DOT PUBLISHES UPDATE REGARDING NPRM ON ACCESSIBLE LAVATORIES ON SINGLE-AISLE AIRCRAFT
December 10, 2021
On Friday, November 19, 2021, the U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing that it will reopen the comment period and request public comments, and hold a virtual public meeting on its notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPRM”) related to accessible lavatories on single-aisle aircraft.
DOT initially issued the NPRM on January 2, 2020 following the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board’s (the “Access Board”) publishing of its proposed advisory guidelines for aircraft onboard wheelchairs on August 20, 2019. The NPRM proposed specific measures to improve accessibility of lavatories on single-aisle aircraft for passengers with disabilities while the Access Board’s advisory guidelines provided technical specifications for onboard wheelchairs that would serve as one means of complying with DOT’s proposed performance standards for onboard wheelchairs. More recently, DOT and the Access Board decided to re-open the public comment period and hold a joint public meeting so that both bodies can gather more information on their respective onboard wheelchair advisory guidelines and proposed onboard wheelchair performance standards.
The public comment period on the Access Board’s draft advisory guidelines for onboard wheelchairs as well as DOT’s NPRM will be re-opened on December 16, 2021 (i.e. the day of the joint public meeting) and remain open until January 17, 2022. As previously stated, the joint public meeting will take place on December 16, 2021 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com 202-659-6665).
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