Management Information System

49 CFR Part 655, Prevention of Alcohol Misuse and Prohibited Drug Use in Transit Operations

August 9, 2001
Federal Register Vol. 66
Pages 41996 - 42036

December 31, 2003
Federal Register Vol. 68
Pages 75455-75466
Primary Topic: One Page MIS Form

Notice of Interpretation:
April 22, 2002
Federal Register Vol. 67,
Pages 19615-19616
Primary Topic: FTA/USCG regulation applicability to ferry boats.

The information presented on this page should be used to update Chapter 10 of the revised Implementation Guidelines.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) joined the other four Department of Transportation (DOT) agencies in adopting a single one-page Management Information System (MIS) form for use in reporting drug and alcohol test results. The final rule requiring the use of the form was published in the Federal Register (Volume 68, Number 250, pages 75455-75466) on December 31, 2003. The form is provided in 49 CFR Part 40 and was published in the Federal Register on July 25, 2003 (§40.25 and Appendix H). The final rule requires all covered employers to use the new MIS form for its 2004 submission that documents calendar year 2003 data.

The new form significantly reduced the number of data items to be reported. No longer are FTA-covered employers required to report funding source information, education and training data, return-to-duty information, accident information, or number of individuals denied positions due to positive test results. This information remains important and FTA may choose to use other data collection methods to obtain this information (i.e., triennial reviews, drug and alcohol compliance audits), but the standardized MIS form will be used to collect base information that is consistent among the DOT modes. The new form simplifies and streamlines the data recording and reporting procedures and is more easily processed electronically.

The new form is comprised of four sections: employer information; covered employees information; drug testing data; and alcohol testing data. The employer information is to be provided only once per submission. However, a separate page of data must be submitted for each category of safety-sensitive employee for which the employer reports testing data. For example, employers that have revenue vehicle operators, dispatchers, and mechanics must submit three separate pages, one for each category. An FTA-covered employer that has revenue vehicle operators, revenue vehicle and equipment maintenance, revenue vehicle control/dispatch, CDL/non-revenue vehicles and armed security personnel would have to submit five forms, one for each category.

The instructions to the new one page form also clarify the definition of “positive rate” for random drug testing and “violation rate” for alcohol testing. Both of these terms are used when FTA calculates the required minimum random rates of testing for each year (see article Page 4). The new rule also defines how individual employers are to determine the number of random drug and alcohol tests to be conducted each year (see article page 4).

Employers with safety-sensitive employees that perform duties under more than one DOT agency (i.e., FTA and FMCSA) are to report the data on the MIS report for the DOT agency under which he/she is randomly tested. This is the agency under which the employee performs more than fifty percent (50%) of his or her safety-sensitive duties.

Regardless of who completes the form (the transit agency program manager, service agent or third party administrator), an official of the covered employer must certify the accuracy and completeness of the form. All FTA grantees and states have been selected to report 2003 MIS information to FTA. The reports are due by March 15, 2004. Hard copy submissions should be mailed to the FTA Drug and Alcohol MIS Project Office, DTS-781, Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, 55 Broadway, Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA 02142. Hard copies are available on the FTA Office of Safety and Security website (see last page for URL). However, Internet reporting is strongly encouraged.

To facilitate electronic filing, each grantee has been issued a user ID and password. Each grantee has also received a user ID and password for each contractor/subrecipient. If a grantee has new contractors or subrecipients, the agency should contact the FTA Drug and Alcohol MIS (DAMIS) Project Office to request additional passwords. The DAMIS office can be reached at (617) 494-6336, or fta.damis@volpe.dot.gov. Electronic reporters should file online at http://damis.dot.gov.

State DOTs are to facilitate and check for accuracy submittals of their Section 5311 subrecipients. Similarly, grantees are to facilitate and check the accuracy of their contractor and subrecipient submittals. In both circumstances, the grantee/State DOT must review the subrecipient’s data and accept or reject it. The submittal must be accepted by the grantee/State DOT for the submittal to be considered complete. Once all information has been completed and all errors and warnings have been addressed, an official of the covered employer must sign the submission before it is mailed. Internet submissions can be signed by clicking the Electronically Sign button. The date and time of submission will appear.