# 146

DJ 202-PL-874

III-4.4200
III-4.5000
September 23, 1994

Ms. Elizabeth M. Adler

Tedeschi, Grasso and Mortensen
100 Summer Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02110

Dear Ms. Adler:

This letter is in response to your inquiry of September 20,

1994, about the application of the Americans with Disabilities
Act to amphibious vehicles and private entities that conduct
tours of or on such vehicles.

The ADA authorizes the Department of Justice to provide

technical assistance to individuals and entities having rights or
obligations under the Act. This letter provides informal
guidance to assist you in understanding the ADA's requirements.
However, it does not constitute a legal interpretation or legal
advice, and it is not binding on the Department of Justice.

Generally speaking, title III of the ADA applies to private

entities that own, operate, lease, or lease to any facility or
business included within one of the twelve categories of public
accommodations identified in the ADA. From your description of
the intended use of the vehicle in question, it appears that that
vehicle may fall into one or more of the ADA's categories of
public accommodations, including the categories of places of
public gathering, places of exhibition or entertainment, or
places of public display or collection. See 42 U.S.C.
​ 12181(7)(C), (D), and (H); 28 C.F.R. 36.104.

If the vehicle is a public accommodation, then any entity

which owns or operates it must comply with the requirements of
title III applicable to the owners and operators of public
accommodations. Among other things, these include removing
architectural barriers to access in existing facilities
(including equipment, rolling stock, and other conveyances) where
it is readily achievable to do so. 42 U.S.C.
​ 12182(b)(2)(A)(iv); 28 C.F.R. 36.304. The steps you have
described that the owner of the vehicle has already taken --
widening the opening into the vehicle, and providing seats that
can be removed to make space for wheelchairs -- appear to the
kind of steps to remove barriers required by the ADA.

You indicated that the entrance to the vehicle is

approximately six feet above the ground. The ADA does not
require that any existing vehicle be retrofitted with a hydraulic
or other lift. 28 C.F.R. 36.310(b). However, if there is some
alternative means of providing access into the vehicle -- by
means of a ramp or otherwise -- that is readily achievable, then
the owner and operator of the facility are required to provide
that alternative means of access. 28 C.F.R. 36.305. As a last
resort -- and only as a last resort -- if it is readily
achievable for the owner or operator of the tour to carry or
otherwise assist individuals with disabilities into the vehicle
safely and with dignity, then providing such assistance may be
required. (Before undertaking to carry or otherwise assist
individuals with disabilities into the vehicle, the owner or
operator should insure that the personnel who will provide such
assistance are thoroughly trained or instructed in how to provide
such assistance safely and with dignity.)

Finally, you should be aware that in addition to the

Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Transportation has
also promulgated regulations implementing the ADA, and that the
owner and operator of the vehicle may be subject to those
regulations as well. See 49 C.F.R. Part 37.

I hope this information is helpful to you in understanding

the requirements of title III of the ADA.

Sincerely,

John L. Wodatch
Chief
Public Access Section