[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 10 (Thursday, January 15, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1861-1862]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-00644]
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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), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of calendar year 2026 random drug and alcohol testing
rates.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the calendar year 2026 drug and alcohol
random testing rates for specific recipients of FTA financial
assistance. The minimum random drug testing rate will remain at 50
percent, and the random alcohol testing rate will remain at 10 percent.
DATES: Applicability Date: January 1, 2026.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Iyon Rosario, Senior Drug and Alcohol
Program Manager, FTA 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 of employees
performing safety-sensitive functions, and to 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 test for the use of prohibited drugs, and the number
of employees who tested positive for the misuse of alcohol during the
reported year. Small employers commenced the required testing on
January 1, 1996, and began reporting the same information as the large
employers beginning March 15, 1997.
FTA updated the testing rules by merging them into a new 49 CFR
part 655, effective August 1, 2001 (66 FR 41996). The regulation
maintained a random testing rate for prohibited drugs at 50 percent and
the misuse of alcohol at 10 percent. The Administrator may lower the
random testing rate to 25 percent if the violation rates drop below 1.0
percent for drug testing and 0.5 percent for alcohol testing for two
consecutive years. Accordingly, in 2007, FTA reduced the random drug
testing rate from 50 percent to 25 percent (72 FR 1057). In 2018,
however, FTA returned the random drug testing rate to 50 percent for
calendar year 2019 based on verified industry data for calendar year
2017, which showed that the rate had exceeded 1 percent (83 FR 63812).
Pursuant to 49 CFR 655.45, the Administrator's decision to
determine 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. To ensure the reliability of the data, the Administrator must
consider the quality and completeness of the reported data, may obtain
additional information or reports from employers, and may make
appropriate modifications in calculating the industry's verified
positive results and violation rates.
For calendar year 2026, the Administrator has determined that the
minimum random drug testing rate for covered employees will remain at
50 percent based on a verified positive rate for prohibited drug use of
1.24 percent for calendar year 2024 and 1.23 percent for calendar year
2023. Further, the Administrator has determined that the minimum random
alcohol testing rate for calendar year 2026 will remain at 10 percent,
because the violation rate again was lower than 0.5 percent for
calendar years 2024 and 2023. The random alcohol violation rates were
0.17 percent for 2024 and 0.18 for 2023.
Detailed reports on FTA's drug and alcohol testing data collected
from transit employers may be obtained from FTA, Office of Transit
Safety and
[[Page 1862]]
Oversight, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-
2010, or at: https://transit-safety.fta.dot.gov/DrugAndAlcohol/Publications/Default.aspx.
Marcus J. Molinaro,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2026-00644 Filed 1-14-26; 8:45 am]
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