Compliance Blog

Posted by Sarah Loats

The Justice Department has revised its ADA regulations including its Standards for Accessible Design under the ADA. This rule imposes new standards for ATMs, which are set forth in Section 707 of the guidelines.

Some of the standards include ensuring the same degree of privacy for input and output of information is available to all individuals, speech output capability, and providing adequate clear floor or ground space.

Unless a credit union determines that doing so would result in an "undue burden," it may need to bring existing ATMs into compliance. The text below is an excerpt from the final rule adopting enforceable accessibility standards:

ATMs. The 2010 Standards set out detailed requirements for ATMs, including communication-related requirements to make ATMs usable by individuals who are blind or have low vision. In the NPRM, the Department discussed the application of a safe harbor to the communication-related elements of ATMs. The NPRM explained that the Department considers the communication-related elements of ATMs to be auxiliary aids and services, to which the safe harbor for elements built in compliance with the 1991 standards does not apply.

The Department received several comments regarding this issue. Several commenters representing banks objected to the exclusion of communication-related aspects of ATMs from the safe harbor provision. They explained that the useful life of ATMs--on average 10 years--was longer than the Department noted; thus, without the safe harbor, banks would be forced to retrofit many ATMs in order to comply with the proposed regulation. Such retrofitting, they noted, would be costly to the industry. A few representatives of the disability community commented that communication-related aspects of ATMs should be excluded from the safe harbor.

The Department consistently has taken the position that the communication-related elements of ATMs are auxiliary aids and services, rather than structural elements. See 28 CFR part 36, app. B at 728 (2009). Thus, the safe harbor provision does not apply to these elements. The Department believes that the limitations on the effective communication requirements, which provide that a covered entity does not have to take measures that would result in a fundamental alteration of its program or would cause undue burdens, provide adequate protection to covered entities that operate ATMs.

NAFCU's Regulatory Affairs team is working on a Final Regulation summary of this rule. The final rule is effective 6 months from publication in the Federal Register.

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The Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner spoke about Reg Reform on Monday. In his speech, he laid out the core principles that will guide them in the reform going forward:

1. Speed - including speeding up the pace of rule-writing.
2. Full transparency and disclosure.
3. To not layer new rules on top of old ones, but to streamline and simplify.
4. To safeguard freedom of innovation and competition while at the same time preventing abuse and excess risk.
5. Create a more level playing field, domestically and globally.
6. Bring more order and coordination to the regulatory process.

In addition, his comments on consumer protection specifically indicate that they will be looking at simplifying disclosures for credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages. And, in regards to mortgages, he noted that they will be meeting next month with experts in the mortgage industry to discuss how to combine the "two separate and inconsistent federal mortgage disclosure forms." I assume he's talking about the RESPA and TIL disclosures.