[NAGDU] FTA and Service Animals

Steven Johnson blinddog3 at charter.net
Thu Jan 14 23:27:13 UTC 2016


I recently obtained this from the Access Board:

 

·               Service Animals

Requirement

“The entity shall permit service animals to accompany individuals with
disabilities in vehicles and facilities”
<http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&SID=d315855e2f2c9f940970f4c1913
49c12&rgn=div5&view=text&node=49:1.0.1.1.27&idno=49> (§ 37.167(d)).

Discussion

Per
<http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&SID=d315855e2f2c9f940970f4c1913
49c12&rgn=div5&view=text&node=49:1.0.1.1.27&idno=49> § 37.3, a service
animal is:

[A]ny guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to work or
perform tasks for an individual with a disability, including, but not
limited to, guiding individuals with impaired vision, alerting individuals
with impaired hearing to intruders or sounds, providing minimal protection
or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, or fetching dropped items. 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) narrowed the definition of a service animal
in amendments to its ADA regulations in 2010, but the DOT ADA regulations
were unaffected. Accordingly, public transit providers must follow the DOT
definition in § 37.3 when assessing whether to accommodate a particular
animal. While most service animals are dogs, DOT’s definition recognizes the
possibility of other animals. 

Service animals are animals that are “individually trained to work or
perform tasks.” This training can be by an organization or by an individual,
including the individual with a disability. Transit agencies are not
required to transport animals that have not been individually trained to
perform specific work or tasks. If an animal’s only function were to provide
emotional support or comfort for the rider, for example, that animal would
not fall under the regulatory training-based definition of a service animal.
Simply providing comfort is something that an animal does passively, by its
nature or through the perception of the owner. However, the ADA regulations
do not prohibit a transit agency from choosing to accommodate pets and
comfort animals, which would be a local decision. (See FTA response to
<http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/15-0117_NCTD_service_animal.pdf> Complaint
15-0117 for an example of how FTA has addressed the issue of defining what
constitutes a service animal.)

It is important that local policies and practices recognize that some
persons with hidden disabilities do use animals that meet the regulatory
definition of a service animal. This would include, for example, animals
that are trained to alert individuals with seizure disorders to an oncoming
seizure or respond to a seizure and animals that are trained to remind
persons with depression to take their medication.

Transit agencies cannot have a policy requiring riders to provide
documentation for their service animal before boarding a bus or train or
entering a facility, but personnel may ask riders two questions: (1) is the
animal a service animal required because of a disability? and (2) what work
or task has the animal been trained to perform?

The following guidance also applies to service animals:

·         Transit agencies may refuse to transport service animals that are
deemed to pose a direct threat to the health or safety of drivers or other
riders, create a seriously disruptive atmosphere, or are otherwise not under
the rider’s control. For example, a rider with a service dog is responsible
for ensuring the dog does not bite the driver or other riders. Conversely, a
dog that barks occasionally would likely not be considered out of the
owner’s control. 

·         A passenger’s request that the driver take charge of a service
animal may be denied. Caring for a service animal is the responsibility of
the passenger or a PCA. (See
<http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=&SID=7e7682112753ace7d641434382
03a82e&mc=true&r=PART&n=pt49.1.37> Appendix E to Part 37, Example 15.) 

·         Section 37.167(d) does not prescribe limits on the number of
service animals that accompany riders on a single trip. Different service
animals may provide different services to a rider during trips or at the
rider’s destination.

·         On complementary paratransit or other demand responsive services,
transit agencies may ask riders for notification of their intent to ride
with a service animal in order to help ensure adequate space is available
for the animal. (An optional good practice is to keep such information in
riders’ files.) 

·         Other riders’ or agency personnel’s allergies to dogs or other
animals would not be grounds for denying service to a person accompanied by
a service animal. The regulations explicitly state that service animals must
be allowed to accompany individuals on vehicles and in facilities.
Encountering a service animal in the transit or other environment is an
expected part of being in public. 

·         

·         

·         Steven C. Johnson, BS, CIRS

Social Service Specialist III

Aging and Disability Resource Center of Western Wisconsin

Serving Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe and Vernon Counties.

300 4th Street N.

La Crosse, WI  54601

(608) 785-5700 (Call Center), (800) 500-3910 (Toll-free), (608) 785-5790
(Fax), (608)785-6055 (Personal)

Email: stevejohnson at lacrossecounty.org

Our purpose is to provide information and assistance in accessing benefits
and services to adults and families relating to aging, disability, mental
health or substance abuse.

We promote the rights, dignity, and preferences of the individual to enhance
self-sufficiency and quality of life.

 

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