[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 19, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2926-2927]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-867]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

[Docket No. PHMSA-2009-0408]


Pipeline Safety: Reporting Drug and Alcohol Test Results for 
Contractors and Multiple Operator Identification Numbers

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), 
DOT.

ACTION: Notice; Issuance of Advisory Bulletin.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises operators of gas, hazardous liquid, and 
carbon dioxide pipelines and liquefied natural gas facilities that the 
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office 
of Pipeline Safety (OPS), is modifying the Drug & Alcohol Management 
Information System (DAMIS) to allow the reporting of contractor data 
without duplication and will begin collecting annual drug and alcohol 
testing data for contractor employees with Management Information 
System (MIS) reports due March 15, 2010. The collection of contractor 
MIS reports will provide data for the entire pipeline industry to 
calculate the required minimum annual percent rate for random drug 
testing. Operators will also identify all OPS issued operator 
identification numbers (OpID) covered by a MIS report of operator 
employees.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stanley T. Kastanas, Program Manager, 
Substance Abuse Prevention Program at 202-550-0629 or by e-mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    Under 49 CFR Part 199, each pipeline operator having more than 50 
covered employees must submit an annual MIS report to OPS of its drug 
and alcohol testing results for covered employees by March 15 of each 
year for the prior calendar year. Operators with 50 or fewer covered 
employees may be required to submit annual MIS reports if notified by 
OPS in writing. A covered employee is a person employed by the 
operator, a contractor engaged by the operator, or a person employed by 
such a contractor, who performs operations, maintenance, or emergency 
response functions regulated by 49 CFR Parts 192, 193, and 195.
    In a final rule titled ``Management Information System (MIS) 
Standardized Data Collection and Reporting'' (58 FR 68258, Dec. 23, 
1993), OPS concluded that submission of contractor testing data by 
operators could result in duplicative reporting and inaccurate data. 
OPS noted that inaccuracies could affect the positive rate for the 
entire industry, thereby affecting the minimum annual percent rate for 
random drug testing. Accordingly, OPS deferred collecting contractor 
testing data, but stated that operators must continue to maintain the 
records required by 49 CFR Part 199, and ensure their pipeline 
contractors maintain the same. During subsequent meetings of the 
Technical Pipeline Safety Standards Committee and the Technical 
Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Standards Committee, OPS discussed its 
intent to begin collecting contractor testing data. Comments at these 
meetings were supportive of the initiative to collect contractor data.
    OPS does not directly regulate pipeline contract companies with 
respect to drug and alcohol testing, but places the responsibility on 
operators to ensure all covered employees are tested and, depending on 
the number of covered employees, the testing results are submitted to 
OPS either annually or by OPS written request. Accordingly, pipeline 
operators monitor contractor compliance with drug and alcohol testing 
requirements as required by 49 CFR Part 199. Operators use a variety of 
methods to monitor contractor employees, such as testing of contract 
employees, requiring pipeline contractors to have their own testing 
programs, or working with pipeline contractors that belong to drug 
testing consortium groups. Collecting contractor testing data is 
essential for analyzing OPS's approach to detecting and deterring use 
of controlled substances. The information is also necessary to 
calculate the minimum annual percentage rate for random drug testing, 
which is based on the reported positive rate for the entire industry. 
Collecting this data does not require a rule amendment because 49 CFR 
Part 199 requires operators to report testing data for all covered 
employees, which includes contract employees performing work on their 
pipelines. The preamble to the current rule merely deferred submission 
of the data until the development of a methodology.
    OPS is modifying DAMIS to allow the reporting of contractor data 
without duplication when the contractor works for multiple operators. 
DAMIS is also being modified to allow pipeline operators to submit a 
single operator employee MIS report for pipeline systems operated under 
more than one OPS issued OpID.

II. Advisory Bulletin (ADB-09-04)

    To: Operators of Gas, Hazardous Liquid, and Carbon Dioxide 
Pipelines and Liquefied Natural Gas Facilities.
    Subject: Reporting Drug and Alcohol Test Results for Contractors 
and Multiple Operator Identification Numbers.
    Advisory: Beginning with MIS reports due by March 15, 2010, OPS 
will begin collecting annual drug and alcohol testing data for 
contractor employees. This Advisory Bulletin closes the action 
identified in a Federal Register Publication titled ``Notice of Intent 
to Issue an Advisory Bulletin; Request for Public Comment'' (70 FR 
20800, April 21, 2005), for development of a methodology for collection 
of contractor testing data. Contractors will be identified both by name 
and business tax identification number (BTIN) in the MIS report. The 
inclusion of the BTIN will ensure employees of the same contractor are 
only counted once when OPS calculates the required random testing rate.
    In order to verify reporting of operator employees, each MIS report 
for operator

[[Page 2927]]

employees will include each OPS issued OpID covered by the MIS report.
    Under Part 199, operators who had 50 or more operator and 
contractor employees performing Sec.  199.3 ``covered functions'' 
during calendar year 2009, must submit a MIS report. OPS may also 
request in writing, MIS reports from operators with fewer than 50 
operator and contractor employees performing covered functions. In 
January 2010, OPS plans to notify each operator who is required, or 
requested, to submit a report before March 15, 2010 by mail. The 
notification will include detailed instructions for including all OpID 
and each contractor BTIN in both online and paper MIS reports.
    The total number of covered employees is not limited to employees 
who physically worked in a maintenance, operations, or emergency 
response role during the previous calendar year. The definition of 
``performs a covered function'' in Part 199.3 includes actually 
performing, ready to perform, or immediately available to perform a 
covered function. Operators need to be cognizant of this definition 
when calculating the number of covered employees for both the operator 
and contractors. Employees who ``perform a covered function'' as 
defined in Sec.  199.3, are required to be included in the random drug 
testing pool. The average size of a properly maintained random drug 
testing pool defines the number of covered employees.
    While the total number of covered employees determines if an 
operator must submit a MIS report, operator and contractor employee 
testing data must be submitted in separate MIS reports. Additionally, 
to ensure that contractor employees are only counted once in the entire 
set of calendar year 2009 MIS reports, data for each contractor with a 
unique BTIN will be submitted in a separate MIS report. After mailing 
the detailed instructions to operators, OPS will post the same 
information on the Drug & Alcohol Program Web site at http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline/regs/drug.
    Operators are encouraged to submit MIS reports online. The online 
reporting option improves data accuracy and helps reduce the number of 
incomplete MIS reports. If an operator submits a paper MIS report to 
OPS, the operator will not receive a confirmation receipt for the MIS 
report. If an operator submits an online MIS report and includes an e-
mail address, a confirmation receipt will be sent.

Submission of MIS Reports

    OPS offers the following information to help operators prepare for 
submitting calendar year 2009 MIS reports. For clarity, the process 
steps are presented for single OpID reporting and multiple OpID 
reporting.

Single OpID Reporting

    Step 1: Determine the number of operator employees performing Sec.  
199.3 covered functions during calendar year 2009.
    Step 2: Obtain the BTIN for each contractor who provided Sec.  
199.3 covered functions during calendar year 2009. Determine the number 
of employees performing Sec.  199.3 covered functions during calendar 
year 2009 for each contractor. Sum the number of contractor employees.
    Step 3: Add the number of operator and contractor employees from 
Steps 1 and 2. If this number is less than 50, a MIS report is required 
only if you receive a letter from OPS requesting a MIS report.

Multiple OpID Reporting

    Step 1: Determine the number of operator employees performing Sec.  
199.3 covered functions during calendar year 2009 for each reporting 
OpID. Sum the number of operator employees.
    Step 2: Obtain the BTIN for each contractor who provided Sec.  
199.3 covered functions during calendar year 2009 to any reporting 
OpID. Determine the number of employees performing Sec.  199.3 covered 
functions during calendar year 2009 for each contractor. Sum the number 
of contractor employees.
    Step 3: Add the total number of operator and contractor employees 
from Steps 1 and 2. If this number is less than 50, a MIS report is 
required only if you receive a letter from OPS requesting a MIS report.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. chapter 601 and 49 CFR 1.53.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on January 12, 2010.
Jeffrey D. Wiese,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 2010-867 Filed 1-15-10; 8:45 am]
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