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FTA Drug and Alcohol Regulation Updates |
Rule Changes |
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Where To Find?..... 49 CFR Part 653 , Prevention of
Prohibited Drug Use in Transit Operations Amended: December 8, 1998 December 14, 1998 January 5, 1999 Technical Corrections:
The information presented on this page should be used to update Chapters 6 and 7 of the Implementation Guidelines. |
Opiate Threshold Raised Effective December 1, 1998, the minimum threshold level for opiates defined in 49 CFR Part 40 was raised from 300 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) to 2000 ng/ml. This Department of Transportation (DOT) rule change is consistent with changes made by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to its Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Testing Programs. The final rule also established a new requirement to test for 6-acetylmorphine (6-AM), a metabolite that comes only from heroin, using a 10 ng/ml confirmatory level, for specimens that have tested positive for morphine on the confirmatory test at the 2000 ng/ml level. The final DOT rule was published in the Federal Register on November 25, 1998. Under the previous standards, 87 percent of laboratory positives for opiates were verified as negative by medical review officers (MROs) because there was no clinical evidence of illegal drug use. DHHS and DOT anticipate that these amendments will eliminate the identification of most individuals legitimately taking prescription medications including morphine or codeine or who have ingested poppy seeds.
Law Enforcement Results Acceptable in Rare Cases Effective January 7, 1999, employers subject to the FTA drug and alcohol testing rules (49 CFR Part 653 and Part 654) may under limited circumstances use drug and alcohol post-accident test results administered by State and local law enforcement officials. The state and local law enforcement officials must have independent authority for the test and the employer must obtain the results in conformance with state and local law. The test may be administered in a manner (i.e., blood) different from that prescribed by 49 CFR Part 40. Acceptance of these test results is only permissible in circumstances when the employer is unable to perform an FTA drug and alcohol test (i.e., employee is unconscious, employee is detained by law enforcement agency). The final rule was published in the Federal Register, pages 67612-67613 on December 8, 1998. Results from tests administered by State or local law enforcement personnel may not be used when the employer did not but could have conducted its own test. This provision does not permit employers to ignore their obligation to test, nor does it prohibit duplicate post accident testing. In such cases, it is expected that the employer will conduct FTA drug and alcohol tests, while law enforcement officials conduct tests under their own authority. In instances where law enforcement test results are accepted in lieu of FTA test results, the employer must document the circumstances which prevented the conduct of the FTA drug and alcohol tests. This amendment imposes no requirement on State or local law enforcement personnel to perform post-accident testing for FTA covered employers. In fact, employers should not assume that law enforcement personnel routinely perform post-accident testing or that law enforcement officials will make test results readily available to them. Most law enforcement agencies will require a subpoena or official request to release test results to employers, and even then, will likely deny requests. |
