[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 96 (Tuesday, June 13, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1229]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   THE OMNIBUS TRANSPORTATION EMPLOYEE TESTING ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1995

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                         HON. NORMAN Y. MINETA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 13, 1995
  Mr. MINETA. Mr. Speaker, today, I am introducing the Omnibus 
Transportation Employee Testing Act Amendments of 1995. This bill, if 
enacted, will allow both the Department of Transportation and 
transportation employers to focus their efforts and resources on 
activities that truly enhance safety.
  In 1991, Congress enacted legislation that imposed significant new 
drug and alcohol testing requirements on the transportation sector. The 
required testing included all modes--mass transit, railroad, trucking, 
and aviation--and many kinds of testing--preemployment, reasonable 
suspicion, random, and postaccident. The purpose of the legislation was 
to improve transportation safety, and the bill contributed to that 
goal.
  However, one part of this bill has been mired in legal problems, and, 
as a result, simply does not contribute to transportation safety. That 
is the part of the bill having to do with preemployment testing for 
alcohol.
  The core of the problem is that alcohol consumption by someone not 
yet employed in the transportation sector is not illegal. The bill 
attempted to deal with this problem by requiring preemployment testing 
for alcohol use, in violation of law or Federal regulation. However, 
this creates an unworkable situation where we require employers to test 
applicants, knowing that in virtually all instances, the results cannot 
be put to any purpose.
  A recent decision by the court of appeals found that the Department 
of Transportation's regulations to implement preemployment testing for 
alcohol were inappropriate and the court vacated those regulations. The 
Department of Transportation suspended the regulations for 
preemployment alcohol testing to comply with the court's decision. But, 
we still have on the books statutory requirement to do something that 
everyone now acknowledges makes no sense, that is preemployment testing 
of all applicants for illegal consumption of alcohol.
  We need to clean up this absurd situation and get both industry and 
the Department of Transportation focused on the testing that improves 
transportation safety. DOT estimates that preemployment alcohol testing 
of transportation applicants would cost around $30 million per year. 
This represents resources and attention that would be far more 
effective if focused on the testing that does produce safety benefits. 
We need to focus on the requirements for reasonable suspicion, random, 
and postaccident testing with respect to alcohol. In the case of 
illegal drugs, we need to focus on all types of testing, including 
preemployment.
  The bill I am introducing today would rescind the invalidated 
requirement for preemployment alcohol testing of transportation 
employees, while making it clear that employers have the option of 
conducting such tests, if they wish. All other requirements for drug 
and alcohol testing are retained.
  Thus, this bill eliminates a requirement that has proven to be 
unworkable, in favor of those requirements that have been effective in 
our ongoing efforts to improve transportation safety. We need to focus 
both our resources and our regulatory attention on those areas where we 
can achieve the greatest public safety benefit.
    Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act Amendments of 1995--
                      Section-by-Section Analysis

       Section 1: Section 1 establishes a short title for the 
     bill--the ``Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act 
     Amendments of 1995.''
       Section 2: Section 2 amends existing language of the 
     Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991 
     concerning drug and alcohol testing in the mass transit 
     industry. It does not change the current provision of the Act 
     that the regulations requiring testing in that industry 
     provide for preemployment, reasonable suspicion, random, and 
     post-accident drug testing. However, it provides that only 
     three kinds of alcohol testing--reasonable suspicion, random, 
     and post-accident--are required. The bill would eliminate the 
     statutory mandate for preemployment alcohol testing, on the 
     basis that this form of alcohol testing is less necessary 
     than the others in order to have an effective program for 
     deterrence and detection of alcohol misuse. Because alcohol 
     is a legal substance that dissipates from the bloodstream 
     relatively quickly, testing for its presence is most valuable 
     at the time when safety-sensitive functions are performed. By 
     contrast, the drugs for which testing is required are 
     illegal, and their detection even during preemployment 
     testing is important. Preemployment alcohol testing under the 
     Act currently is estimated to cover more than seven million 
     employees and cost about $30 million annually.
       However, many employers may find that conducting 
     preemployment alcohol testing can serve a useful purpose as a 
     way of emphasizing, from the outset of an employee's 
     connection with an employer, the employer's commitment to a 
     substance abuse-free transportation workplace. Employers may 
     also find preemployment alcohol testing helpful to screen out 
     applicants whose use of alcohol is chronic. Such employers 
     may wish to have preemployment alcohol testing as part of 
     their substance abuse prevention programs. For this reason, 
     the amendment provides that employers who choose to require 
     preemployment alcohol testing may do so as part of their 
     program that responds to the Act and Department of 
     Transportation regulations.
       Section 3: This section makes parallel changes to the 
     railroad industry testing requirements under the Omnibus 
     Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991.
       Section 4: This section makes parallel changes to the motor 
     carrier industry testing requirements under the Omnibus 
     Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991.
       Section 5: This section makes parallel changes to the 
     aviation industry testing requirements under the Omnibus 
     Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991, including 
     testing for Federal Aviation Administration employees 
     performing safety-sensitive functions.
       Section 6: This section establishes an effective date for 
     the amendments made by the Act.
     

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