Existing facilities.

§ 4.127 Existing facilities. (a) Accessibility. A recipient shall operate each program or activity so that when each part is viewed in its entirety it is readily accessible to and usable by disabled persons. This paragraph does not necessarily require a recipient to make each of its existing facilities or every part of an existing facility accessible to and usable by disabled persons. (b) Methods. A recipient may comply with the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section through such means as redesign of equipment, reassignment of classes or other services to accessible buildings, assignment of aids to beneficiaries, home visits, delivery of health, welfare or other social services at alternate accessible sites, alteration of existing facilities and construction of new facilities in conformance with the requirements of § 4.128 or any other methods that result in making its program or activity accessible to and usable by disabled persons. A recipient is not required to make structural changes in existing facilities where other methods are effective in achieving compliance with paragraph (a) of this section. In choosing among available methods for meeting the requirement of paragraph (a) of this section, a recipient shall give priority to those methods that serve disabled persons in the most integrated setting appropriate. (c) Time period. A recipient shall comply with the requirement of paragraph (a) of this section within 60 days of the effective date of this subpart except that where structural changes in facilities are necessary, the changes are to be made within three years of the effective date of this subpart, but in any event, as expeditiously as possible. (d) Transition plan. In the event that structural changes to facilities are necessary to meet the requirement of paragraph (a) of this section, a recipient shall develop a transition plan setting forth the steps necessary to complete the changes. The plan is to be developed with the assistance of interested persons, including disabled persons, or organizations representing disabled persons, and the plan is to meet with the approval of the NRC. The recipient shall retain a copy of the transition plan as a record until any structural change to a facility is complete. A copy of the transition plan is to be made available for public inspection. At a minimum, the plan is to: (1) Identify physical obstacles in the recipient's facilities that limit the accessibility and usability of its program or activity to disabled persons; (2) Describe in detail the methods that will be used to make the facilities accessible to and usable by disabled persons; (3) Specify the schedule for taking the steps necessary to achieve full accessibility under paragraph (a) of this section and, if the time period or the transition plan is longer than 1 year, identify steps that will be taken during each year of the transition period; and (4) Indicate the person responsible for implementation of the plan. (e) Notice. The recipient shall adopt and implement procedures to ensure that interested persons, including persons with impaired vision or hearing, can obtain information concerning the existence and location of services, activities, and facilities that are accessible to, and usable by, disabled persons. [45 FR 14535, Mar. 6, 1980, as amended at 53 FR 19244, May 27, 1988; 68 FR 51345, Aug. 26, 2003]