36 CFR Part 1191 ADA and ABA Accessibility Guidelines for Emergency Transportable Housing Units

B. Scoping Requirements for Units with Communication Features

The ADA and ABA Accessibility Guidelines require at least 2 percent of the residential dwelling units in a facility to provide communication features.³⁵ The advisory committee did not recommend alternate scoping requirements for emergency transportable housing units with communication features. The proposed rule did not specify the number of emergency transportable housing units with communication features to be provided because the number of disaster survivors who need such units may vary from disaster to disaster by the type of site on which the units are installed. Instead, the proposed rule would have required entities to provide emergency transportable housing units with communication features in accordance with the regulations implementing section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Stafford Act, and the ADA, similar to what we proposed for emergency transportable housing units with mobility features.

Some of the disability advocacy organizations and individuals who commented on the proposed rule recommended that 2 percent of the total number of emergency transportable housing units installed on group sites should provide communication features.

The final rule requires entities to provide emergency transportable housing units with communication features as determined by a needs assessment conducted by the entity providing the units because the number of disaster survivors who need units with communication features may vary from disaster to disaster by the type of site on which the units are installed.³⁶ All the emergency transportable housing units provided by FEMA include the communication features required by the final rule, including combination smoke alarms and visual notification appliances complying with NFPA 72 National Fire Alarm Code and weather alert systems with audible and visible output.

^35. Where a facility has 15 or fewer residential dwelling units, the scoping requirement applies to the total number of residential dwelling units that are constructed under a single contract, or are developed as a whole, whether or not located on a common site. See sections 233.3.1, F233.3.1, and F233.4.1 of the ADA and ABA Accessibility Guidelines.

^36. See new section F202.6.5.10 and resdesignated sections 233.3.2.2, F233.3.2.2, and F233.4.2.2 of the ADA and ABA Accessibility Guidelines.