28 C.F.R. § 39.150

Program accessibility: Existing facilities

Read at: eCFRecfr.gov CornellLII GovInfogovinfo.gov CasesGoogle Scholar

(a) General. The agency shall operate each program or activity so that the program or activity, when viewed in its entirety, is readily accessible to and usable by handicapped persons. This paragraph does not—

(1) Necessarily require the agency to make each of its existing facilities accessible to and usable by handicapped persons;

(2) Require the agency to take any action that it can demonstrate would result in a fundamental alteration in the nature of a program or activity or in undue financial and administrative burdens. In those circumstances where agency personnel believe that the proposed action would fundamentally alter the program or activity or would result in undue financial and administrative burdens, the agency has the burden of proving that compliance with § 39.150(a) would result in such alterations or burdens. The decision that compliance would result in such alteration or burdens must be made by the Attorney General or his or her designee after considering all agency resources available for use in the funding and operation of the conducted program or activity, and must be accompanied by a written statement of the reasons for reaching that conclusion. If an action would result in such an alteration or such burdens, the agency shall take any other action that would not result in such an alteration or such burdens but would nevertheless ensure that handicapped persons receive the benefits and services of the program or activity.

(b) Methods. The agency may comply with the requirements of this section through such means as redesign of equipment, reassignment of services to accessible buildings, assignment of aides to beneficiaries, home visits, delivery of services at alternate accessible sites, alteration of existing facilities and construction of new facilities, use of accessible rolling stock, or any other methods that result in making its programs or activities readily accessible to and usable by handicapped persons. The agency is not required to make structural changes in existing facilities where other methods are effective in achieving compliance with this section. The agency, in making alterations to existing buildings, shall meet accessibility requirements to the extent compelled by the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4151-4157), and any regulations implementing it. In choosing among available methods for meeting the requirements of this section, the agency shall give priority to those methods that offer programs and activities to qualified handicapped persons in the most integrated setting appropriate.

(c) Time period for compliance. The agency shall comply with the obligations established under this section by December 10, 1984, except that where structural changes in facilities are undertaken, such changes shall be made by October 11, 1987, but in any event as expeditiously as possible.

(d) Transition plan. In the event that structural changes to facilities will be undertaken to achieve program accessibility, the agency shall develop, by April 11, 1985, a transition plan setting forth the steps necessary to complete such changes. The agency shall provide an opportunity to interested persons, including handicapped persons or organizations representing handicapped persons, to participate in the development of the transition by submitting comments (both oral and written). A copy of the transition plan shall be made available for public inspection. The plan shall, at a minimum—

(1) Identify physical obstacles in the agency's facilities that limit the accessibility of its programs or activities to handicapped persons;

(2) Describe in detail the methods that will be used to make the facilities accessible;

(3) Specify the schedule for taking the steps necessary to achieve compliance with this section and, if the time period of the transition plan is longer than one year, identify steps that will be taken during each year of the transition period; and

(4) Indicate the official responsible for implementation of the plan.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 7 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1985–2025 · leading case: Jill Babcock v. State of Mich., 812 F.3d 531 (6th Cir. 2016).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Jill Babcock v. State of Mich., 812 F.3d 531 (6th Cir. 2016). · cites it 2× “150 (b); see also 28 C.F.R. § 39.150 (a)(1) (noting that programs or activities must be “readily accessible to and usable by handicapped persons,” but it is not “necessarily require[d that] the agency make each of its existing facilities accessible to and 4 Congress has…”

Frame v. City of Arlington, 657 F.3d 215 (5th Cir. 2011). · cites it 2× “" 28 C.F.R. § 39.150 . Seventh, in the light of the statute and regulations, there is no mandate for accessibility to facilities; on the other hand, there is the express mandate of the statute and the regulations to universal accessibility of services, programs, and activities.”

Mote v. City of Chelsea, 252 F. Supp. 3d 642 (E.D. Mich. 2017). “150 (b), and 28 C.F.R. § 39.150 (a)(1) (“noting that pro *652 grams or activities must be ‘readily accessible to and usable by handicapped persons,’ but it is not ‘necessarily require[d that] the agency make each of its existing facilities accessible to and usable by handicapped…”

Ability Ctr. of Greater Toledo v. City of Sandusky, 385 F.3d 901 (6th Cir. 2004). “28 C.F.R. § 39.150 (d) does specifically order the Department of Justice to adopt a transition plan before structurally altering a facility under its control to make it accessible to the disabled.”

Disabled in Action of Pennsylvania v. Pierce, 606 F. Supp. 310 (E.D. Pa. 1985). “35,729-31 (discussing 28 C.F.R. §§ 39.150 , 39.151). But, in providing for enforcement of these standards, the regulations do not refer the aggrieved to the ATBCB; each of the proposing agencies and departments has suggested its own compliance procedures.”

Payne v. U.S. Marshal Serv. (N.D. Ill. 2018). “28 C.F.R. § 39.150 ; 41 C.F.R. § 105-8.150-3 .”

Powers v. McDonough (9th Cir. 2025). “” 28 C.F.R. §§ 39.150 (a), 41.57(a). “[T]o assure meaningful access, reasonable accommodations in the .”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.