The U.S. Department of Transportation released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, opening the comment period over how it intends to reform rules over service animals. Over the summer DOT told airlines they wouldn’t pursue enforcement if they placed certain limits on service animals. Pending new regulations airlines couldn’t ban them outright (Delta rules banning specific breeds of dogs went beyond DOT guidance.) But it was clear the U.S. government was ready for a crackdown.

And now they’ve laid out where they want to go with new rules implementing the Air Carrier Access Act (support animals on planes are often mistakenly believed to be governed by the Americans With Disabilities Act).

While “[t]he Department recognizes the integral role that service animals play in the lives of many individuals with disabilities and wants to ensure that individuals with disabilities can continue using their service animals” the DOT proposes to:

Define a service animal “as a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability” (emphasis mine)

“as a that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability” (emphasis mine) No longer consider an emotional support animal to be a service animal

Provide for a psychiatric service animal if it has “the same training…as other service animals”

if it has “the same training…as other service animals” Develop standard forms for airlines to require from passengers “attesting to a service animal’s good behavior, certifying the service animal’s good health, and if taking a long flight attesting that the service animal has the ability to either not relieve itself, or can relieve itself in a sanitary manner”

Permit airlines to require one additional hour of advance check-in time for passengers traveling with a service animal (to process documentation and “observe the animal”), while requiring “prompt check-in” for such passengers.

Allow airlines to limit a passenger to two service animals and to require animals: to fit into the passenger’s foot space

to be “harnessed, leashed, tethered, or otherwise under the control of its handler”

To allow airlines to refuse transportation to service animals “that exhibit aggressive behavior and that pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others”

Nonetheless airlines will not be permitted to refuse transportation to a service animal purely on the basis of breed (Delta has banned pit bulls – I wonder why – and this would explicitly be forbidden).

A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking opens a public comment period. DOT is required to consider public comments in promulgating a final regulation. They may or may not reach that stage, and final rules can vary from proposed rules. Nonetheless this describes current Department of Transportation thinking on the future of service animals and in particular emotional support animals. I suspect a majority of readers will be sympathetic to this approach. Is that correct?