March 29,1993

(b)(7)(c)
XX
XX
Crowley, Texas   XX

Civil Rights Division
Office on Americans With Disabilities Act
U.S. Department of Justice
P.O. Box 66118
Washington, D.C. 20035-6118

Dear sirs;

      Pursuant to regulations as regards the ADA construction
standards for public buildings, I would appreciate some
information as regards public entities.

     1. Are municipal governments required to follow the
standards for new construction of facilities which are used for
public meetings (i.e. standards for construction under rules
pursuant to Title V of the ADA)? or is the exemption from such
standards under Title III enforceable under Title II which seems
to require the same construction standards as for privately-owned
facilities under Title III?

     2. Are all publicly-owned buildings required to follow the
same construction standards, or is this limited only to those
which the public would be reasonably expected to use or have need
to enter in a normal business sense (i.e. access to a police
department facility or city hall vs. access to a public works
work facility or water department work shop/office area)?

     3. What is the liability in the event such a facility does
not follow the standards for construction when the facility is
owned and operated by a municipality even though construction of
the facility began after publication of the standards for
construction were published and made available?

     4. Can a private citizen, not necessarily a disabled person
as defined under current laws, have standing to file a complaint
as regards accessibility standards and force compliance through
the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division?

     I am not a lawyer but am very interested in learning about
these particular aspects of the Americans with Disabilities Act
of 1990 as I am very active in the community and have been unable
to get answers to these questions just by reading the Act itself,
and because the rules themselves are not in our local library.
I would appreciate your assistance in getting these
questions answered.

Sincerely,
(b)(7)(c)  XX

01-02771