[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 80 (Tuesday, April 27, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 22555-22559]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-10553]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

46 CFR Part 16

[USCG-1998-4469]
RIN 2115-AF67


Management Information System (MIS) Requirements

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is changing the Management Information System 
(MIS) annual reporting requirements for chemical drug testing. The 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had requested that the Coast 
Guard reduce its collection of information effort. This final rule will 
exempt certain marine employers from submitting the annual MIS report 
and will eliminate the requirement for all marine employers to notify 
the Coast Guard when a consortium or other party submits the employer's 
annual report.

DATES: This final rule is effective May 27, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Documents as indicated in this preamble are available for 
inspection or copying at the Docket Management Facility, (USCG-1998-
4469), U.S. Department of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh 
Street SW., Washington DC 20590-0001. You may also access docket 
materials over the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions on this rule, contact 
Lieutenant Jennifer Ledbetter, Coast Guard, telephone 202-267-0684. For 
questions on viewing, or submitting material to the docket, contact 
Dorothy Walker, Chief, Dockets, Department of Transportation, telephone 
202-366-9329.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulatory History

    The Coast Guard published a notice of proposed rulemaking entitled 
``Management Information System (MIS) Requirements'' in the Federal 
Register on December 24, 1998 [63 FR 71257]. The Coast Guard received 
five letters commenting on the proposed rulemaking. No public hearing 
was requested, and none was held.
    At the close of the comment period for the NPRM, we mailed a letter 
to all 82 marine employers who, based on our records, would be exempt 
from filing the MIS report this year if the proposal were made final. 
The letter extended the MIS report-filing deadline for these employers 
by 90 days, to give the Coast Guard time to publish its final rule 
before these employers would be required to file their annual report.

Background and Purpose

    The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requested that the Coast 
Guard reduce the amount of information collected under the Management 
Information System (MIS) annual reporting requirements for chemical 
testing data. The required reports provide drug and alcohol testing 
information from marine employer chemical testing programs. The Coast 
Guard and OMB discussed how to reduce the annual reporting requirements 
for chemical drug testing information. The reductions discussed with 
OMB are set out in this final rule.

Discussion of Comments

    The Coast Guard received five written comments in response to the 
notice of proposed rulemaking. All comments were considered in 
developing the final rule.
    One of the comments made suggestions concerning aspects of chemical 
testing not addressed in this rulemaking. Those suggestions have been 
forwarded to the program manager for consideration.

Written Notification Requirement

    Four of the comments supported (the fifth comment did not address) 
the proposal to eliminate the requirement for marine employers in a 
drug-testing consortium to notify the Coast Guard in writing that the 
consortium will submit the employer's annual MIS report.

Annual MIS Report Submission Requirement

    Two of the comments supported the proposal to exempt marine 
employers with 10 or fewer employees who have submitted the MIS report 
for 3 consecutive years from further submissions of the report.
    Three of the comments objected to the proposal to exempt these 
marine employers from submitting the MIS report. The comments expressed 
concern that the exemption would negatively affect the Coast Guard's 
yearly calculations for determination of the random testing rate for 
the next year.
    The Coast Guard used three years of actual data (1995-1997) to 
calculate what the random testing rate would have been if eligible 
employers had not submitted reports starting with 1995. We found that 
the difference in data attributable to exemption of employers with 10 
or fewer employees would not have resulted in a different annual random 
rate determination for any of those years. A copy of these calculations 
is available in the docket for review.
    We are, therefore, adopting the proposed exemption without change 
in this final rule.

Discussion of Rule

    Part 16 of Title 46 of the Code of Federal Regulations requires all 
marine employers to collect chemical drug and alcohol testing data from 
their programs. It also requires marine employers to submit this data 
to the Coast Guard in an annual MIS report. Specific requirements for 
collecting and submitting this data are listed in Sec. 16.500. Marine 
employers must submit all chemical drug and alcohol testing data on 
Form CG-5573 found in Appendix B of 46 CFR part 16. Section 16.500 
allows a consortium or other employer representative to submit the 
chemical drug and alcohol testing data for a marine employer. Unless 
submitting their own report, marine employers must notify us in writing 
each year naming the consortium or other employer representative 
submitting the report.
    We are incorporating the following changes to our MIS reporting 
requirements:
     Removing the requirement for marine employers to notify 
the Coast

[[Page 22556]]

Guard in writing each year that a consortium or other employer 
representative will submit the annual MIS report.
     Removing the annual MIS report submission requirement for 
marine employers with 10 or fewer employees subject to testing by Part 
16 (covered employees) after submission of the third consecutive annual 
MIS report.
     Reorganizing Sec. 16.500, incorporating these changes and 
revising the language for clarity.

Written Notification Requirement

    We are removing the written notification requirement in 
Sec. 16.500(c) for marine employers included in a consolidated annual 
MIS report to inform the Coast Guard of the name of the consortium or 
other representative submitting the annual MIS report. Since 
consortiums must submit a list of employers included in their annual 
MIS report, the individual written notifications are no longer needed. 
We can use the consortium lists to determine employer compliance with 
the reporting requirements. This change will apply to all marine 
employers.

Annual MIS Report Submission Requirement

    We are also removing the annual MIS report submission requirement 
for marine employers with 10 or fewer covered employees after they have 
submitted the annual MIS report (Form CG-5573) for three consecutive 
years since January 1, 1996. Marine employers who have already met the 
submission requirement for the three preceding years can use the new 
exemption this year and each following year during which they have no 
more than 10 covered employees.
    This final rule will not change the recordkeeping requirement for 
marine employers. All marine employers must continue collecting and 
keeping the required drug testing data, making it available to the 
Coast Guard if requested.

Editorial Changes

    We have also made several editorial changes and clarified the 
language in Sec. 16.500. We have reorganized and shortened the 
paragraphs and simplified the regulatory language. None of these 
editorial changes substantively change existing requirements.
    The two substantive changes to the MIS reporting requirements will 
reduce the reporting burden on marine employers but will still ensure 
that we receive adequate chemical testing data for analysis and program 
management.

Regulatory Evaluation

    This final rule is not a significant regulatory action under 
section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866 and does not require an 
assessment of potential costs and benefits under section 6(a)(3) of 
that Order. It has not been reviewed by the Office of Management and 
Budget under that Order. It is not significant under the regulatory 
policies and procedures of the Department of Transportation (DOT) (44 
FR 11040; February 26, 1979).

Written Notification Requirement

    This rule removes the written notification requirement for marine 
employers using a consortium or other party to submit their annual MIS 
reports. Marine employers using a consortium or other representative to 
file annual MIS reports will no longer need to submit written 
notification to the Coast Guard.
    According to current MIS data, 7,150 marine employers are members 
of consortiums. The cost of each written notification is approximately 
$12 (15 minutes of administrative time at $45 per hour to draft the 
written notification). This change will reduce the employer reporting 
burden by a total of 5,361 hours and $241,313 for 3 years.

Annual MIS Report Submission Requirement

    This rule removes the annual MIS report (Form CG-5573) submission 
requirement for marine employers with 10 or fewer covered employees who 
submit an individual annual MIS report, and who have submitted the 
required MIS reports for three consecutive years since January 1, 1996. 
The estimated response burden for each MIS form submitted is calculated 
at $45 per hour, with each form averaging about one hour to complete. 
The MIS data from 1994 through 1997 indicated an average of 885 forms 
submitted annually to the Coast Guard. The forms represent 860 
individual employer submissions and 25 consortium submissions 
consolidating data for 7,150 employers.
    The 1997 MIS data indicated that 354 of the 885 forms received were 
submitted by employers with 10 or fewer covered employees. We are 
removing the annual MIS report submission requirement for marine 
employers with 10 or fewer covered employees who have filed the report 
for three consecutive years since January 1, 1996. Of the 354 
employers, 82 have filed three consecutive annual MIS reports since 
January 1, 1996, and will not need to submit an annual MIS report in 
1999. These marine employers will also be exempt from submitting the 
annual MIS report each following year during which they have no more 
than 10 covered employees. An additional 92 marine employers will be 
qualified for the exemption in 2000 and the remaining 180 will be 
qualified for exemption in 2001.
    This exemption will result in the following costs during the first 
three years for the MIS form submission for employers with 10 or fewer 
covered employees: Initial year, 272 forms (354-82)  x  $45 = $12,240, 
the second reporting year, 180 forms (272-92)  x  $45 = $8,100, and the 
final reporting year will have no costs.
    The total reporting burden for the remaining 531 forms from 
consortiums (25 forms) and employers (506 forms) with 11 or more 
covered employees will cost $23,895 annually. The three-year cost will 
be $71,685 ($23,895  x  3 years). Combined with the costs for 10 or 
fewer covered employees of $20,340, results in a cost of $92,025 
($20,340 + $71,685).
    The total recordkeeping costs for MIS requirements will not change 
and will remain at $39,825 annually. The three-year cost will be 
$119,475 ($39,825  x  3 years). The total costs to the marine industry 
for the three year period will be $211,500 [$92,025 (reporting) + 
$119,475 (recordkeeping)].
    The following table summarizes the reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for Subcategory III by the end of 3 years.

                                               MIS Burden Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Notification                         Total burden hours
     Year      Employer category   Annual MIS report        letter           Recordkeeping         and costs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  Hours: 803 hrs      ..................  Hours: 885 hrs      Burden Hours:
                                  Costs: $36,135                          Costs: $39,825       1,688 hrs.
                                                                                              Costs: $75,960.
1............  10      272 forms  x  $45/  Letters: 0          ..................  ..................
                employees.         hour               Requirement
                                                       Removed
               11      506 forms  x  $45/  ..................  ..................  ..................
                employees.         hour
               Consortiums......  25 forms  x  $45/   ..................  ..................  ..................
                                   hour

[[Page 22557]]

 
                                  Hours: 711 hrs      ..................  Hours: 885 hrs      Burden Hours:
                                  Costs: $31,995                          Costs: $39,825       1,596 hrs.
                                                                                              Costs: $71,820.
2............  10      180 forms  x  $45/  Letters: 0          No Change           ..................
                employees.         hour               Requirement
                                                       Removed
               11      506 forms  x  $45/  ..................  ..................  ..................
                employees.         hour
               Consortiums......  25 forms  x  $45/   ..................  ..................  ..................
                                   hour
                                  Hours: 531 hrs      ..................  Hours: 885 hrs      Burden Hours:
                                  Costs: $23,895                          Costs: $39,825       1,416 hrs.
                                                                                              Costs: $63,720.
3............  10      0 forms  x  $45/    Letters: 0          No Change           ..................
                employees.         hour               Requirement
                                                       Removed
               11      506 forms  x  $45/  ..................  ..................  ..................
                employees.         hour
               Consortiums......  25 forms  x  $45/   ..................  ..................  ..................
                                   hour
                                  ..................  ..................  ..................  3-Year Total:
                                                                                              Burden Hours:
                                                                                               4,700 hrs.
                                                                                              Costs: $211,500.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The cost to the Coast Guard for each MIS report submitted is 
calculated at approximately $15 per report. Each report averages about 
$15 to review, collate, and file this information with the responsible 
research center. This costs the Coast Guard about $30,675 (2,045 
reports submitted x $15) for the 3-year period.

Summary of Benefits

    This final rule removes the written notification requirement in 
Sec. 16.500 for marine employers who do not submit their own annual MIS 
report to inform the Coast Guard in writing the name of the consortium 
or other representative submitting their annual MIS report. Marine 
employers using a consortium or other representative to file annual MIS 
reports will no longer need to submit written notification to the Coast 
Guard. According to current MIS data, 7,150 marine employers are 
members of consortiums. This final rule will reduce the employer 
reporting burden by a total of 5,361 hours (1,787 hours per year) and 
$241,313 ($80,438 per year). This final rule removes the annual notice 
requirement for all marine employers who report through their 
respective consortium. The rule will also reduce the reporting 
requirement for all marine employers of 10 or fewer covered employees 
to submit the annual MIS form for chemical and drug testing data.
    This final rule will reduce the employer reporting burden hours by 
a total of 5,715 hours (5,361 Notification Letter 43 354 MIS Report) at 
$257,243 ($241,313 Notification Letter 43 $15,930 MIS Report) by the 
end of 3 years.
    This final rule will also benefit the marine industry by reducing 
the reporting requirements for certain marine employers by 40%. By 
exempting those employers with 10 or fewer covered employees who have 
provided the required MIS reports for three consecutive years since 
January 1, 1996, industry will save $15,930 in reporting costs for the 
three-year period.

Small Entities

    Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), the 
Coast Guard considered whether this rule will have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. ``Small 
entities'' include small businesses, not-for-profit organizations that 
are independently owned and operated and are not dominant in their 
fields, and governmental jurisdictions with populations of less than 
50,000.
    This rule will only affect small entities by reducing their annual 
reporting burden. The MIS data indicates how many employees are subject 
to chemical drug testing, not the total number of employees. However, 
those marine employers with 10 or fewer employees are most likely 
considered small entities. This rule will reduce the reporting burden 
and will not create an additional burden for this group or any other 
marine employers. This final rule will reduce the employer reporting 
burden hours by a total of 5,715 hours (5,361 Notification Letter 43 
354 MIS Report) at $257,243 ($241,313 Notification Letter 43 $15,930 
MIS Report) by the end of 3 years.
    This rule will result in a maximum savings, each year, for small 
entities of one hour and 15 minutes of administrative time valued at 
$57.
    Therefore, the Coast Guard certifies under section 605(b) of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) that this final rule 
will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities.

Assistance for Small Entities

    In accordance with section 213(a) of the Small Business Regulatory 
Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-121), the Coast Guard 
offered to assist small entities in understanding the rule so that they 
could better evaluate its effects on them and participate in the 
rulemaking process. We received no comments raising small entity 
issues.
    The Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory Enforcement Ombudsman 
and 10 Regional Fairness Boards were established to receive comments 
from small businesses about Federal agency enforcement actions. The 
Ombudsman will annually evaluate the enforcement activities and rate 
each agency's responsiveness to small business. If you wish to comment 
on the enforcement actions of the Coast Guard, call 1-888-REG-FAIR (1-
888-734-3247).

Collection of Information

    This final rule provides for a collection of information under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). As defined in 
5 CFR 1320.3(c), ``collection of information'' includes reporting, 
recordkeeping, monitoring, posting, labeling, and other, similar 
actions. The title and description of the information collections, a 
description of the respondents, and an estimate of the total annual 
burden follow. Included in the estimate is the time for reviewing 
instructions, searching existing sources of data, gathering and 
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the 
collection.

[[Page 22558]]

    Title: Collection of Commercial Vessel and Personnel Accident 
(Marine Casualty) Information and Programs for Chemical Drug & Alcohol 
Testing of Commercial Vessel Personnel, including Required Drug and 
Alcohol Testing following a Serious Marine Accident
    Summary of the Collection of Information: 46 U.S.C. 6101 authorizes 
the Coast Guard to prescribe regulations for the annual MIS reporting 
requirements for chemical drug testing. Section 16.500 contains the 
requirement for all marine employers to collect chemical drug and 
alcohol testing data for their employees. All marine employers must 
submit this data to the Coast Guard in an annual MIS report. Marine 
employers must submit all chemical drug and alcohol testing data on 
Form CG-5573 found in Appendix B of 46 CFR Part 16. This final rule 
will eliminate the annual MIS report submission requirement for 
employers with 10 or fewer covered employees who have provided the 
required MIS reports for three consecutive years since January 1, 1996.
    The annual burden of the MIS reporting requirements to industry was 
developed from employer size, employer reports, and type of submitter. 
The annual burden estimates are based on data from 1994 through 1997. 
In 1997 the Coast Guard received 354 individual reports from employers 
with 10 or fewer covered employees. This rule will exempt these marine 
employers (following their third consecutive submission) from 
submitting the annual MIS report each following year during which they 
have no more than 10 covered employees. This will result in a total 
annual reporting burden reduction of 354 hours with a 40% reduction in 
the number of forms submitted to the Coast Guard with only a 4% 
reduction in data.
    After employers with 10 or fewer covered employees are exempted, 
the annual average reporting burden is 531 reports representing 7,656 
employers. This consists of 506 reports from employers with 11 or more 
employees and 25 reports from consortiums representing approximately 
7,150 employers.
    Need for Information: The requirement to submit MIS information 
will help meet the goal of knowing the location of all marine employers 
and ensuring complete compliance with drug testing regulations.
    Proposed Use of Information: The Coast Guard will utilize this 
information to identify significant trends of drug abuse in the marine 
industry through program implementation.
    Description of the Respondents: Consortia and independent marine 
employers who collect and submit chemical and drug testing data for 
their employees.
    Number of Respondents: 7,656 marine employers who collect and 
submit chemical and drug testing data for their employees.
    Frequency of Response: Affected marine employers are required to 
submit anti-drug program reports on an annual basis.
    Burden of Response: All marine employers must submit data from 
their chemical testing program to the Coast Guard in the annual MIS 
report (Form CG-5573). A consortium or other employer representative 
may submit the data for a marine employer. After submission of the 
third annual MIS report, this rulemaking will reduce the reporting 
requirement for all marine employers with 10 or fewer covered employees 
by not requiring them to submit the annual MIS form for chemical drug 
and alcohol testing data for succeeding years during which they had no 
more than 10 covered employees.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 7,656 marine employers.
    As required by 5 U.S.C. 3507(d), the Coast Guard submitted a copy 
of this rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its 
review of the collection of information. OMB has approved the 
collection. The section number is 16.500, and the corresponding 
approval number from OMB is OMB Control Number 2115-0003, which expires 
on January 31, 2002.
    Persons are not required to respond to a collection of information 
unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

Federalism

    The Coast Guard has analyzed this final rule under the principles 
and criteria contained in Executive Order 12612 and has determined that 
this final rule does not have sufficient implications for federalism to 
warrant the preparation of a Federalism Assessment.

Environment

    The Coast Guard considered the environmental impact of this final 
rule and concluded that, under figure 2-1, paragraph (34)(a) of 
Commandant Instruction M16475.1C, this final rule is categorically 
excluded from further environmental documentation. The final rule will 
exempt certain marine employers from submitting the annual MIS report 
for chemical drug testing and will eliminate the requirement for 
written notification. The final rule makes only administrative changes 
to a currently approved information collection for the annual MIS 
report. A ``Categorical Exclusion Determination'' is available in the 
docket for inspection or copying where indicated under ADDRESSES.

Unfunded Mandates

    Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) [Pub. 
L. 104-4, 109 Stat. 48] requires Federal agencies to assess the effects 
of certain regulatory actions on State, local, and tribal governments, 
and the private sector. UMRA requires a written statement of economic 
and regulatory alternatives for rules that contain Federal mandates. A 
``Federal mandate'' is a new or additional enforceable duty imposed on 
any State, local, or tribal government, or the private sector. If any 
Federal mandate causes those entities to spend, in the aggregate, $100 
million or more in any one year, the UMRA analysis is required. This 
rule does not impose Federal mandates on any State, local, or tribal 
governments, or the private sector.

Other Executive Orders on the Regulatory Process

    In addition to the statutes and Executive Orders already addressed 
in this preamble, the Coast Guard considered the following executive 
orders in developing this rule and reached the following conclusions:
    E.O. 12630, Governmental Actions and Interference with 
Constitutionally Protected Property Rights. This rule will not effect a 
taking of private property or otherwise have taking implications under 
this Order.
    E.O. 12875, Enhancing the Intergovernmental Partnership. This rule 
will not impose, on any State, local, or tribal government, a mandate 
that is not required by statute and that is not funded by the Federal 
government.
    E.O. 12988, Civil Justice Reform. This rule meets applicable 
standards in sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of this Order to minimize 
litigation, eliminate ambiguity, and reduce burden.
    E.O. 13045, Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks 
and Safety Risks. This rule is not an economically significant rule and 
does not concern an environmental risk to safety disproportionately 
affecting children.

List of Subjects in 46 CFR Part 16

    Chemical testing, Data collection, Data reporting.


[[Page 22559]]


    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Coast Guard amends 
46 CFR part 16 as follows:

PART 16--CHEMICAL TESTING

    1. The authority citation for part 16 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 46 U.S.C. 2103, 3306, 7101, 7301, and 7701; 49 CFR 
1.46.

    2. Revise Sec. 16.500 to read as follows:


Sec. 16.500  Management Information System requirements.

    (a) Data collection. All marine employers must collect the 
following drug and alcohol testing program data for each calendar year:
    (1) Total number of employees during the calendar year that were 
subject to the drug testing rules in this part.
    (2) Number of employees subject to testing under the anti-drug 
rules of both the Coast Guard and another DOT agency based on the 
nature of their assigned duties as identified by each agency.
    (3) Number of drug and alcohol tests conducted identified by test 
type. Drug test types are pre-employment, periodic, random, post-
accident, and reasonable cause. Alcohol test types are post-accident 
and reasonable cause.
    (4) Number of positive drug test results verified by a Medical 
Review Officer (MRO) by test type and types of drug(s). Number of 
alcohol tests resulting in a blood alcohol concentration weight of .04 
percent or more by test type.
    (5) Number of negative drug and alcohol test results reported by 
MRO by test type.
    (6) Number of applicants denied employment based on a positive drug 
test result verified by an MRO.
    (7) Number of marine employees with a MRO-verified positive test 
result who returned to duty in a safety-sensitive position subject to 
required chemical testing, after meeting the requirements of 
Sec. 16.370(d) and part 5 of this chapter.
    (8) Number of marine employees with positive drug test results 
verified by a MRO as positive for one drug or a combination of drugs.
    (9) Number of employees required under this part to be tested who 
refused to submit to a drug test.
    (10) Number of covered employees and supervisory personnel who 
received the required initial training.
    (b) Data reporting. (1) By March 15 of the year following the 
collection of the data in paragraph (a) of this section, marine 
employers must submit the data on Form CG-5573 to Commandant (G-MOA), 
2100 Second Street, SW, Washington, DC, 20593-0001. Marine employers 
must complete all data fields on the form.
    (2) Form CG-5573 is reproduced in Appendix B of this part and you 
may obtain the form from any Marine Inspection Office. You may also 
download a copy of Form CG-5573 from the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety 
and Environmental Protection web site at http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-
m.html.
    (3) A consortium or other employer representative may submit data 
for a marine employer. Reports may contain data for more than one 
marine employer. Each report, however, must list the marine employers 
included in the report.
    (4) Marine employers must ensure that data submitted by a 
consortium or other employer representative under paragraph (b)(3) of 
this section is correct.
    (c) After filing 3 consecutive annual MIS reports since January 1, 
1996, required by paragraph (b) of this section, marine employers with 
10 or fewer covered employees may stop filing the annual report each 
succeeding year during which they have no more than 10 covered 
employees.
    (d) Marine employers who conduct operations regulated by another 
Department of Transportation Operating Administration must submit 
appropriate data to that Operating Administration for employees subject 
to that Operating Administration's regulations.

    Dated: April 18, 1999.
R. C. North,
Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety and Environmental Protection.
[FR Doc. 99-10553 Filed 4-26-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P