Thread Subject: Re: Undue Burden

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From: terry.weaver@gsa.gov
Date: Thu, Nov 16 2006 4:00 PM

Janice Schacter wrote:
I would like to know where the cite for this is? From a commons sense
point, this does not make sense.

Janice Schacter, ESQ


On Nov 16, 2006, at 4:03 PM, Jim Tobias wrote:

Jim Tobias: Thanks for your reply, Terry. I have a few follow-ups.

>>Terry Weaver - I truncated the copy of Jim Tobias's follow-up questions
to me regarding my earlier email.

The only cite I have is the law itself:
>>Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d), as amended by
the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-220), August 7, 1998
assigns roles and responsibilities to various Federal agencies:
(a) (2) (A) charges the Access Board with developing and issuing
accessibility standards after consulting with a host of stakeholders;
(a) (3) requires the FAR Council to incorporate the Standards
(a) (4) gives agencies the responsibility of determining undue burden
(b) tasks the Access Board and GSA with providing technical assistance
(c) requires agency heads to assess how well their E&IT complies & give
that information to the Attorney General
(d) charges the Attorney General with submitting an (1) interim report to
the President and (2) biennial reports to the President and Congress
(f) addresses enforcement and (1) (A) defines who has standing and what
courses of action are available to them (2) administrative complaints or
(3) civil actions

No provision is made for any one agency to hold another accountable for
its decisions - enforcement is clearly left in the acquisition arena and
only by those people who are personally disadvantaged by the actions (or
inactions) of a Federal agency in implementing Section 508.<<TW<<







"Jagbell" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
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11/16/2006 04:09 PM
Please respond to
"TEITAC Subpart A Subcommittee" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >


To
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Subject
Re: [teitac-subparta] Undue Burden






Terry-

I would like to know where the cite for this is? From a commons sense
point, this does not make sense.

Janice Schacter, ESQ


On Nov 16, 2006, at 4:03 PM, Jim Tobias wrote:

Jim Tobias: Thanks for your reply, Terry. I have a few follow-ups.

2. If there is no such compendium, do we want to recommend that one be
created, to help manage implementation?

>Terry Weaver comment starts> In my opinion, that is outside of this
committee's scope since it would fundamentally change the law.<TW comment
ends<

JT: I don't understand this. Surely an agency is allowed to keep records
regarding its purchases. Or are you saying that agencies would not want
to reveal this information, so they would have to be forced to do so by
law?

4. What is the role of the Dept. of Justice in coordinating a common,
enforceable set of practices for this concept in the context of 508?

>Terry Weaver comment starts> The law provided two roles for DOJ (other
than complying with Section 508 itself) - first, it is to report to
Congress on the progress Federal agencies are making in the implementation
of Section 508. DOJ surveys Federal agencies to collect the data it needs
to make the report. The DOJ survey asks questions regarding the frequency
of undue burden claims (among other things)but since agencies are not
required to track them, very little data is available although it is
envisioned that agencies might be better prepared in the future to answer
such questions as were included in the last DOJ survey. Oh, and DOJ's
second role is to defend Federal agencies in court against such
lawsuits.<TW comment ends<

JT: Wow, so the same agency both oversees implementation and defends
agencies against complaints! I must be naive.... Anyway, let me see if
I've got this right. DoJ must perform the biennial survey by law, and one
question is "how many undue burden claims have you processed", but the
agencies answering the survey are under no obligation to be able to answer
that question. Is that right? I like the "envision[ing] that the
agencies might be better prepared in the future" part. In your opinion,
can TEITAC do anything to make that vision a reality?

Thanks.

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