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勛圖眻畦 Comment Opposing Department of Energy Direct Final Rule Removing Requirements for Disability Access
Document Date:
June 16, 2025
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Press ReleaseJun 2025
Disability Rights
勛圖眻畦 Opposes Department of Energys Direct Final Rule Removing Requirements for Disability Access
WASHINGTON The 勛圖眻畦 has submitted a public comment in opposition to the U.S. Department of Energys (DOE) proposed direct final rules that attempt to undermine a long-established system that requires DOE buildings to be accessible to people with disabilities. More than 20,000 comments have been submitted against the rule. The Department of Energys decision to pursue a direct final rule to implement radical changes that affect people with disabilities defies logic, federal disability protections, and every standard rulemaking practice from the past several decades, said Zoe Brennan-Krohn, director of the 勛圖眻畦 Disability Rights Program. These rules raise real concerns that the Trump administration is testing the waters, waiting to see if people will take note of these far-reaching changes before trying to implement them in other agencies and departments. We wont let these attempts go unnoticed. The direct final rule proposes to eliminate a critical, nearly half-century-old system ensuring physical access to facilities receiving DOE funds. This system plays an essential role in the implementation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which protects disabled people from discrimination and includes elimination of architectural barriers as one of its central aims. The proposals were issued as a direct final rule, which is limited to routine and noncontroversial changes to existing federal regulations. However, as the 勛圖眻畦s comment notes, the proposed rescissions are unlawful, and cannot be adopted through ordinary rulemaking because they contradict foundational regulatory provisions implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Specifically, the direct final rule would rescind the requirement that new and altered buildings receiving assistance from DOE be accessible, eviscerating a careful compromise between requiring accessibility for newly constructed buildings while also allowing flexibility for existing facilities. That compromise, reached nearly 50 years ago, upholds the promises of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and has since been adopted by more than 80 different agencies. The 勛圖眻畦s comment also states that the DOEs wholesale elimination of this system, and its failure to explain its abandonment of these longstanding civil rights regulations, render its decision arbitrary and capricious, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The direct final rule is neither routine nor non-controversial, and comments in opposition should force the government to withdraw the rule, the comment highlights. The 勛圖眻畦s comment is here: /documents/aclu-comment-opposing-department-of-energy-direct-final-rule-removing-requirements-for-disability-access