I.  Who is Covered by Title II of the ADA 

    The title II regulation covers "public entities." 

    "Public entities" include any State or local government and
any of its departments, agencies, or other instrumentalities.

    All activities, services, and programs of public entities are
covered, including activities of State legislatures and courts,
town meetings, police and fire departments, motor vehicle
licensing, and employment.

    Unlike section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which
only covers programs receiving Federal financial assistance, title
II extends to all the activities of State and local governments
whether or not they receive Federal funds. 

    Private entities that operate public accommodations, such as
hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, dry cleaners,
doctors' offices, amusement parks, and bowling alleys, are not
covered by title II but are covered by title III of the ADA and the
Department's regulation implementing title III.

    Public transportation services operated by State and local
governments are covered by regulations of the Department of
Transportation.

    DOT's regulations establish specific requirements for
transportation vehicles and facilities, including a requirement
that all new busses must be equipped to provide services to people
who use wheelchairs.

II.  Overview of Requirements 

    State and local governments -- 

    May not refuse to allow a person with a disability to
participate in a service, program, or activity simply because the
person has a disability.

    For example, a city may not refuse to allow a person with
epilepsy to use parks and recreational facilities.

    Must provide programs and services in an integrated setting,
unless separate or different measures are necessary to ensure equal
opportunity.

    Must eliminate unnecessary eligibility standards or rules that
deny individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to enjoy
their services, programs or activities unless "necessary" for the
provisions of the service, program or activity.

    Requirements that tend to screen out individuals with
disabilities, such as requiring a driver's license as the only
acceptable means of identification, are also prohibited.

    Safety requirements that are necessary for the safe operation
of the program in question, such as requirements for eligibility
for drivers' licenses, may be imposed if they are based on actual
risks and not on mere speculation, stereotypes, or generalizations
about individuals with disabilities.  

    Are required to make reasonable modifications in policies,
practices, and procedures that deny equal access to individuals
with disabilities, unless a fundamental alteration in the program
would result.

    For example, a city office building would be required to make
an exception to a rule prohibiting animals in public areas in order
to admit guide dogs and other service animals assisting individuals
with disabilities.  

    Must furnish auxiliary aids and services when necessary to
ensure effective communication, unless an undue burden or
fundamental alteration would result.    

    May provide special benefits, beyond those required by the
regulation, to individuals with disabilities.

    May not place special charges on individuals with disabilities
to cover the costs of measures necessary to ensure
nondiscriminatory treatment, such as making modifications required
to provide program accessibility or providing qualified
interpreters.

    Shall operate their programs so that, when viewed in their
entirety, they are readily accessible to and usable by individuals
with disabilities.

III. "Qualified Individuals with Disabilities"

    Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act provides
comprehensive civil rights protections for "qualified individuals
with disabilities."

    An "individual with a disability" is a person who -- 

    Has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits
a "major life activity," or 

    Has a record of such an impairment, or 

    Is regarded as having such an impairment.

    Examples of physical or mental impairments include, but are
not limited to, such contagious and noncontagious diseases and
conditions as orthopedic, visual, speech, and hearing impairments;
cerebral palsy, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis,
cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental retardation, emotional
illness, specific learning disabilities, HIV disease (whether
symptomatic or asymptomatic), tuberculosis, drug addiction, and
alcoholism.  Homosexuality and bisexuality are not physical or
mental impairments under the ADA.


    "Major life activities" include functions such as caring for
oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing,
speaking, breathing, learning, and working.

    Individuals who currently engage in the illegal use of drugs
are not protected by the ADA when an action is taken on the basis
of their current illegal use of drugs.

    "Qualified" individuals.

    A "qualified" individual with a disability is one who meets
the essential eligibility requirements for the program or activity
offered by a public entity.

    The "essential eligibility requirements" will depend on the
type of service or activity involved.  

    For some activities, such as State licensing programs, the
ability to meet specific skill and performance requirements may be
"essential."  

    For other activities, such as where the public entity provides
information to anyone who requests it, the "essential eligibility
requirements" would be minimal. 

IV.  Program Access

    State and local governments--

    Must ensure that individuals with disabilities are not
excluded from services, programs, and activities because buildings
are inaccessible.

    Need not remove physical barriers, such as stairs, in all
existing buildings, as long as they  make their programs accessible
to individuals who are unable to use an inaccessible existing
facility.

    Can provide the services, programs, and activities offered in
the facility to individuals with disabilities through alternative
methods, if physical barriers are not removed, such as -- 

    Relocating a service to an accessible facility, e.g., moving
a public information office from the third floor to the first floor
of a building.

    Providing an aide or personal assistant to enable an
individual with a disability to obtain the service.  

    Providing benefits or services at an individual's home, or at
an alternative accessible site.

    May not carry an individual with a disability as a method of
providing program access, except in "manifestly exceptional"
circumstances.

    Are not required to take any action that would result in a
fundamental alteration in the nature of the service, program, or
activity or in undue financial and administrative burdens. 
However, public entities must take any other action, if available,
that would not result in a fundamental alteration or undue burdens
but would ensure that individuals with disabilities receive the
benefits or services.

V.  Integrated Programs

    Integration of individuals with disabilities into the
mainstream of society is fundamental to the purposes of the
Americans with Disabilities Act.  

    Public entities may not provide services or benefits to
individuals with disabilities through programs that are separate or
different, unless the separate programs are necessary to ensure
that the benefits and services are equally effective.

    Even when separate programs are permitted, an individual with
a disability still has the right to choose to participate in the
regular program.

    For example, it would not be a violation for a city to offer
recreational programs specially designed for children with mobility
impairments, but it would be a violation if the city refused to
allow children with disabilities to participate in its other
recreational programs.

    State and local governments may not require an individual with
a disability to accept a special accommodation or benefit if the
individual chooses not to accept it.

VI.  Communications

    State and local governments must ensure effective
communication with individuals with 
     disabilities.

    Where necessary to ensure that communications with individuals
with hearing, vision, or speech impairments are as effective as
communications with others, the public entity must provide
appropriate auxiliary aids.

    "Auxiliary aids" include such services or devices as qualified
interpreters, assistive listening headsets, television captioning
and decoders, telecommunications devices for deaf persons (TDD's),
videotext displays, readers, taped texts, Brailled materials, and
large print materials.

    A public entity may not charge an individual with a disability
for the use of an auxiliary aid.

    Telephone emergency services, including 911 services, must
provide direct access to individuals with speech or hearing
impairments.  
    Public entities are not required to provide auxiliary aids
that would result in a fundamental alteration in the nature of a
service, program, or activity or in undue financial and
administrative burdens.  However, public entities must still
furnish another auxiliary aid, if available, that does not result
in a fundamental alteration or undue burdens.

VII.  New Construction and Alterations

    Public entities must ensure that newly constructed buildings
and facilities are free of architectural and communication barriers
that restrict access or use by individuals with disabilities.

    When a public entity undertakes alterations to an existing
building, it must also ensure that the altered portions are
accessible.

    The ADA does not require retrofitting of existing buildings to
eliminate barriers, but does establish a high standard of
accessibility for new buildings.

    Public entities may choose between two technical standards for
accessible design:  The Uniform Federal Accessibility Standard
(UFAS), established under the Architectural Barriers Act, or the
Americans with Disability Act Accessibility Guidelines, adopted by
the Department of Justice for places of public accommodation and
commercial facilities covered by title III of the ADA.

    The elevator exemption for small buildings under ADA
Accessibility Guidelines would not apply to public entities covered
by title II.

VIII.  Enforcement

    Private parties may bring lawsuits to enforce their rights
under title II of the ADA.  The remedies available are the same as
those provided under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. 
A reasonable attorney's fee may be awarded to the prevailing party.

    Individuals may also file complaints with appropriate
administrative agencies.

    The regulation designates eight Federal agencies to handle
complaints filed under title II.

    Complaints may also be filed with any Federal agency that
provides financial assistance to the program in question, or with
the Department of Justice, which will refer the complaint to the
appropriate agency.

IX.  Complaints

    Any individual who believes that he or she is a victim of
discrimination prohibited by the regulation may file a complaint. 
Complaints on behalf of classes of individuals are also permitted.

    Complaints should be in writing, signed by the complainant or
an authorized representative, and should contain the complainant's
name and address and describe the public entity's alleged
discriminatory action. 

    Complaints may be sent to -- 

          Coordination and Review Section
          Civil Rights Division
          U.S. Department of Justice
          P.O. Box 66118
          Washington, D.C. 20035-6118.

    Complaints may also be sent to agencies designated to process
complaints under the regulation, or to agencies that provide
Federal financial assistance to the program in question.

X.  Designated Agencies

     The following agencies are designated for enforcement of title
II for components of State and local governments that exercise
responsibilities, regulate, or administer services, programs, or
activities in the following functional areas --

(1)  Department of Agriculture:  Farming and the raising of
livestock, including extension services.
(2)  Department of Education:  Education systems and institutions
(other than health-related schools), and libraries.
(3)  Department of Health and Human Services:  Schools of medicine,
dentistry, nursing, and other health-related schools; health care
and social service providers and institutions, including
"grass-roots" and community services organizations and programs;
and preschool and daycare programs.
(4)  Department of Housing and Urban Development:  State and local
public housing, and housing assistance and referral. 
(5)  Department of Interior:  Lands and natural resources,
including parks and recreation, water and waste management,
environmental protection, energy, historic and cultural
preservation, and museums.
(6)  Department of Justice:  Public safety, law enforcement, and
the administration of justice, including courts and correctional
institutions; commerce and industry, including banking and finance,
consumer protection, and insurance; planning, development, and
regulation (unless otherwise assigned); State and local government
support services; and all other government functions not assigned
to other designated agencies. 
(7)  Department of Labor:  Labor and the work force.
(8)  Department of Transportation:  Transportation, including
highways, public transportation, traffic management (non-law
enforcement), automobile licensing and inspection, and driver
licensing.

XI.  Technical Assistance

    The ADA requires that the Federal agencies responsible for
issuing ADA regulations provide "technical assistance."



    Technical assistance is the dissemination of information
(either directly by the Department or through grants and contracts)
to assist the public, including individuals protected by the ADA
and entities covered by the ADA, in understanding the new law.

    Methods of providing information include, for example,
audio-visual materials, pamphlets, manuals, electronic bulletin
boards, checklists, and training.

    The Department issued for public comment on December 5, 1990,
a government-wide plan for the provision of technical assistance.

     The Department's efforts focus on raising public awareness of
the ADA by providing--
          
    Fact sheets and pamphlets in accessible formats,

    Speakers for workshops, seminars, classes, and conferences,

    An ADA telephone information line, and

    Access to ADA documents through an electronic bulletin board
for users of personal computers.

    The Department has established a comprehensive program of
technical assistance relating to public accommodations and State
and local governments.  

    Grants will be awarded for projects to inform individuals with
disabilities and covered entities about their rights and
responsibilities under the ADA and to facilitate voluntary
compliance.

    The Department will issue a technical assistance manual by
January 26, 1992, for individuals or entities with rights or duties
under the ADA.


          For additional information, contact: 

               Office on the Americans with Disabilities Act 
               Civil Rights Division 
               U.S. Department of Justice 
               P.O. Box 66118 
               Washington, D.C 20035-6118 
               (202) 514-0301 (Voice)
               (202) 514-0383 (TDD) 
               (202) 514-6193 (Electronic Bulletin Board).

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