This rulemaking covers access to trails, beaches, and picnic and camping areas and will supplement ADAAG by adding a new chapter on outdoor developed areas. The guidelines will provide new construction and alteration scoping and technical criteria and addresses unique constraints specific to outdoor environments. The guidelines will be based on a report developed by the Outdoor Developed Areas Regulatory Negotiation Committee, which the Board has established for this purpose.
Current Status: The Board is preparing a proposed rule based on the Regulatory Negotiation Committee’s report.
What’s Next: The proposed rule, once published, will be available for public comment.
Background: The Board convened an advisory committee to make recommendations on issues related to making various recreation areas accessible. The Recreation Access Advisory Committee, which met from July 1993 to May 1994, did not reach consensus on how access should be provided in outdoor developed areas. Public comment on the recommendations also demonstrated a lack of consensus on the issues, particularly in the area of trail accessibility.
The Board created the Outdoor Developed Areas Regulatory Negotiation Committee to achieve a consensus approach and requirements for making outdoor developed areas accessible. The Committee represented people with disabilities, owners and operators of outdoor developed areas, federal, state, and local land management agencies, designers, and trails groups. The committee met ten times between June 1997 and July 1999. In addition, several workgroups convened to gather information or develop recommendations for the full committee. Committee members sought input from the public on issues related to accessibility in outdoor developed areas. An interest-based model of negotiation was used which relied on committee members to negotiate for their respective constituent groups, with the outcome of the whole in mind. The committee began its deliberations by examining available information on access to outdoor environments, including recommendations from a previous Board advisory committee, the Recreation Access Advisory Committee. Members also examined and discussed other approaches used by States and municipalities in developing accessibility guidelines for trails, picnic and camping facilities, and beaches. Where preserving the environment, the nature of the outdoor experience, and access interests conflicted, reaching consensus was difficult. The guidelines proposed by the committee include consideration of the latest information, design, and construction practices in existence. The Report from the Outdoor
Developed Areas Regulatory Negotiation Committee was submitted to the Board in September 1999.Rulemaking History: