[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 234 (Monday, December 7, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 75953-75955]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30764]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
14 CFR Part 382
[Docket No. DOT-OST-2015-0246]
RIN 2105-AE12
Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel;
Consideration of Negotiated Rulemaking Process
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation (``Department'' or ``DOT'')
announces that it is exploring the feasibility of conducting a
negotiated rulemaking (Reg Neg) concerning accommodations for air
travelers with disabilities addressing inflight entertainment,
supplemental medical oxygen, service animals, accessible lavatories on
single-aisle
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aircraft, seating accommodations, and carrier reporting of disability
service requests. The Department has hired a convener to speak with
interested parties about the feasibility of conducting this Reg Neg.
The Department anticipates that the interested parties may include
disability advocacy organizations, airlines, airports, airline vendors
providing wheelchair assistance, aircraft manufacturers, IFE system
manufacturers, movie studios, other IFE content providers, service
animal training organizations, and other Federal agencies that have a
regulatory interest in these issues such as the Department of Justice,
the Federal Communications Commission, and the United States Access
Board.
DATES: Please submit your comments no later than January 6, 2016.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number DOT-OST-
2015-0246 using any one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Fax: 202-493-2251.
Mail: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department
of Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Ave. SE., Washington, DC 20590.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions about the
regulatory negotiation, you may contact Kathleen Blank Riether, Senior
Attorney, Office of the Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings, U.S.
Department of Transportation, by email at [email protected]
or by telephone at 202-366-9342. To obtain a copy of this notice in an
accessible format, you may also contact Kathleen Blank Riether.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Congress enacted the Air Carrier Access Act
(ACAA) in 1986. It prohibited discrimination in airline service on the
basis of disability by U.S. air carriers. In 1990, following a lengthy
rulemaking process that included a regulatory negotiation involving
representatives of the airline industry and disability community, the
Department issued a final ACAA rule. In 2000, Congress amended the ACAA
to specifically include foreign air carriers. The ACAA now prohibits
U.S. and foreign air carriers from discriminating against individuals
on the basis of disability in air travel. In 2008, the Department
revised its disability regulation to, among other things, apply its
rule to foreign carriers and add new protections for passengers who use
portable oxygen concentrators and passengers who are deaf or hard of
hearing. See 73 FR 27614 (May 13, 2008), effective May 13, 2009.
In the preamble to the 2008 final rule, the Department explained
that it had deferred final decisions regarding a number of proposed
requirements and expressed its intent to issue a Supplemental Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) seeking additional public input on carrier-
supplied in-flight medical oxygen, transport of service animals, in-
flight entertainment, and accessible kiosks and Web sites. The
Department also announced its intent to carefully monitor ongoing
developments with respect to lavatory accessibility on single aisle
aircraft during longer flights to determine if a future rulemaking
proposal may be warranted. See 73 FR 27614 (May 13, 2008). In September
2011, the Department issued an SNPRM on airline Web sites and automated
airport kiosks. See 76 FR 59307 (September 26, 2011). The proceeding
culminated in a final rule mandating that airline Web sites and
automated airport kiosks be accessible by specific dates. See 78 FR
67882 (November 12, 2013). The Department is now planning to address
in-flight medical oxygen, transport of service animals and in-flight
entertainment.
Additionally, since the issuance of the 2008 final rule, the
Department has become aware of other difficulties individuals with
disabilities are having in accessing the air travel system. For
example, airlines and disability organizations \1\ have raised concerns
with the Department of passengers falsely claiming that their pets are
service animals. These groups have also pointed out the inconsistency
between the Department of Justice definition of a service animal and
the Department of Transportation's definition of a service animal.
Separately, the Department has noted the industry trend toward greater
use of single aisle aircraft that are not equipped with accessible
lavatories on medium and long haul flights. The disability community
has also expressed distress that single aisle aircraft are increasingly
used by airlines for longer flights but lack accessible lavatories.
Issues have also been raised about whether premium economy is a
different class of service from standard economy as airlines are
required to provide seating accommodations to passengers with
disabilities within the same class of service. Extra legroom is a
standard feature of premium economy, with some carriers providing
premium economy passengers amenities in addition to the standard
economy class services. Various disability organizations have reported
to the Department that their members are unable to obtain bulkhead
seating while traveling with a service animal as the bulkhead seats are
now primarily located in what has been designated by airlines as the
premium economy section. The Department has also received a petition
for rulemaking to modify the existing seating accommodations
requirement for passengers who need extra legroom.\2\
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\1\ See DOT-OST-2009-0093-0001, Psychiatric Service Dog Society
Petition for Rulemaking (April 13, 2009).
\2\ See DOT-OST-2012-0030, In Re Petition for Rule Change of
Title 14 CFR 382.81(d) Pertaining to Disabled Seating Accommodations
(February 7, 2012).
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The Department is exploring the feasibility of conducting a
negotiated rulemaking on the remaining issues that it deferred final
action on in its 2008 final rule as well as the issues described above
that have arisen since its 2008 final rule. Specifically, the
Department is exploring a Reg Neg to:
Ensure that the same in-flight entertainment (IFE)
available to all passengers is accessible to passengers with
disabilities;
Provide individuals dependent on in-flight medical oxygen
greater access to air travel consistent with Federal safety and
security requirements;
Determine the appropriate definition of a service animal;
Establish safeguards to reduce the likelihood that
passengers wishing to travel with their pets will be able to falsely
claim that their pets are service animals;
Address the feasibility of accessible lavatories on new
single aisle aircraft;
Address whether premium economy is a different class of
service from standard economy as airlines are required to provide
seating accommodations to passengers with disabilities within the same
class of service; and
Require airlines to report annually to the Department the
number of requests for disability assistance they receive and the time
period within which wheelchair assistance is provided to passengers
with disabilities.
In a Reg Neg, an agency invites representatives of interested
parties likely to be significantly affected by a regulation to work
with each other and the agency on an advisory committee to seek to
reach consensus recommendations on the appropriate resolution of the
issues before the committee. If a consensus is reached, the Department
will issue a proposed rule consistent with that consensus for
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public comment under established rulemaking procedures. The Department
believes this cooperative problem-solving approach should be given
serious consideration. To do so, the Department must determine, among
other statutorily-mandated considerations, whether an appropriate
advisory committee can be assembled that will fairly represent all
affected interests, negotiate in good faith, and offer a reasonable
likelihood of reaching a consensus on the issues.
The Department has retained a neutral convener, Mr. Richard Parker
from the University of Connecticut School of Law, to undertake the
initial stage in the Reg Neg process and assist the agency in making
this threshold determination. Mr. Parker's credentials have been placed
in docket DOT-OST-2015-0246. The neutral convener will interview
representatives of affected interests, including but not limited to,
disability advocacy groups, airlines, and manufacturers of aircraft
cabin facilities and equipment and determine whether other interest
groups should be included. The convener will examine the potential for
adequate and balanced representation of the varied interests on an
advisory committee convened to negotiate the regulation and/or to reach
consensus on specific issues. Based on these interviews, the convener
will submit a written report of findings and recommendations to the
Department, and the final report will be available to the public. The
convenor's report will provide a basis for the Department to decide
whether to proceed with a Reg Neg, and, if so, to determine the scope
of the issues the committee will address. In the alternative, the
Department may also decide to forgo a Reg Neg and proceed with a
traditional notice-and-comment rulemaking.
The convener's activities are subject to the confidentiality
provisions of the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act, 5 U.S.C. 574.
The Federal Government will make no claim to the convener's notes,
memoranda, or recollections or to documents provided to the convener in
confidence in the course of the convening process. The convener will
not interpret Department policy, make decisions on items of policy,
regulation, or statute, or take a stand on the merits of substantive
matters under discussion.
The Department will provide any comments it receives in response to
this notice to the convener and will file the comments in docket DOT-
OST-2015-0246. Should the Department decide to proceed with a Reg Neg
process, the Agency will follow the procedures set forth in the
Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1996, 5 U.S.C. 561 et seq. This would
include the publication of a notice of intent to solicit comment on
membership and to invite interested persons to apply for nomination to
the committee. It also includes the establishment of an advisory
committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. Appendix
2).
Issued under the authority of delegation in 49 CFR 1.27.
Dated: November 30, 2015.
Kathryn B. Thomson,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2015-30764 Filed 12-4-15; 8:45 am]
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