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Title 40, Public Buildings, Property, and WorksRelease 119-110

§18102 Federal Telecommunications System

Title 40 › SUBTITLE VI — MISCELLANEOUS › CHAPTER 181 — TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACCESSIBILITY FOR HEARING-IMPAIRED AND SPEECH-IMPAIRED INDIVIDUALS › § 18102

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Require the head of the General Services Administration to write rules, after talking with the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, the Interagency Committee on Computer Support of Handicapped Employees, the Federal Communications Commission, and affected agencies, so federal phone and communications services are fully usable by people with hearing or speech disabilities, including federal workers. The Administrator must keep the federal relay service for TTY users, make and keep a directory of TTYs and other devices, publish those access numbers in agency directories, and adopt a standard logo (after consulting the Board) to show when a TTY or device is available.

Full Legal Text

Title 40, §18102

Public Buildings, Property, and Works, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Regulations To Ensure Accessibility.—
The Administrator of General Services, after consultation with the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, the Interagency Committee on Computer Support of Handicapped Employees, the Federal Communications Commission, and affected federal agencies, shall prescribe regulations to ensure that the federal telecommunications system is fully accessible to hearing-impaired and speech-impaired individuals, including federal employees, for communications with and within federal agencies.
(b)Federal Relay System.—
The Administrator shall provide for the continuation of the existing federal relay system for users of TTY’s.
(c)Directory.—
The Administrator shall assemble, publish, and maintain a directory of TTY’s and other devices used by federal agencies to comply with regulations prescribed under subsection (a).
(d)Publication of Access Numbers.—
The Administrator shall publish access numbers of TTY’s and such other devices in federal agency directories.
(e)Logo.—
After consultation with the Board, the Administrator shall adopt the design of a standard logo to signify the presence of a TTY or other device used by a federal agency to comply with regulations prescribed under subsection (a).

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 18102(a)40:762a(a).Pub. L. 100–542, § 3, Oct. 28, 1988, 102 Stat. 2721. 18102(b)40:762a(b)(1). 18102(c), (d)40:762a(b)(2)–(5), (c). 18102(e)40:762a(b)(6). In subsection (a), the words “prescribe

Regulations

to ensure” are substituted for “by regulation, take such actions in accordance with this section as may be necessary to assure” to eliminate unnecessary words. In subsection (c), the text of 40:762a(b)(2)–(4) and (c) is omitted as executed and obsolete. The words “In carrying out subsection (a) of this section” are omitted as unnecessary.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

40 U.S.C. § 18102

Title 40, Public Buildings, Property, and Works

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110