging industry and have the effect of forcing all existing properties to pay for retrofits regardless of whether they were compliant with existing ADA Guidelines.

These new regulations will substantially revise the current accessibility requirements that apply to places of lodging and impose a host of new requirements for guest reservations practices and for areas such as swimming pools, saunas/steam rooms, exercise rooms, windows, play areas, and valet parking. 

For example, requiring currently ADA-compliant guest bathrooms and single-user restrooms in hotels to comply with the proposed new floor space and vanity requirements will impose an enormous cost on AH&LA member properties.  DOJ estimates a cost of only $71.2 million for the entire lodging industry to comply with new toilet floor space and vanity requirements.  However, DOJ greatly underestimates the number of affected properties, with the true cost to lodging on this requirement alone likely falling in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Other changes proposed by the Justice Department to the existing ADA law will have implications for new properties.  DOJ’s proposal fails to take into account industry construction lead times, asking for a six-month transition period when new construction projects operate on a multi-year schedule.  The new government position on ADA-accessible rooms and their dispersal amongst existing rooms “is unjust,” wrote AH&LA in its August reply,  with the industry asking for the current ADA rule to be maintained instead.  The association is also concerned about the amount of litigation the new room dispersal rules may create, arguing that the rules have been expanded to consider so many factors as to make them unworkable within an existing property.

The rule reaches into other industry areas.  DOJ’s new demand to make reservations via ADA-compliant procedures will add additional costs and complexity to reservation systems.  It also will not necessarily ensure disabled guests will be more likely to get accessible rooms.  The association is asking that lodging owners and operators not be held accountable for ADA compliance of third-party reservation services over which they have no control.

AH&LA was greatly concerned with a number of provisions in the proposed changes and filed formal comments to DOJ on August 18, 2008.  To read AH&LA's August 18 comments, click here.

As part of the regulatory process, DOJ held a public hearing on July 15, 2008.  AH&LA President and CEO Joe McInerney delivered the industry’s comments and concerns at the Washington, D.C. public hearing.  AH&LA also held a series of conference calls with industry members to update them on AH&LA's work and to gather information for its August comment submittal.

CALL TO ACTION 

AH&LA and other industry members submitted extensive comments to DOJ on its June 17 proposal by the August 18, 2008 deadline.  The next step will be for DOJ to review all comments and write the Final Rule, which could have been released within 90 days after comments period closed.  However, the final rule was not released before January 20, 2009 and the end of the Bush Administration.

As for the regulation’s status in late January 2009, in one of the first acts of the Obama presidency, the new Administration directed federal agencies not to send any new or pending rules for official publication until they are reviewed and approved by Obama Administration departmental heads.  The White House memorandum also orders agency officials to withdrawal from official publication any proposed or final regulations that have not yet been published in the Federal Register.  This includes the DOJ proposed ADA regulations, which were never officially published before the Bush Admnistration ended on Jan. 20.  This action has halted any implementation of the proposed 2008 ADA regulation for now, pending the new Attorney General’s review of the Bush-era proposal.

An immense thank you goes to AH&LA's counsel Minh Vu who spent many hours over several years shepherding the association through this process. With Minh's assistance, we were able to secure numerous helpful meetings with DOJ, the Department of Labor, the White House, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Small Business Administration. With Minh's guidance and patience, AH&LA staff was able to break down the many issues of concern in the DOJ NPRM, quickly establish working groups, and develop a strong industry response to this far-reaching regulation.

AH&LA leadership also extends an enormous thank you to all who volunteered many hours of their time to participate in conference calls and meetings and provide additional necessary research on various issues.  AH&LA's comments are significantly stronger because of your efforts.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS 

To read AH&LA's August 19, 2008 press release, click here.
To read AH&LA’s August 18, 2008 comments on the DOJ June 17, 2008, “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,” click here.
To read AH&LA Exhibits 1 through 7, click here.
To read AH&LA Exhibits 8 and 9, click here.
To read AH&LA Exhibit 10, click here.
To read AH&LA Exhibit 11 first part, click here.
To read AH&LA Exhibit 11 second part, click here.
To read AH&LA Exhibits 12 and 13, click here.  

(Updated January 2009)

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