WASHINGTON Congressional budget experts say it would cost the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration more than $1 million during the next three years to beef up motorcoach industry compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

But that number may only be the tip of the cost iceberg.

Congress is considering a bill that would require the FMCSA to get tough with motorcoach operators that fail to comply with federal accessibility regulations issued under the Americans with Disabilities Act. (See Dec. 1 Bus & Motorcoach News.)

The proposed legislation is being spearheaded in Congress by the American Bus Association on behalf of several of its big line-run operator members that must compete with ethnic curbside operators that reportedly ignore ADA rules.

The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, where the bill originated, asked the Congressional Budget Office to develop a cost estimate for the legislation.

Interestingly, the CBO came up with a single-page estimate that only measures the fiscal impact on the FMCSA, which would be required to review applications from coach companies seeking interstate operating authority to assure the companies comply with federal ADA regulations.

Additionally, the FMCSA would be required to include ADA requirements in all future compliance reviews it has performed on bus and motorcoach operators.

Many coach industry observers believe that if the FMCSA is required to adopt aggressive new ADA-related requirements and compliance review procedures it also would have to implement extensive reporting and paperwork mandates for private coach operators, plus come up with harsh new penalties for ADA violations.

Based on information provided by the FMCSA, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that developing and enforcing new regulations to implement the proposed legislation would cost the safety agency about $500,000 in fiscal 2008 and something less than $300,000 annually in fiscal 2009, 2010 and succeeding years.

However, the cost estimate does not include the economic impact on private bus operators or other government units, such as states, which perform most compliance reviews on behalf of the FMCSA. Nor does it measure the potential financial impact on the U.S. Department of Justice which initiates ADA enforcement actions.

The congressional budget analysts didn't attempt to gauge the impact on either private operators or other government units because the federal Unfunded Mandates Reform Act excludes from the application of that act any legislative provision that establishes or enforces statutory rights that prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability. In other words, if a piece of legislation deals with disability discrimination, Congress doesn't have to consider the impact on the private sector or other government units.

While the proposed Over-the-Road Bus Transportation Accessibility Act (H.R. 3985) is being ramrodded by the ABA, the United Motorcoach Association is opposing the bill.

UMA says the FMCSA does not need more diversions from its primary job of making the highways safer for motorcoach passengers, operators and other carriers, and that compliance with ADA is a civil rights issue and enforcement should remain with the U.S. Department of Justice.