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Title 29, LaborRelease 119-110

§794f Establishment of Standards for Accessible Medical Diagnostic Equipment

Title 29 › CHAPTER 16 — VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION AND OTHER REHABILITATION SERVICES › SUBCHAPTER V — RIGHTS AND ADVOCACY › § 794f

Last updated Sep 23, 2026|Official source

Summary

By March 23, 2012 (24 months after March 23, 2010), the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board must, working with the FDA Commissioner and following the Administrative Procedure Act, create minimum technical rules for medical diagnostic equipment used in doctors’ offices, clinics, emergency rooms, hospitals, and similar places, such as exam tables and chairs, weight scales, mammography machines, and x‑ray and other radiology devices. The rules must make the equipment accessible so people with disabilities can get on, use, and get off it by themselves as much as possible. The Board must review and update these rules periodically with the FDA using the same rulemaking process.

Full Legal Text

Title 29, §794f

Labor, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Standards
Not later than 24 months after March 23, 2010, the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board shall, in consultation with the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, promulgate regulatory standards in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (2 U.S.C. 551 et seq.) setting forth the minimum technical criteria for medical diagnostic equipment used in (or in conjunction with) physician’s offices, clinics, emergency rooms, hospitals, and other medical settings. The standards shall ensure that such equipment is accessible to, and usable by, individuals with accessibility needs, and shall allow independent entry to, use of, and exit from the equipment by such individuals to the maximum extent possible.
(b)Medical diagnostic equipment covered
The standards issued under subsection (a) for medical diagnostic equipment shall apply to equipment that includes examination tables, examination chairs (including chairs used for eye examinations or procedures, and dental examinations or procedures), weight scales, mammography equipment, x-ray machines, and other radiological equipment commonly used for diagnostic purposes by health professionals.
(c)Review and amendment
The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, in consultation with the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, shall periodically review and, as appropriate, amend the standards in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (2 U.S.C. 551 et seq.).1

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

March 23, 2010, referred to in subsec. (a), was in the original “the date of enactment of the Affordable Health Choices Act”, which was translated as meaning the date of enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub. L. 111–148, which enacted this section, to reflect the probable intent of Congress. The Administrative Procedure Act, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (c), is act
June 11, 1946, ch. 324, 60 Stat. 237, which was repealed and reenacted as subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, by Pub. L. 89–554, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 378.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

29 U.S.C. § 794f

Title 29, Labor

Last Updated

Sep 23, 2026

Release point: 119-110