[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 90 (Tuesday, May 11, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26183-26184]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-10488]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

49 CFR Part 40

[Docket OST-2008-0088]
RIN OST 2105-AE01


Procedures for Transportation Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing 
Programs

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation is proposing only to extend 
the date for the mandatory use of our recently updated Alcohol Testing 
Form (ATF) to January 1, 2011. The revised ATF went into effect on 
February 25, 2010 with a mandatory use date of August 1, 2010. After 
publishing the February 25 revisions, we learned that vendors and users 
of the ATF will not be able to deplete their current supply of ATFs by 
August 1, 2010. Therefore, in order to assist the transportation 
industries and their service agents in their efforts to be economically 
efficient and more environmentally ``green,'' we are seeking public 
comment to extend the mandatory use date to January 1, 2011.

DATES: Comments to the notice of proposed rulemaking should be 
submitted by May 26, 2010. Late-filed comments will be considered to 
the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: To ensure that you do not duplicate your docket submissions, 
please submit them by only one of the following means:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001;
     Hand Delivery: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 
1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone number is 202-366-9329.
    Instructions: You must include the agency name and docket number 
DOT- OST--or the Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) for the 
rulemaking at the beginning of your comments. All comments received 
will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including 
any personal information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For program issues, Bohdan Baczara, 
Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590; (202) 366-3784 (voice), (202) 366-
3897 (fax), or [email protected] (e-mail).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Purpose

    On February 25, 2010, the Department published a final rule [75 FR 
8528] which updated the Alcohol Testing Form (ATF). The Department 
anticipated that employers and alcohol testing technicians may 
currently have a large supply of old ATFs and to avoid unnecessarily 
wasting these forms, the Department permitted the use of the old ATF 
until August 1, 2010. Employers were authorized to begin using the 
updated ATF immediately.
    Since the final rule was published, the Department became aware 
that some vendors of the ATF might not be able to deplete their current 
supply of the ATFs before the August 1, 2010 implementation date. In 
light of this new information and so as not to have the industry waste 
forms, the Department is proposing to extend the implementation date to 
January 1, 2011. The Department seeks your comments only about this new 
implementation date.

Regulatory Analyses and Notices

    The statutory authority for this proposed rule derives from the 
Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991 (49 U.S.C. 102, 
301, 322, 5331, 20140, 31306, and 45101 et seq.) and the Department of 
Transportation Act (49 U.S.C. 322).
    This proposed rule is a non-significant rule both for purposes of 
Executive Order 12886 and the Department of Transportation's Regulatory 
Policies and Procedures. The Department certifies that it will not have 
a significant economic effect on a substantial number of small 
entities, for purposes of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The 
Department makes these statements on the basis that by extending the 
implementation date of the new form, this rule will not impose any 
significant costs on anyone. The costs of the underlying Part 40 final 
rule were analyzed in connection with its issuance in December 2000. 
Therefore, it has not been necessary for the Department to conduct a 
regulatory evaluation or Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for this 
proposed rule. The alcohol testing form complies with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act. It has no Federalism impacts that would warrant a 
Federalism assessment.

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 40

    Administrative practice and procedures, Alcohol abuse, Alcohol 
testing, Drug abuse, Drug testing, Laboratories, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Safety, Transportation.

    Issued April 28, 2010, at Washington DC.
Jim L. Swart,
Director.
    For reasons discussed in the preamble, the Department of 
Transportation proposes to amend 49 CFR part 40, Code of Federal 
Regulations, as follows:

[[Page 26184]]

PART 40--PROCEDURES FOR TRANSPORTATION WORKPLACE DRUG AND ALCOHOL 
TESTING PROGRAMS

    1. The authority citation for 49 CFR part 40 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 102, 301, 322, 5331, 20140, 31306, and 
45101 et seq.

    2. In Appendix G to Part 40--Alcohol Testing Form, the paragraph is 
being revised by removing the text ``August 1, 2010'' and replacing it 
with ``January 1, 2011''.
[FR Doc. 2010-10488 Filed 5-10-10; 8:45 am]
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