Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a landmark civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability in federally funded programs and activities. Section 504 was the precursor to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Together these laws have far-reaching effects on health care, public education, housing, transportation and much more.
A lawsuit brought by Texas and 16 other states in September 2024 sought to declare Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act unconstitutional. Significant pushback from the disability community resulted in the states dropping the effort to have the entire law invalidated, though they continue to challenge some its regulations.
Now a new threat to Section 504 has emerged. It appears that federal agencies are now seeking other ways to gut the law. Recently the Department of Energy released a "Direct Final Rule" related to Section 504. Among other things, the new rule would delete the requirement that new buildings be constructed to be accessible to people with disabilities.
The Coalition has submitted comments opposing this rule, and encourages others to do the same.
Our comments may be be read here:
Comments may be filed to www.regulations.gov under DOE-HQ-2025-0015 and DOE-HQ-2025-0024, emailed to DOEGeneralCounsel@hq.doe.gov
Comments are due on or before Monday by June 16