Regulatory Activity

Last updated: 08/12/08

The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) is the membership association of Protection and Advocacy (P&A) agencies located in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and United States territories.  NDRN comments on proposed federal regulations that raise issues affecting the lives of individual with disabilities, including their abilities to secure benefits and entitlements and enforce their legal rights.

ADA/Section 504 | Education | Employment | P&A Acts | Voting

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) / Section 504

Department of Transportation ADA Regulations (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Transportation for Individuals With Disabilities, Docket No. OST-2006-23985) (07/06)

Legal Services Corporation prohibition of discrimination (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 45 C.F.R. Part 1624) (6/06)

Written in response to the Legal Services Corporation’s notice of proposed changes to its rules prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability, published in the Federal Register on May 12, 2006; presents the views of four nationally prominent disability rights organizations and four law professors who supervise law school clinics that represent low-income people with disabilities.

FCC Closed Captioning of Video Programming (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Closed Captioning of Video Programming, CG Docket No. 05-231, FCC 05-142) (11/05) [rich text version]

"These comments...focus primarily on the need for the Commission’s regulations to establish non-technical standards for closed captioning and also to urge the Commission to require monitoring of captioning and reporting of compliance and simplifying the complaint procedure for members of the public by requiring contact information on websites."

US Dept of Labor "Able" and "Available" for Work Requirements (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Able and Available for work RIN 1205-AB41) (9/05) [rich text version]

"As a disability rights organization, we are concerned about how both the “Able” and “Available” Requirements in the proposed regulations will be applied to persons with disabilities. ...since the proposed regulations would govern how states implement their UC programs, the proposed regulations must not perpetuate state agency discrimination against people with disabilities and the proposed regulatory language must incorporate provisions to ensure compliance with the requirements of both the ADA and Section 504."

RE: Revised Guidelines Implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 (ABA) (CRT Docket No. 2004-DRS01) (5/05)

Education

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations (5/08)

"Unofficial" Final IDEA 2004 Part B regulations (8/06)

Comments to the Draft regulations to IDEA 2004 (9/05) [rich text version]

"NDRN, with input from various members of the P&A special education bar, reviewed the proposed regulations and drafted comments and recommendations. ...The proposals ... outline areas of the regulations that we believe need to be revised and provide our comments on how the specific sections should be revised."

Comments to the Draft regulations to Title I (Modified Assessments) (2/06) [rich text version]

"NDRN, with input from various members of the P&A special education bar, reviewed the proposed regulations and drafted comments and recommendations. ...We urge the Department to fully consider and modify the current draft regulations based on our suggestions. Further, we press upon the Department the importance of ensuring that: 1) schools are held to high accountability for all students, including students with disabilities; 2) students with disabilities are provided with opportunities to graduate with a regular high school diploma instead of barriers to graduation; 3) students with disabilities are provided with highly qualified instruction in the least restrictive environment; and 4) testing decisions are made by the child’s IEP team as dictated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEIA)."

Comments to the U.S. Department of Education’s Paperwork Waiver Demonstration Program (2/06) [rich text version]

"NDRN submits these comments to express our concern about problem areas in the draft proposal and to inform the U.S. Department of Education (Department) of changes needed. The main concern of NDRN regarding the Paperwork Reduction Pilot is that student’s rights are not infringed upon and educational services are not impeded in the name of reducing paperwork for schools."

Comments to The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Multi-Year Individualized Education Program Demonstration Program (2/06) [rich text version]

"NDRN’s main concern is that the purpose of the Pilot Program – improving educational and functional results of children with disabilities by increasing resources and classroom instruction time—will be realized. We urge the Department to fully consider and amend the proposal based on our comments so that the goal of increasing services and outcomes for students can be met."

Employment

NDRN Comments on August 13, 2007 Proposed Ticket-to-Work Regulations (10/07)

Department of Labor Draft Strategic Plan FY 2006-2011, FR. Doc 06-6685 [rich text version]

"While NDRN applauds the Department of Labor for its continued commitment to ensuring the competitiveness of our nation’s workforce and supports the four broad strategic goals envisioned in the Draft Strategic Plan, we must express sincere disappointment with the draft’s noticeable omission of meaningful, performance driven strategies and goals addressing the needs of individuals with disabilities."

P&A Acts

Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 regulations (06/09/08)

Voting

Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (7/05) [rich text version]

Written in response to the Election Assistance Commission's proposed Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) and solicitation for input from the public on the draft. The VVSG are critical in ensuring accessibility in future elections for voters with disabilities.