COMMENTS ON DOT’S CHANGES TO SERVICE ANIMAL REGULATIONS DUE JULY 9TH
July 2, 2018
The U.S. Department of Transportation recently published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) regarding potential changes to its Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) regulation, 14 C.F.R. Part 382, on the transportation of service animals.
In the ANPRM DOT notes that the current ACAA regulation (i.e., Part 382) “could be improved to ensure nondiscriminatory access for individuals with disabilities, while simultaneously preventing instances of fraud and ensuring consistency with other Federal regulations.” Airlines have become increasingly concerned that untrained service animals pose a risk to the health and safety of its crewmembers and passengers. While the Department recognizes the legitimate and inherent need of certain individuals with disabilities to travel with a service animal, it also acknowledges the proliferation of fraud and abuse that airlines have faced in recent years.
DOT is considering the following questions: (1) whether psychiatric service animals should be treated similar to other service animals; (2) whether there should be a distinction between emotional support animals and other service animals; (3) whether emotional support animals should be required to travel in pet carriers for the duration of the flight; (4) whether the species of service animals and emotional support animals that airlines are required to transport should be limited; (5) whether the number of service animals/emotional support animals should be limited per passenger; (6) whether an attestation should be required from all service animal and emotional support animal users that their animal has been trained to behave in a public setting; (7) whether service animals and emotional support animals should be harnessed, leashed, or otherwise tethered; (8) whether there are safety concerns with transporting large service animals and if so, how to address them; (9) whether airlines should be prohibited from requiring a veterinary health form or immunization record from service animal users without an individualized assessment that the animal would pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others or would cause a significant disruption in the aircraft cabin; and (10) whether U.S. airlines should continue to be held responsible if a passenger traveling under the U.S. carrier’s code is only allowed to travel with a service dog on a flight operated by its foreign code share partner.
Comments on the ANPRM are due by July 9, 2018. Please contact us if you would like to submit comments. The full text of the ANPRM is available at: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-05-23/pdf/2018-10815.pdf
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6622); Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6665), or Alexander Matthews (amatthews@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6633).
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