GLOSSARY

Accident: An occurrence associated with the operation of a vehicle, if as a result:
(1) An individual dies;
(2) An individual suffers a bodily injury and immediately receives medical treatment away from the scene of the accident;
(3) With respect to an occurrence in which the mass transit vehicle involved is a bus, electric bus, van, or automobile, one or more vehicles incurs disabling damage as the result of the occurrence and is transported away from the scene by a tow truck or other vehicle; or
(4) With respect to an occurrence in which the mass transit vehicle involved is a rail car, trolley car, trolley bus, or vessel, the mass transit vehicle is removed from revenue service.

Alcohol: The intoxicating agent in beverage alcohol, ethyl alcohol, or other low molecular weight alcohols including methyl or isopropyl alcohol.

Alcohol Concentration: The alcohol in a volume of breath expressed in terms of grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath as indicated by a breath test.

Alcohol Use: The consumption of any beverage, mixture or preparation, including any medication containing alcohol.

Anti-Drug Program: A program to detect and deter the use of prohibited drugs as required by FTA regulations.

Armed Security Personnel: Function including any person who provides security to protect persons or property, and any person who carries a firearm.

Canceled or Invalid Test: In drug testing, a drug test that has been declared invalid by a Medical Review Officer (MRO). In alcohol testing, this would be a test that is deemed to be invalid. It is neither a positive nor a negative test.

CDL/Non-Revenue Vehicle: Job category including any transit employee who holds a Commercial Driver's License (CDL), performs a function requiring a CDL, and is not included in any other job category.

Confirmation (or Confirmatory) Test: In drug testing, a second analytical procedure to identify the presence of a specific drug or metabolite that is independent of the screening test and uses a different technique and chemical principle from that of the screening test in order to ensure reliability and accuracy. In alcohol testing, a second test following a screening test with a result of 0.02 or greater that provides quantitative data of alcohol concentration.

Consortium: An entity, including a group or association of employers, operators, recipients, subrecipients, or contractors, which provides drug testing services and acts on behalf of the employer.

Contractor: A person or organization that provides a service for a recipient, subrecipient, employer, or operator consistent with a specific understanding or arrangement. The understanding can be a written contract or an informal arrangement that reflects an ongoing relationship between the parties.

Covered Employee: A person, including an applicant, transferee, and certain volunteers who perform a safety-sensitive function for a recipient, subrecipient, employer, or operator.

DOT: Department of Transportation.

DOT Agency: An agency (or "operating administration") of the United States Department of Transportation administering regulations requiring drug testing.

Drug Metabolite: The specific substance produced when the human body metabolizes a given prohibited drug as it passes through the body and is excreted in urine.

Drug Test: The laboratory analysis of a urine specimen collected in accordance with 49 CFR Part 40 and analyzed in a DHHS-approved laboratory.

Education: Efforts that include the display and distribution of informational materials, a community service hotline telephone number for employee assistance, and the transit entity policy regarding drug use and alcohol misuse in the workplace.

Employee: An individual designated in a DOT agency regulation as subject to drug testing and/or alcohol testing. “Employee” includes an applicant for employment.

Employer: A recipient or other entity that provides mass transportation services or performs a safety-sensitive function for such recipient or other entity. This term includes subrecipients, operators, and contractors.

Follow-up Test: Required of employees who have returned to duty in a safety-sensitive position following a positive drug test result or an alcohol test result of 0.04. A minimum of six tests must be performed during the first 12 months after the employee returns-to-duty.

FTA: The Federal Transit Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Large Operator: A recipient or subrecipient primarily operating in an area of 200,000 or more in population.

Medical Review Officer (MRO): A licensed physician (Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathy) responsible for receiving laboratory results generated by an employer's drug testing program, who has knowledge of substance abuse disorders and has appropriate medical training to interpret and evaluate an individual's confirmed positive test result together with appropriate medical history and any other relevant biomedical information.

Post-Accident Testing: Required testing for prohibited drugs and alcohol, following certain mass transit accidents. These accidents include those in which a death occurs, medical treatment away from the scene is required, or one or more of the vehicles involved incurs disabling damage.

Pre-Employment Testing: Testing that is designed to identify applicants who have consumed a prohibited drug in the recent past. Employers are prohibited from hiring an applicant for a safety-sensitive function unless they have a verified negative drug test.

Prohibited Drugs: Include marijuana (THC), cocaine, phencyclidine (PCP), opiates, and amphetamines.

Rail Operators: A recipient and its contractors and subrecipients that operate rapid transit operations within an urban area and are not connected to the general railroad system. Rail vehicles include railcars, trolley cars, and trolley buses.

Random Testing: Identifies employees who are using drugs or misusing alcohol by using an unpredictable and unannounced testing pattern.

Random Testing Rate: The number of drug tests equal to at least 50 percent of the total number of safety-sensitive employees, and alcohol tests equal to at least 10 percent of the total number of safety-sensitive employees must be conducted each year by this method.

Reasonable Suspicion Testing: Required when an employer has reasonable suspicion that an employee has used a prohibited drug or has misused alcohol as defined in the regulations. Reasonable suspicion testing must be based on specific, contemporaneous, articulable observations made by a trained supervisor concerning the appearance, behavior, speech, or body odor of a safety-sensitive employee.

Recipient: An entity receiving federal financial assistance under Section 5307, 5309, or 5311 of the Federal Transit Act or under sections 103(e)(4) of Title 23 of the U.S. Code.

Refuse to Submit (to an alcohol test): A covered employee fails to provide adequate breath for testing without a valid medical explanation.

Refuse to Submit (to a drug test): A covered employee fails to provide a urine sample as required by 49 CFR Part 40, without a valid medical explanation, after the employee has received notice of the requirement to be tested or engages in conduct that clearly obstructs the testing process.

Return-to-Duty Testing: Required before an employee is allowed to return to duty to perform a safety-sensitive function following a verified positive drug test, an alcohol result of 0.04 or greater, a refusal to submit to a test, or any other violation of the regulation.

Revenue Vehicle Control/Dispatch: Job function including any person who controls the dispatch or movement of revenue service vehicles.

Revenue Vehicle Operations: Function including any person who operates or works as a crewman on revenue service vehicles at any time.

Rural Operators: A subrecipient of 5311 funding primarily operating in an area of less than 50,000 in population.

Safety-Sensitive Function: Any of the following duties:

• Operating a revenue service vehicle, including when not in revenue service;
• Operating a non-revenue service vehicle, when required to be operated by a holder of a Commercial Driver’s License;
• Controlling dispatch or movement of a revenue service vehicle;
• Maintaining a revenue service vehicle or equipment used in revenue service, unless the recipient receives section 5311 funding and contracts out such services; and/or
• Providing security and carrying a firearm.

Screening Test (or Initial Test): In drug testing, an immunoassay screen to eliminate "negative" urine specimens from further analysis. In alcohol testing, an analytic procedure to determine whether an employee may have a prohibited concentration of alcohol in a breath specimen.

Small Operators: A recipient or subrecipient primarily operating in an area equal to or greater than 50,000 and less than 200,000 in population.

Substance Abuse Professional (SAP): A licensed physician (Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathy), or a licensed or certified psychologist, social worker, employee assistance professional, or addiction counselor (certified by the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors Certification Commission), with knowledge of and clinical experience in the diagnosis and treatment of drug and alcohol-related disorders.

Transit System: The public entity that receives the Federal grant (direct grant recipient), whether or not that recipient provides mass transit services directly.

Vehicle and Equipment Maintenance: Function including any person repairing or maintaining revenue service vehicles or other equipment used in revenue service.

Verified Negative (drug test result): A drug test result reviewed by a MRO and determined to have no evidence of prohibited drug use.

Verified Positive (drug test result): A drug test result reviewed by a MRO and determined to have evidence of prohibited drug use.

APPENDIX B

FTA REGIONS

The Federal Transit Administration is comprised of 10 regions, which are identified below. The data provided by these regions have facilitated the comparison of drug and alcohol test results and the identification of regional trends.

U.S. States and Territories Reporting to the 10 FTA Regions