Seventeen years ago, the Americans With Disabilities Act took effect, requiring companies and public facilities to ensure access for the disabled. Stadium and theater operators had to install ramps and special seating, while ATM machines and elevators had to have Braille for the blind.

Now, the U.S. Department of Justice is set later this summer to unveil a new set of expanded regulations for public access for the disabled.

Among the rules being considered:

-Required use of visible workplace alarms so the deaf can get the word on when to evacuate;

-Wider doorways for public restrooms and hotel rooms;

-Voice systems on all ATMs

-Additional seating for wheelchair-bound patrons at different viewpoints in stadiums, theaters and concert halls.

Proponents for the disabled say these regulations are necessary to close loopholes in the existing regulations and to account for advances in technology, especially in computerized voices for the blind.

But business groups are concerned that these rules would impose excessive hardship on small businesses, especially those that have already compiled with the existing regulations.

“The big issue for us right now is whether these guidelines should apply retroactively,” said Marc Freedman, director of labor law policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “We understand and do not object to having them apply to new construction, but to require business owners that have already spent money to make their buildings accessible to the disabled to go back and do it all over again, we think that could be an excessive burden.”

Disabled advocates counter that the new regulations should provide clearer guidance for businesses.

“We expect these regulations to be much more detailed, proscribing exactly what businesses need to do. It should help remove the grounds for filing lawsuits, which has been a big problem for business,” said Marilyn Golden, policy analyst with the Berkeley-based Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund.

Once the proposed regulations come out, there will be a two-month comment period and then after several more months of internal revisions, a final set of regulations will be issued, according to Cynthia Magnuson, spokeswoman for the Department of Justice’s civil rights division. Compliance deadlines for the new regulations would be several months or even a year or two beyond that.

Cap and Trade

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has made a market-based trading system the centerpiece of his strategy to curb greenhouse gas emissions. On June 1, a special Market Action Committee his administration created to advise on setting up a market trading system came out with recommendations on how to proceed.

Among other things, the committee recommended an emissions cap that declines over time until by 2020 the total emissions of greenhouse gases equal 1990 levels. Companies would be allowed to earn credits by making carbon emission reductions or they could buy credits on an exchange.

The committee also recommended phasing in the program, starting with some 500 electricity sellers and large industrial emitters and then expanding to the transportation and building sectors. Such a gradual approach would likely mean an earlier start date and would offer more flexibility to adjust the program, the committee said.

The committee’s report has been welcomed by the California Chamber of Commerce, which strongly backs the so-called “cap-and-trade” approach as a way to achieve emission reductions with minimal disruption to the marketplace.

Environmental groups, however, have raised concerns about such an approach, citing examples like the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s reclaim program that they contend has done little to reduce emissions in neighborhoods surrounding major polluters. The recommendations will next be taken up by the California Air Resources Board.

Going Up

Hazardous waste fees for businesses in L.A. County are going up again.

Last week, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved fee increases ranging from 15 percent to 20 percent for certain types of hazardous waste generated at businesses in the county, starting July 1. The increases, proposed by the L.A. County Fire Department, are meant to cover the cost of six additional employees and to police an increasing number of regulated businesses within the county.

L.A. County Fire Chief Michael Freeman noted that the last fee increase was two years ago and that salaries, benefits and general overhead rates have risen steadily. Under the new fee schedule, the cost of an emergency response for any hazardous waste generating facility would increase $77.60, or 15 percent, to $583 for the first hour.

Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 227 or at

[email protected]

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