[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 248 (Tuesday, December 27, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 95293-95294]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-31220]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

[Docket ID PHMSA-2016-0147]


Pipeline Safety: Random Drug Testing Rate; Contractor Management 
Information System Reporting; and Obtaining Drug and Alcohol Management 
Information System Sign-In Information

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

ACTION: Notice of Calendar Year 2017 Minimum Annual Percentage Rate for 
Random Drug Testing; Reminder for Operators To Report Contractor MIS 
Data; and Reminder of Method for Operators To Obtain User Name and 
Password for Electronic Reporting.

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SUMMARY: PHMSA has determined that the minimum random drug testing rate 
for covered employees will remain at 25 percent during calendar year 
2017. Operators are reminded that drug and alcohol testing information 
must be submitted for contractors performing or ready to perform 
covered functions. For calendar year 2016 reporting, PHMSA will not 
attempt to mail the ``user name'' and ``password'' for the Drug and 
Alcohol Management Information System (DAMIS) to operators, but will 
make the user name and password available in the PHMSA Portal (https://portal.phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline).

DATES: Effective January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Blaine Keener, Director of Safety Data 
Systems and Analysis, by telephone at 202-366-0970 or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Notice of Calendar Year 2017 Minimum Annual Percentage Rate for Random 
Drug Testing

    Operators of gas, hazardous liquid, and carbon dioxide pipelines 
and operators of liquefied natural gas facilities must randomly select 
and test a percentage of covered employees for prohibited drug use. 
Pursuant to 49 CFR 199.105(c)(2), (3), and (4), the PHMSA 
Administrator's decision on whether to change the minimum annual random 
drug testing rate is based on the reported random drug test positive 
rate for the pipeline industry. The data considered by the 
Administrator comes from operators' annual submissions of Management 
Information System (MIS) reports required by Sec.  199.119(a). If the 
reported random drug test positive rate is less than one percent, the 
Administrator may continue the minimum random drug testing rate at 25 
percent. In calendar year 2015, the random drug test positive rate was 
less than one percent. Therefore, the PHMSA minimum annual random drug 
testing selection rate will remain at 25 percent for calendar year 
2017.

Reminder for Operators To Report Contractor MIS Data

    On January 19, 2010, PHMSA published an Advisory Bulletin (75 FR 
2926) implementing the annual collection of contractor MIS drug and 
alcohol testing data. An operator's report to PHMSA is not considered 
complete until an MIS report is submitted for each contractor that

[[Page 95294]]

performed covered functions as defined in Sec.  199.3.

Reminder of Method for Operators To Obtain User Name and Password for 
Electronic Reporting

    In previous years, PHMSA attempted to mail the DAMIS user name and 
password to operator staff with responsibility for submitting DAMIS 
reports. Based on the number of phone calls to PHMSA each year 
requesting this information, the mailing process has not been 
effective. Pipeline operators have been submitting reports required by 
Parts 191 and 195 through the PHMSA Portal (https://portal.phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline) since 2011. Each company with an Office 
of Pipeline Safety issued Operator Identification Number should employ 
staff with access to the PHMSA Portal.
    The user name and password required for an operator to access DAMIS 
and enter calendar year 2016 data will be available to all staff with 
access to the PHMSA Portal in late December 2016. When the DAMIS user 
name and password is available in the PHMSA Portal, all registered 
users will receive an email to that effect. Operator staff with 
responsibility for submitting DAMIS reports should coordinate with 
registered PHMSA Portal users to obtain the DAMIS user name and 
password. Registered PHMSA Portal users for an operator typically 
include the U.S. Department of Transportation Compliance Officer and 
staff or consultants with responsibility for submitting annual and 
incident reports on PHMSA F 7000- and 7100-series forms.
    For operators that have failed to register staff in the PHMSA 
Portal for Parts 191 and 195 reporting purposes, operator staff 
responsible for submitting DAMIS reports can register in the PHMSA 
Portal by following the instructions at: http://opsweb.phmsa.dot.gov/portal_message/PHMSA_Portal_Registration.pdf.
    Pursuant to Sec. Sec.  199.119(a) and 199.229(a), operators with 50 
or more covered employees, including both operator and contractor 
staff, are required to submit DAMIS reports annually. Operators with 
less than 50 total covered employees are required to report only upon 
written request from PHMSA. If an operator has submitted a calendar 
year 2014 or later DAMIS report with less than 50 total covered 
employees, the PHMSA Portal message may state that no calendar year 
2016 DAMIS report is required. Some of these operators may have grown 
to more than 50 covered employees during calendar year 2016. The PHMSA 
Portal message will include instructions for how these operators can 
obtain a calendar year 2016 DAMIS user name and password.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on December 21, 2016, under authority 
delegated in 49 CFR 1.97.
Alan K. Mayberry,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 2016-31220 Filed 12-23-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P