[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 249 (Thursday, December 26, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 67962]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-32821]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
49 CFR Parts 653 and 654
Prevention of Prohibited Drug Use in Transit Operations;
Prevention of Alcohol Misuse in Transit Operations
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of random drug and alcohol testing rate.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the random testing rate for employers
subject to the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) drug and alcohol
rules.
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 1997.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Contact Judy Meade, Director of the Office of
Safety and Security (202) 366-2896 (telephone) and (202) 366-7951
(fax). Electronic access to this and other documents concerning FTA's
drug and alcohol testing rules may be obtained through FTA's Transit
Safety and Security Bulletin Board at 1-800-231-2061 or through the FTA
World Wide Web home page at http://www.fta.bts.gov; both services are
available seven days a week.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
required large transit employers to begin drug and alcohol testing
``safety-sensitive'' employees on January 1, 1995, and to report,
annually by March 15 of each year beginning in 1996, the number of
``safety-sensitive'' employees who had a verified positive for the use
of prohibited drugs, and the number of safety-sensitive employees who
tested positive for the misuse of alcohol. Large employers are required
to annually submit other data, not relevant here, in the same report;
these data are available from the FTA as discussed below. Small
employers started testing their ``safety-sensitive'' employees on
January 1, 1996 and will begin to report the same information as the
large employees beginning on March 15, 1997.
The rules established a random testing rate for prohibited drugs
and the misuse of alcohol; specifically, the rules require that
employers conduct random drug tests at a rate equivalent to at least 50
percent of its total number of safety-sensitive employees for
prohibited drug use and at least 25 percent for the misuse of alcohol.
The rules provide that the drug random testing rate will be lowered to
25 percent if the ``positive rate'' for the entire transit industry is
less than one percent for two consecutive years. Once lowered, it may
be raised to 50 percent if the positive rate equals or exceeds one
percent for any one year. (``Positive rate'' means the number of
positive results for random drug tests conducted under part 653 plus
the number of refusals of random tests required by part 653, divided by
the total number of random drug tests conducted under part 653 plus the
number of refusals of random tests required by part 653.)
Likewise, the alcohol rule provides that the random rate will be
lowered to 10 percent if the ``violation rate'' for the entire transit
industry is less than .5 percent for two consecutive years. It will
remain at 25 percent if the ``violation rate'' is equal to or greater
than .5 percent but less than one percent, and it will be raised to 50
percent if the ``violation rate'' is one percent or greater for any one
year. (``Violation rate'' means the number of covered employees found
during random tests given under part 654 to have an alcohol
concentration of .04 or greater, plus the number of employees who
refuse a random test required by part 654, divided by the total
reported number of employees in the industry given random alcohol tests
under part 654 plus the total reported number of employees in the
industry who refuse a random test required by part 654.)
FTA has received and analyzed the 1995 data from large transit
employers. The ``positive rate'' for random drug tests was 1.7 percent
and the ``violation rate'' for random alcohol tests was 0.24 percent;
therefore, for 1997, transit employers will continue to be required to
conduct random drug tests at a rate equivalent to at least 50 percent
of the total number of its ``safety-sensitive'' employees for
prohibited drugs and at least 25 percent for the misuse of alcohol.
FTA will be publishing in December a detailed report on the 1995
data collected from large employers. This report may be obtained from
the Office of Safety and Security, Federal Transit Administration, 400
Seventh Street, SW, Room 9301, Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-2896.
Issued: December 20, 1996.
Gordon J. Linton,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 96-32821 Filed 12-24-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-U