The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board was established pursuant to section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. The agency is also known and often referred to as the “Access Board” or simply the “Board.”

The Board is the governing body of the agency. The Board shall have the authority and responsibilities as set forth in section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 792); section 504 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12204); and section 225(e) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 255(e)).

(a) Public Members. (1) The Board shall have thirteen members appointed by the President from among members of the general public, at least a majority of whom shall have disabilities.

(2) Members shall be appointed for a term of four years, may be reappointed to one successive term, and thereafter may not be reappointed unless they have not served on the Access board for at least two years prior to their reappointment. Each year, the terms of at least three members of the Board shall expire. A public member may continue to serve following expiration of the member's term if a successor has not been appointed.

(b) Federal Members. The remaining members of the Board shall be the heads of the following agencies or their designees whose positions are Executive Level IV or higher:

(1) The Department of health and Human Services;

(2) The Department of Transportation;

(3) The Department of Housing and Urban Development;

(4) The Department of Labor;

(5) The Department of the Interior;

(6) The Department of Defense;

(7) The Department of Justice;

(8) The General Services Administration;

(9) The Department of Veterans Affairs;

(10) The United States Postal Service;

(11) The Department of Education; and

(12) The Department of Commerce.

(c) Designation of Federal Board Members and Liaisons. (1) Designation of a Federal Board member other than an agency head shall be made in writing by the agency head or by anyone authorized to provide such designation on behalf of the agency head. The designation may either be of a particular position, an individual, or both. If only a specific person is designated and not the position, a new designation will be required where appointment of another person to fill the position is subsequently made. The designation shall remain in effect for as long as provided for under applicable agency rules, regulations, or policies.

(2) An individual serving in an acting capacity, or who is otherwise temporarily serving, in a position at Executive Level IV or higher may be designated to serve on the Board, subject to any time limitations under applicable law, or under agency rules, regulations, or policies.

(3) Any newly-appointed Federal Board member shall designate in writing a liaison to the Board. A newly appointed Federal Board member may allow an individual previously serving as a liaison to the Board to continue to do so, but must provide a new designation in writing.

(4) Written designation of a Federal Board member or liaison may be in any form (including from a verifiable email address) indicating the identity of the person making the designation and that the person is authorized to do so.

(a) Chair; Vice Chair. (1) The head of the agency is the Chair of the Board and, in his or her absence or disqualification, the Vice-Chair of the Board. As head of the agency, the Chair represents the Board whenever an applicable Federal statute or regulation imposes a duty or grants a right or authority to the head of the agency and has the authority to act in all matters relating to the operation of the Board. The Chair may delegate any such duties and responsibilities by written delegation of authority. The Chair supervises the Executive Director and evaluates his or her performance and approves performance evaluations of employees who report directly to the Executive Director. The authority to supervise, evaluate, and approve performance evaluations of the Executive Director and those employees who report directly to the Executive Director may only be delegated to the Vice-Chair of the Board.

(2) The Chair and the Vice-Chair of the Board shall be elected by a majority of the membership of the Board (as fixed by statute) and serve for terms of one year. Elections shall be held as soon as possible upon completion of the one year term of the Chair and Vice-Chair, ordinarily at the April meeting of the Board. If no new Chair or Vice-Chair has been elected at the end of the one-year term, the incumbents shall continue to serve in that capacity until a successor Chair or Vice-Chair has been elected. When the Chair is a public member, the Vice-Chair shall be a Federal member; and when the Chair is a Federal member, the Vice-Chair shall be a public member. Upon the expiration of the term as Chair of a Federal member, the subsequent Chair shall be a public member; and vice versa.

(b) Executive Director. The Executive Director is nominated by the Chair and confirmed by the Board. The Executive Director provides administrative leadership and supervision and management of staff activities in carrying out the policies and decisions of the Board under the direction and supervision of the Chair. The Executive Director has the authority to execute contracts, agreements, and other documents necessary for the operation of the Board; hire, fire and promote staff (including temporary or intermittent experts and consultants); procure space, equipment, and supplies; and obtain interagency and commercial support services. The Executive Director directs compliance and enforcement activities in accordance with the procedures set forth in 36 CFR part 1150, including issuing citations and determinations not to proceed, conducting negotiations for compliance, entering into agreements for voluntary compliance, and performing all other actions authorized by law pertaining to compliance and enforcement not otherwise reserved to the Board.

(c) General Counsel. The General Counsel is nominated by the Chair and confirmed by the Board. The General Counsel is responsible to the Board under the supervision of the Executive Director.

(a) Delegations to the Executive Committee. The Board may delegate to the Executive Committee (provided for in § 1151.7(a)) authority to implement its decisions by a majority vote of the members present at a meeting and any proxies. To the extent permitted by law, the Board may delegate to the Executive Committee any other of its authorities by two-thirds vote of the members present at a meeting and any proxies. A separate delegation is necessary for each action the Board desires the Executive Committee to implement.

(b) Other. To the extent permitted by law, the Board may delegate other duties to its officers or committees by a vote of two-thirds of the members present at a meeting and any proxies.

(c) Redelegation. Unless expressly prohibited in the original delegation, an officer or committee may redelegate authority.

(a) Number. The Chair shall schedule four meetings of the Board each year starting January 2023, one of which may be a Board sponsored public event outside the Washington, DC area.

(b) Timing. Regular meetings of the Board shall ordinarily be held in January, April, July, and October of each calendar year. The Chair may reschedule a regular meeting of the Board to another date during the month preceding or following the month in which the regularly scheduled meeting was to occur.

(c) Manner of conducting meetings. Two regular Board meetings will be in person, but allow for participation by the Board, liaisons, and members of the public remotely, and two meetings may be entirely remote. The Board shall comply with all legal requirements concerning the manner of conducting meetings, including the requirement to provide reasonable accommodations for Board members, employees, members of the public, and other participants.

(d) Agenda. The Chair establishes the agenda for the meetings, in consultation with the Executive Director as necessary and appropriate. Members or committees may forward submissions for agenda items to the Chair and/or to the Executive Director. Except for items concerning the adoption, amendment, or rescission of the bylaws in this part, an item may be placed before the Board for consideration without the approval of the Chair upon a two-thirds vote of the members present at a Board meeting and any proxies to suspend the rules of order. Items concerning the adoption, amendment, or rescission of the bylaws in this part may be placed on a future Board agenda without the approval of the Chair upon a vote of two-thirds of the membership of the Board (as fixed by statute).

(e) Notice. (1) The Chair shall provide a schedule in writing of Board meetings for the upcoming year at least thirty (30) days prior to the January Board meeting and shall provide to each Board member the agenda and supporting materials for each meeting at least ten (10) work days prior to each meeting. The ten (10) days notice requirement may be waived upon a two-thirds vote by the members present at the Board meeting and any proxies to suspend the rules of order.

(2) The public shall receive notice of the dates of meetings for the upcoming year at least thirty (30) days prior to the January Board meeting. Notice may be by publication of the schedule of meetings on the agency's website and/or through any other means by which interested members of the public are likely to access it. The notice shall include a statement that the Board will provide reasonable accommodations, absent an undue burden, that will enable members of the public to participate in meetings.

(f) Cancellation. The Chair may cancel a regular meeting of the Board by giving written notice of the cancellation at least ten (10) work days prior to the meeting where practical. If the canceled meeting is a public meeting, members of the public will be given notice of its cancelation at the same time as Board members.

(g) Special meetings. The Chair may call special meetings of the Board to deal with important matters arising between regular meetings which require action by the Board prior to the next regular meeting. Voting and discussion shall be limited to the subject matter which necessitated the call of the special meeting. All Board members shall receive reasonable advance notice of the time, place, and purpose of the special meeting. If the special meeting is also a public meeting, members of the public shall be given notice of its occurrence at the same time as Board members, and such notice shall indicate that the Board will provide reasonable accommodations for members of the public to participate in the meeting, absent undue burden.

(h) Record. The Executive Director shall maintain a permanent record of the minutes of all meetings and attendance. The Board shall approve the final minutes after all corrections and additions have been incorporated.

(i) Rules for Board meetings. Meetings of the Board shall be held in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order, except as otherwise prescribed in the bylaws in this part.

(j) Quorum. (1) A quorum shall be the majority of the membership of the Board (as fixed by statute). A majority of the members required for a quorum shall be public members.

(2) Proxies shall not be counted for purposes of establishing a quorum.

(3) If a quorum is not present, a meeting shall be held only for the purpose of discussion and no vote may be taken.

(k) Voting. (1) Only Board members may vote.

(2) Except as otherwise prescribed in the bylaws in this part, a majority vote of the members present and any proxies is necessary for action by the Board.

(3) The presiding officer shall have the same right to vote as any other member.

(4) Any member may give his or her directed or undirected proxy to any other Board member present at the meeting. Proxies shall be given in writing and submitted to the Chair prior to or at the meeting. A directed proxy shall be voided as to a specific issue if the question on which the vote is eventually taken differs from the question to which the proxy is directed.

(5) The Board may act on items of business between meetings by notational voting. At the request of the Chair, the Executive Director shall send a written ballot (which may be in the form of electronic mail) to each Board member describing each item submitted for notational voting. If any Board member requests discussion on an item, the ballots shall not be counted and the Chair shall place the item on the next Board meeting agenda for discussion and voting. Notational votes shall ordinarily occur over a period of five (5) business days, but may be extended, at the Chair's discretion, if, at the conclusion of the voting period, an insufficient number of votes have been cast to approve or disapprove an action.

(l) Telecommunications. A member of the Board shall be considered present at a meeting when he or she participates in person or by conference telephone or similar communication equipment that enables all persons participating in the meeting to communicate with each other.

(a) Executive Committee—(1) Establishment. The Board shall have an Executive Committee to serve as a leadership and coordinating committee. The Executive Committee acts on behalf of the Board in between regularly scheduled Board meetings as necessary and as authorized by delegation of the Board. In addition, the Executive Committee may perform one or more of the following duties:

(i) Review and consider recommendations and proposals from the various subject matter committees;

(ii) Review and make recommendations to the Board to amend or approve the Board's bylaws; and

(iii) Request and review all committee charters.

(2) Chair. The Vice-Chair of the Board shall serve as Chair of the Executive Committee.

(3) Membership. The Executive Committee shall be composed of a minimum of six members, three Federal and three public members, which shall include the Chair and the Vice-Chair of the Board, the chairs of each of the subject matter committees, and two at large members. The two at large members shall balance the number of Federal and public members and shall be elected by the Board after the election of the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board and the chairs of the subject matter committees. In the event that the Board should establish three or more subject matter committees, additional at-large members shall be elected as necessary to balance the Federal and public membership of the committee.

(4) Quorum. A quorum in the Executive Committee shall be a majority of the membership, present at the meeting. In the absence of their Federal member, the liaison may count toward a quorum. If a quorum is not present, a meeting can be held only for the purpose of discussion and no vote may be taken.

(5) Voting. (i) The presiding officer shall have the same right to vote as any other member.

(ii) On matters subject to Board review, liaisons are permitted to vote in the absence of their Federal member. A majority vote of the members (or liaisons) present at the meeting and any directed or undirected proxies is necessary for action by the committee.

(iii) On matters of final action, not subject to Board review, a majority vote of the membership of the committee, present at the meeting or by directed proxy, is necessary for action by the committee. In the absence of their Federal member, liaisons are permitted to cast a directed proxy only.

(b) Subject matter committees—(1) Establishment. The Board may establish or dissolve subject matter committees by a two-thirds vote of the members present and any proxies.

(2) Chair. The Chair of a subject matter committee shall be elected by the Board after the election of the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board. The Chair of a subject matter committee shall serve as a member of the Board's Executive Committee.

(3) Membership. Each subject matter committee shall be comprised of a minimum of five (5), and a maximum of seven (7), members. Except for the Chair of the committee who is elected by the Board, the members of the committee shall be appointed by the Chair of the Board. Members shall serve a term of one year corresponding to that of the Chair of the Board, and continue their duties until their successors have been appointed.

(4) Quorum. A quorum shall be a majority of the actual membership of the committee. A liaison may represent the Federal member for purposes of a quorum. If a quorum is not present, a meeting shall be held only for the purpose of discussion and no vote may be taken.

(5) Voting. Directed or undirected proxies are permitted. In the absence of their Federal member, liaisons are permitted to vote on all matters which are subject to review by the full Board. The presiding officer shall have the same right to vote as any other member. A majority vote of the members (or liaisons) present at the meeting and any directed or undirected proxies is necessary for action by the committee.

(c) Special committees. The Chair, the Board, the Executive Committee or a subject matter committee may appoint a special committee to carry out a specific task. A special committee shall dissolve upon completion of its task or when dissolved by its creator. A special committee shall be governed by the same rules and procedures applicable to subject matter committees unless other rules or procedures are approved by the creator of the committee.

(d) Telecommunications. A member of a committee shall be considered present at a meeting when he or she participates in person or by conference telephone or similar communication equipment which enables all persons participating in the meeting to communicate with each other.

(e) Charter. With the exception of a Committee of the Whole, each committee shall establish a charter and may establish any additional procedures provided that they do not conflict with the provisions of the bylaws in this part.

(f) Procedure. Committee meetings shall be held in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order, except as otherwise prescribed in the bylaws in this part or committee charters.

(g) Records. Committees shall maintain written records of the meetings.

In order to amend the bylaws in this part, a vote of two-thirds of the membership of the Board (as fixed by statute) at the time the vote is taken shall be required. The Board shall not suspend the rules in taking any action concerning adoption, amendment or recision of the bylaws in this part except that by vote of two-thirds of the membership of the Board (as fixed by statute), an item concerning the adoption, amendment or recision of the bylaws in this part may be placed on an agenda for Board consideration at a future meeting.