FTA Drug And Alcohol Regulation Updates

Issue 13

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) published its final rules on prohibited drug use (49 CFR Part 653) and the prevention of alcohol misuse (49 CFR Part 654) on February 15, 1994. Shortly thereafter, the FTA published the Implementation Guidelines for Drug and Alcohol Regulations in Mass Transit to provide a comprehensive overview of the regulations.

Since the Guidelines were published there have been numerous amendments, interpretations, and clarifications to the Drug and Alcohol testing procedures and program requirements.

This publication is being provided to update the Guidelines and inform your transit system of all of these changes. This Update is the thirteenth in a series.

Inside....

Random Rates Remain The Same For 2000

   The drug and alcohol random testing rates for the transit industry are established each year based on the positive random test results experienced by the transit industry as a whole during the previous two year period. The positive random test results are provided to FTA by individual employers on their annual MIS reports.
   The drug test rate is calculated by adding the positive tests to the number of refusals and dividing the total by the total number of random tests conducted and refused. The positive rate for drugs in 1997 was 1.21% and 1.07% in 1998. Since the rate for both years is greater than 1.0%, the drug random testing rate for employers subject to FTA drug testing rules (49 CFR Part 653) will remain at fifty percent for calendar year 2000.
   Similarly, the industry-wide violation rate for random alcohol tests is calculated by dividing the sum of the number of employees testing at 0.04 or greater and the number of test refusals by the sum of the total number of tests conducted and refused. In 1997, the violation rate was 0.19% and in 1998 the violation rate was 0.22%. Since both rates are below 0.5%, the alcohol random testing rate for employers subject to FTA alcohol testing rule (49 CFR Part 654) will remain at ten percent for calendar year 2000. An FTA notice officially announcing these rates was published in the Federal Register November 24, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 226).

Job Access Grantees Subject to Testing

   The regulations (49 CFR 653.5 and 49 CFR 654.3) stipulate that FTA drug and alcohol regulations are applicable to all recipients under Section 5309, 5307, and 5311 of the Federal Transit Act. The regulations are also applicable to any recipient of a Job Access or Reverse Commute grant authorized under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century (TEA-21), Pub. L. 105-178. Section 3037(j)(1) of TEA-21 states that all Job Access and Reverse Commute grants shall be subject to “all of the terms and conditions to which a grant is made under Section 5307.” Rural Job Access grantees (service area < 50,000) are subject to all of the terms and conditions to which a grant is made under Section 5311.

Part 40 Revisions Proposed

   The Department of Transportation (DOT) is responsible for developing the procedural requirements for drug and alcohol testing in the transportation industry. These requirements are promulgated at 49 CFR Part 40.
   As technology advances, the testing industry evolves and practical experience warrants, these procedures must likewise evolve. Consequently, the DOT is proposing changes to Part 40 that will reflect this evolution, clarify past interpretations, and enhance the quality of the testing program.
   The new Part 40 was published in the form of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register on December 9, 1999, (Volume 64, Number 236, Pages 69075 - 69136). The NPRM can be found online at www.access.gpo.gov.
   All interested parties are encouraged to comment by the April 7, 2000 deadline. Comments should be provided in triplicate to: Docket Clerk, Attn: Docket No. OST-99-6578, Department of Transportation, 400 7th Street, SW, Room PL401, Washington, DC 20590.
   Once all the comments have been collected, the DOT will review each comment and revise the proposed rule. Once finalized, the final rule and effective date will be published in the Federal Register.