[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 15 (Thursday, January 23, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4058-4059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-01071]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Prevention of Alcohol Misuse and Prohibited Drug Use in Transit 
Operations

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of calendar year 2020 random drug and alcohol testing 
rates.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the calendar year 2020 drug and alcohol 
random testing rates for employer's subject to 49 CFR part 655. The 
minimum random drug testing rate will remain at 50 percent and the 
random alcohol rate will remain at 10 percent.

DATES: Applicable Date: January 1, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Iyon Rosario, Drug and Alcohol Program 
Manager in the Office of Transit Safety and Oversight, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590 (telephone: 202-366-2010 or email: 
[email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 1, 1995, FTA required large 
transit employers to begin drug and alcohol testing employees 
performing safety-sensitive functions, and submit annual reports by 
March 15 of each year beginning in 1996 pursuant to drug and alcohol 
regulations adopted by FTA at 49 CFR parts 653 and 654 in February 
1994. The annual report includes the number of employees who had a 
verified positive for the use of

[[Page 4059]]

prohibited drugs, and the number of employees who tested positive for 
the misuse of alcohol during the reported year. Small employers 
commenced their FTA-required testing on January 1, 1996, and began 
reporting the same information as the large employers beginning March 
15, 1997.
    The FTA updated the testing rules on August 1, 2001 (66 FR 42002) 
and maintained a random testing rate for prohibited drugs at 50 percent 
and the misuse of alcohol at 10 percent, which the Administrator may 
lower if the violation rates dropped below the thresholds set forth in 
49 CFR 665.45 for 2 consecutive years. Accordingly, based on the recent 
violation rates, in 2007, FTA reduced the random drug testing rate from 
50 percent to 25 percent (72 FR 1057, January 7, 2007). In 2018, 
however, FTA increased the random drug testing rate to 50 percent for 
calendar year 2019 based on verified industry data for calendar year 
2017, which showed the rate had exceeded 1 percent (83 FR 63812, 
December 12, 2018).
    Pursuant to 49 CFR 655.45, the Administrator's decision to increase 
or decrease the minimum annual percentage rate for random drug and 
alcohol testing is based, in part, on the reported positive drug and 
alcohol violation rates for the entire public transportation industry. 
The information used for this determination is drawn from the drug and 
alcohol Management Information System (MIS) reports required by 49 CFR 
655.72. In determining the reliability of the data, the Administrator 
considers the quality and completeness of the reported data, or may 
obtain additional information or reports from employers, and make 
appropriate modifications in calculating the industry's verified 
positive results and violation rates.
    For calendar year 2020, the Administrator has determined the random 
drug testing rate for covered employees will remain at 50 percent based 
on a verified positive rate of 1.17 percent for calendar year 2018. 
Further, the Administrator has determined the random alcohol testing 
rate for calendar year 2020 will remain at 10 percent because the 
violation rate again was lower than 0.5 percent for calendar years 2016 
and 2017. The random alcohol violation rates were 0.148 percent for 
2016 and 0.160 for 2017. Detailed reports on FTA's drug and alcohol 
testing data collected from transit employers may be obtained from FTA, 
Office of Transit Safety and Oversight, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 
Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-2010 or at https://transit-safety.fta.dot.gov/DrugAndAlcohol/Publications/Default.aspx.

    Issued in Washington, DC.
K. Jane Williams,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2020-01071 Filed 1-22-20; 8:45 am]
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