[Njagdu] DOT seeks comments on airport relief areas

[Tracy Carcione]

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: [nagdu] [Fwd: DOT Seeks Comments on Service Dog Relief Areas in
Airports]
From:    "Tracy Carcione" <carcione at access.net>
Date:    Wed, November 16, 2011 1:09 pm
To:      nagdu at nfbnet.org
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---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: DOT Seeks Comments on Service Dog Relief Areas in Airports
From:    "Theresa Duncan" <tduncan at guidedogs.com>
Date:    Tue, November 15, 2011 4:12 pm
To:      carcione at access.net
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>From GDUI Legislative Committee Chairperson, Laurie Mehta. (I got it
through GDB).

***

Dear GDUI-affiliate leadership and all guide dog handlers, Please
participate in
the public comment period that is currently open (and which will end on
November
28, 2011).

Here is information that you will need when submitting comment to the U.S.
Department of Transportation regarding service animal relief areas at U.S.
airports.

Please note that the information specific to the issue of service animal
relief areas is featured here.

This information is comprehensive, but it is worth your time to review.

FYI: The "sterile" area of an airport is the part of the area that is only
accessible after a person undergoes the TSA screening process.

As guide dog handlers, our participation in communicating guide dog handler
needs, to those who make and enforce regulations that effect us, is extremely
important.

Thank you,

Laurie Mehta, GDUI-Legislative Committee Chairperson


Here is how to submit comment for docket number DOT-OST-2011-0182

On the web:

http://www.guidedogs.com/site/R?i=TqwCwl6U8W3hrkXlRFCAlQ
http://www.guidedogs.com/site/R?i=1i9Mz3hHTNlaV6xLBBH5nw

You must include the agency name and docket number DOT-OST-2011-0182 (see
details below)


Mail:

Docket Management Facility
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE.
West Building Ground Floor
Room W12-140
Washington, DC 20590


Courier:

West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday

FAX: (Include Docket Number)
(202) 493-2251


INFORMATION ON PUBLIC COMMENT REGARDING SERVICE ANIMAL RELIEF
AREAS AT AIRPORTS IN THE U.S.:

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary
49 CFR Part 27
RIN 2105-AD91

[Docket No. DOT-OST-2011-0182]

Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Programs or Activities
Receiving
Federal Financial Assistance (U.S. Airports)

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).
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SUMMARY: The Department is proposing to amend its rules implementing
section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which requires
accessibility in
airport terminal facilities that receive Federal financial assistance.

The proposed rule includes new provisions related to service animal relief
areas
and captioning of televisions and audio-visual displays that are similar
to new
requirements applicable to U.S. and foreign air carriers under the
Department's
Air Carrier Access (ACAA) regulations, 14 CFR part 382.

The NPRM also proposes to reorganize the provision in 49 CFR 27.72 concerning
mechanical lifts for enplaning and deplaning passengers with mobility
impairments, and to amend this provision so airports are required to work not
only with U.S. carriers but also foreign air carriers to ensure lifts are
available where level entry loading bridges are not available.

This proposed rule would apply to airport facilities located in the U.S. with
10,000 or more annual enplanements and that receive Federal financial
assistance.
 
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding this
proposal. Comments must be received on or before November 28, 2011.

Late-filed comments will be considered to the extent practicable.

Instructions: You must include the agency name and docket number
DOT-OST-2011-0182 or the Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) for the
rulemaking at the beginning of your comment. All comments received will be
posted without change to
http://www.guidedogs.com/site/R?i=vdHW0uiMd2RT_kF7TabD-Q , including any
personal information provided.

    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all
comments received in any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of
an association, business, labor union, etc.).
You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act statement in the Federal Register
published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78), or you may visit
http://www.guidedogs.com/site/R?i=d5mGlyeMnfSrFniq2HvqSg Docket: For
access to the
docket to read background documents or comments received, go to
http://www.guidedogs.com/site/R?i=zLezHL6n33nJL1yXe7Uttw or to the street
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the
docket.

Background

 

    On November 1, 1996,
the U.S. Department of Transportation amended its regulation implementing
section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to create a new section 49 CFR
27.72, concerning regulatory requirements for U.S. airports to ensure the
availability of lifts to provide level-entry boarding for passengers with
disabilities flying on small commuter aircraft. See 61 FR 56409.
This requirement paralleled the lift provisions applicable to U.S.
carriers in the ACAA rule, 14 CFR part 382.

On May 13, 2008, the Department of Transportation published a
final rule that amended part 382 by making it applicable to foreign air
carriers.
See 73 FR 27614.

In addition to making the rule applicable to foreign carriers, the amended
part
382 includes provisions that require U.S. and foreign air carriers, in
cooperation with airport operators, to provide animal relief areas
for service animals that accompany passengers departing, connecting, or
arriving at U.S. airports. See 14 CFR 382.51(a)(5).

Part 382 also requires U.S. and foreign air carriers to enable captioning
on all
televisions and other audio-visual displays that are capable of displaying
captioning and that are located in any portion of the airport terminal to
which
any passengers have access. See 14 CFR 382.51(a)(6). As a result
of the 2008 amendment to part 382, the requirements in part 27 do not mirror
the requirements applicable to airlines set forth in part 382.

In order to harmonize part 27 with the amended part 382, the Department
proposes
to amend part 27 to add such parallel provisions.

    The proposed rule would also update outdated terminology and
references that currently exist in 49 CFR part 27. The proposed rule would
change the word
``handicapped,'' and similar variations of that word that appear
throughout part 27, to ``people first'' language (e.g., ``individuals with
disabilities'') consistent with practice under the Americans with
Disabilities Act. Additionally, the
proposed rule would delete the obsolete reference to the Uniform Federal
Accessibility Standards in 49 CFR 27.3(b) and change the language
``appendix A to part 37 of this title'' to ``appendices B and D of 36 CFR
part 1191, as modified by
appendix A to part 37 of this title.''


** Service Animal Relief Areas

    The 2008 amendment to part 382 requires U.S. and foreign air carriers
to work with airport operators to provide service animal relief areas at
U.S. airports.

Part 27 does not include a provision that mirrors this requirement.

As such, the Department proposes to amend part 27 by inserting a provision
that would require airport operators to work with carriers to establish
relief areas for service animals that accompany passengers with
disabilities departing, connecting, or arriving at U.S. airports.

    Part 382 does not provide specific directives regarding the design,
number, or
location of service animal relief areas an airport should have; it simply
requires
carriers to provide service animal relief areas in cooperation with the
airports and in consultation with service animal training organizations
concerning
the design of service animal relief areas.

However, in a Frequently Asked Questions document issued by the
Department's Aviation Enforcement Office on May 13, 2009, examples of factors
airlines and airports should consider in designating and constructing
areas for
service animal relief at U.S. airports are provided.

\1\ Factors to consider in establishing relief areas include the size and
surface material of the area, maintenance, and distance to relief area which
could vary based on the size and configuration of the airport.

The Department seeks comment about whether it should adopt requirements
regarding the design of service animal relief areas and what, if any,
provisions the rule should include concerning the dimensions, materials
used, and maintenance for relief areas.

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    \1\ The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) worked with the
Department to develop guidelines identifying key security concerns and
concepts that should be factored into the planning and design of airport
facilities, including service animal relief areas.

See ``Recommended Security Guidelines for Airport Planning, Design
and Construction,'' revised May 2011, available at

http://www.guidedogs.com/site/R?i=aIu8U2kjf4vNPu8Jk-BK8w .
http://www.guidedogs.com/site/R?i=03_ZuGgtjT5tSwFSoRpiQg

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    We are tentatively proposing a minimum of one service animal relief
area for each terminal in an airport.

The Department is aware that requiring only one service animal
relief area for each terminal in an airport may result in individuals with
disabilities missing flights when trying to reach service animal relief
areas located
outside the sterile area of an airport, especially inlarger airports.

For this reason, and despite our tentative recommendation of one
relief area for each terminal in an airport, the Department seeks comment
on what
would be an appropriate number of service animal relief areas in an airport.

In addition to seeking public comment on how many service animal relief areas
should be required at an airport or a terminal, the Department would like to
know how that number should be determined. For example, should the
number be determined by the size or configuration of the airport (e.g., the
number, location and design of terminals and concourses) and/or the amount
of time it would take for an individual with a disability to reach a service
animal relief area from any gate within the airport? Or should DOT
establish a
performance requirement that a passenger arriving at any gate with his or her
service animal be able to reach a relief area in 10, 20 or some other
number of
minutes?

    The Department also seeks comment on the placement of service animal
relief areas, particularly whether service animal relief areas should be
located inside or
outside the sterile \2\ area of an airport.

It could be important to have relief areas both inside and outside the
sterile
area of an airport to ensure that individuals with service animals have
access
to such areas when traveling. For example, an individual traveling with a
service animal could arrive at Gate C3 and have an hour to make a
connection to
a flight at Gate G17. If the individual must leave the sterile area to find a
service animal relief area, travel to and from that area, and then go back
through security screening, the individual could have difficulty in making
the
connecting flight. At the same time, we understand that some airports have
expressed security and logistical concerns about the placement of service
animal
relief areas inside the sterile area of an airport.

The Department also recognizes that the Transportation Security
Administration
(TSA) in May 2011 revised its guidelines ``Recommended Security Guidelines
for
Airport Planning, Design and Construction,'' to make clear that airports may
provide Service Animal Relief Areas in sterile areas of the airport, or may
provide escorted access to non-designated outdoor areas for the purpose of
service animal relief.

The Department also recognizes that coordination with the TSA via each
airport's
site-specific Airport Security Program would need to occur if service animal
relief areas are to be placed inside the sterile area.

Consequently, the Department seeks comment on where airport service animal
relief areas should be located to ensure that the time and distance to access
the service animal relief areas do not create barriers for passengers with
disabilities.

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    \2\ The sterile area is the area between the TSA passenger screening
checkpoint and the aircraft boarding gates. See 49 CFR 1540.5.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Finally, the Department has been made aware that some individuals with
disabilities, especially, but not only, individuals who are blind or
visually impaired, are experiencing difficulty in locating service animal
relief areas at certain
airports. Under part 382, passengers who request that a carrier provide
them with
assistance to an animal relief area should be advised by the carrier of the
location of the animal relief area.

Additionally, if requested, it would be the responsibility of the carrier to
accompany a passenger traveling with a service animal to and from the animal
relief area.

Nevertheless, we seek comment on whether the rule should include a
provision requiring airports to specify the location of service animal
relief areas on airport Web sites, maps and/or diagrams of the airport,
including whether the relief area is
located inside or outside a sterile area.

We also seek comment on whether airports should be required to provide
signage
to assist individuals with disabilities in locating service animal relief
areas.

    To the extent that the Department issues a final rule with
requirements for airports to establish service animal relief areas that
are more detailed than the
requirements for U.S. and foreign airports that exist in part 382, the
Department
believes that it is beneficial to have the same requirements apply to U.S.
and
Foreign airlines.

As such, we are soliciting comment on whether any requirement that applies
to U.S. airports should also be applied to U.S. and foreign carriers.

For example, if the Department creates a requirement that airports must
establish service animal relief areas inside the sterile area of an airport,
should such a requirement apply to U.S. and foreign air carriers in part 382?

    We propose that any final rule that we adopt regarding establishing
service animal relief areas take effect 120 days after its publication in
the Federal Register. We believe this would allow sufficient time for
airports to comply with this
requirement, particularly since U.S. and foreign airlines are already working
with airports to establish and maintain service animal relief areas.

We invite comments on whether 120 days is the appropriate interval.


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