[rehab] EEOC plans to rush regs for ADA Amendments Act

[Angie Matney]

I have been asked to circulate the following:

David Andrews

Hello Dave,

I received the following from the Justice for All listserv. I thought 
I would pass it on to you so that you could forward it to any NFB 
lists you deem appropriate.

Angie

* * * Immediate Action Necessary * * *


Tell EEOC Not to Rush Through 11th Hour ADA Amendments Act Regulations

AAPD staff have learned that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission has scheduled a Commission meeting for this Thursday, 
December 11 at 2 p.m. to discuss regulations interpreting the new ADA 
Amendments Act that was
signed into law by President Bush on September 25.  We have learned 
that one of the potential items for discussion is a new "Interim 
Final Rule" interpreting the new ADA Amendments Act that would take 
effect concurrent with the statute's
effective date on January 1, 2009.  If the Commission decides to 
issue an Interim Final Rule, that means that their regulations would 
take effect BEFORE anyone outside the commission has had an 
opportunity to review and comment on them.
This is not acceptable.

Typically, administrative agencies issue a notice of proposed 
rulemaking and give stakeholders an opportunity to comment on 
proposed regulations before they take effect.  We believe that it is 
essential that the disability community and
broader civil rights coalition that worked hard to get the ADA 
Amendments Act signed into law have an opportunity to see and comment 
on the new regulations before they take effect, and we are concerned 
that the Commission would try to
rush through a final rule with no public comment at the end of an 
administration.

Call today to let the EEOC Chairperson, Naomi Churchill Earp, and the 
Legal Counsel, Reed Russell, know that we want an opportunity to 
review the proposed regulations BEFORE they take effect.  The ADA 
Amendments Act was the product
of long negotiations and discussions with multiple stakeholders, and 
it is important that the regulations benefit from the same kind of 
broad-based input.  The new law repudiates an overly narrow approach 
to the definition of disability that had
been applied by the U.S. Supreme Court AND the EEOC, and we don't 
want to see the new regulations inadvertently create new problems for 
charging parties with disabilities and employers.

Congress did not instruct EEOC to issue regulations before the new 
law's effective date, and there is no reason for the regulatory 
process to move forward without the typical notice and opportunity to 
comment.   Our message to EEOC is simple:
Don't issue a rule before we have an opportunity to be heard.

Nothing about us without us.

To reach the Chair's office, call 202 663-4002.

To reach the Legal Counsel, call 202 663-4609.