Small firms may feel strain of new ADA regulation
Sacramento Business Journal - by Kent Hoover Washington bureau chief
Many firms wouldn’t be protected by a proposed safe harbor for small businesses in regulations concerning Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, according to the National Federation of Independent Business.
The U.S. Department of Justice issued proposed regulations June 17 that would revise ADA standards for accessibility to buildings and other public spaces. Under the proposed rules, small businesses that spend 1 percent of their annual gross revenue on barrier removal would be deemed as ADA-compliant.
NFIB criticized this provision in testimony at a July 15 hearing on the proposed regulation.
“Businesses operating at a loss will still be held accountable for spending 1 percent of their gross revenue on barrier removal,” said Karen Harned, executive director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center.
“Struggling small businesses will not be able to make these types of expenditures, making them easy targets for trial lawyers that want to abuse the ADA to sue countless small-business owners.”
Harned also contended the 1 percent safe harbor provision “is in reality a new regulatory tax that would be imposed in perpetuity on small-business owners.”
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