FTA Drug And Alcohol Regulation Updates

Issue 11

Introduction....

   The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) published its final rules on prohibited drug use (49 CFR Part 653) and the prevention of alcohol misuse (49 CFR Part 654) on February 15, 1994.  Shortly thereafter, the FTA published the Implementation Guidelines for Drug and Alcohol Regulations in Mass Transit to provide a comprehensive overview of the regulations. 

Since the Guidelines were published there have been numerous amendments, interpretations, and clarifications to the Drug and Alcohol testing procedures and program requirements.

This publication is being provided  to update the Guidelines and inform your transit system of all of these changes.  This Update is the eleventh in a series.

Inside....

Snider Joins FTA Safety & Security Office

          Judy Meade, Director of the FTA Office of Safety and Security, proudly announces the addition of Mark Snider as the new FTA Drug and Alcohol Program Manager.  In this capacity, Mr. Snider will be responsible for all aspects of the program including the audit program and technical assistance efforts.

          Mr. Snider comes to FTA from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) where he served as the FHWA Drug and Alcohol Program Manager from 1992 to 1998.   He also served as a FHWA Safety Investigator from 1987 to 1992.  During his tenure with FHWA, Mr. Snider presented several papers and seminars on the topics of drugs and alcohol.

          Mr. Snider reaffirmed FTA’s commitment to the Drug and Alcohol Program and noted that the compliance audit program, along with the current technical assistance efforts would continue.  All issues and concerns related to the program should be directed to Mr. Snider at (202) 366-1080 or mark.snider@fta.dot.gov.

Regulatory Compliance and TEA-21

          Under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century (TEA-21), grantees serving urbanized areas of 200,000 or more, will no longer receive operating assistance from the FTA.   The FTA drug and alcohol testing rules will continue to apply to these recipients of FTA funds. The rules apply to recipients under 49 U.S.C. 5307, 5309, and 5311, and 23 U.S.C. 103 (e)(4) and will remain applicable throughout the useful life of equipment purchased with FTA capital assistance.   

          Similarly, safety-sensitive contractors will continue to be subject to the program requirements regardless of whether they are paid with Federal or local funds, or whether contracts for these services are Federally or locally funded.

Safety-Sensitive Maintenance Contractors

          As reported in Issue 10 of the Updates, FTA published a final rule on January 5, 1999 (Volume 64, pp. 425-427) that clarified its definition of safety-sensitive maintenance functions.   The rule modification will potentially impact the number and type of maintenance contractors that will fall under the auspices of these regulations for urbanized systems (Section 5311 maintenance contractors remain exempt). 

          The rule requires all maintenance contractors that stand in the shoes of an urbanized system in the performance of engine repair, revenue service vehicle repair, equipment repair, component rebuild and overhaul to have a compliant program that meets the same standards as the transit system.   A written contract between a grantee and its contractor is not required for the rule to apply.  

          The applicability of the rule is determined by the course of conduct between the parties.  If the grantee always goes to the same contractor for overhaul/rebuilding work, and the contractor, based on its past relationship with the grantee, reasonably expects to perform the grantee’s overhaul/rebuild work, the rule applies.  The rule does not apply when overhaul/rebuild work is done on an one-time, incidental or emergency basis, where there is no long-term contract or on-going relationship between the grantee and its contractors.