A new provision of 49 CFR Part 655 changes the reporting requirement for transit systems. Previously, all grantees, subrecipients, and safety-sensitive contractors were required to submit drug and alcohol test results on a Management Information System (MIS) report to FTA each year. Under the new rule, all covered employers are still required to complete an annual MIS report, but only those employers who are randomly selected are required to submit the reports to FTA.

     The sampling procedure used stratified the population into four groupings: top 40 urban systems, other large urban transit agencies, small urban transit agencies, and rural transit agencies. Safety-sensitive contractors are included in the grouping for the type of transit agency they serve. All of the top 40 transit agencies and their safety-sensitive contractors are required to report every year and are not included in the sampling process. For the remaining agencies, a sampling method was used that rendered a 95 percent confidence interval at the +/- 0.5% precision level. As a result, 70 large urban agencies, 55 small urban agencies, and 188 rural agencies were randomly selected. Including the 40 largest systems, a total of 353 transit agencies were selected for reporting. Accounting for the corresponding safety-sensitive contractors, a total of 802 employers will be required to submit MIS reports for calendar year 2001.

     Each of the selected employers was sent a notification and reporting package directly. Section 5311 subrecipients that have historically been notified through the state that administers the funding program are now contacted directly with a separate notification to the state. The selected employers are required to submit their reports using the revised forms published as Appendix A of Part 655. Employers may also submit their reports using the forms or CD-ROM included in their notification package. The reports must be submitted to FTA no later than March 15, 2002. Responses should be submitted to Drug & Alcohol MIS Project Office, USDOT/Volpe Center, 55 Broadway Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA 02142-1093.

     The accuracy of the data reported and the statistical validity of the sample selection method is critical as the information obtained will be the basis for establishing future minimum random drug and alcohol testing rates. Once the MIS reports are received from the employers selected, an average random positive test rate will be calculated for each of the four transit size groupings. The test rates will be weighted based on the estimated number of individual drug tests for each group. The overall weighted average will be the value used to determine the minimum random rate.

     If the weighted average random rate for drugs is 1.0 percent or more, the minimum drug random test rate will remain at 50 percent. If the weighed average rate is less than 1.0 percent for two consecutive years, the minimum random rate will be lowered to 25 percent. If it subsequently, rises above 1.0 percent for any single year, the minimum drug random test rate will rise again to 50 percent.