Prevention of Prohibited Drug Use in Transit Operations; Prevention of Alcohol Misuse in Transit Operations

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 226 (Wednesday, November 24, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66230-66231]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-30595]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Prevention of Prohibited Drug Use in Transit Operations; 
Prevention of Alcohol Misuse in Transit Operations

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of random drug and alcohol testing rates.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the random testing rates for employers 
subject to the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) drug and alcohol 
rules.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Snider, Drug and Alcohol Program 
Manager for the Office of Safety and Security, (202) 366-2896 
(telephone) and (202) 366-7951 (fax). Electronic access to this and 
other documents concerning FTA's drug and alcohol testing rules may be 
obtained through the FTA World Wide Web home page at http://
www.fta.dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FTA required large transit employers to 
begin drug and alcohol testing employees performing safety-sensitive 
functions on January 1, 1995, and to report, annually by March 15 of 
each year beginning in 1996, the number of such employees who had a 
verified positive for the use of prohibited drugs, and the number of 
such employees who tested positive for the misuse of alcohol. Small 
employers commenced their FTA-required testing on January 1, 1996, and 
began reporting the same information as the large employers beginning 
March 15, 1997. Employers are required annually to submit other data, 
not relevant here, in the same report; these data are available from 
the FTA as discussed below.
    The 1994 rules established a random testing rate for prohibited 
drugs and the misuse of alcohol; specifically, the rules require that 
employers conduct random drug tests at a rate equivalent to at least 50 
percent of their total number of safety-sensitive employees for 
prohibited drug use and at least 25 percent for the misuse of alcohol. 
The rules provide that the drug random testing rate may be lowered to 
25 percent if the ``positive rate'' for the entire transit industry is 
less than one percent for two consecutive years. Once lowered, it may 
be raised to 50 percent if the positive rate equals or exceeds one 
percent for any one year. (``Positive rate'' means the number of 
positive results for random drug tests conducted under part 653 plus 
the number of refusals of random tests required by part 653, divided by 
the total number of random drug tests, plus the number of refusals of 
random tests required by part 653.)
    The alcohol rule provides that the random rate may be lowered to 10 
percent if the ``violation rate'' for the entire transit industry is 
less than .5 percent for two consecutive years. It will remain at 25 
percent if the ``violation rate'' is equal to or greater than .5 
percent but less than one percent, and it will be raised to 50 percent 
if the ``violation rate'' is one percent or greater for any one year. 
(``Violation rate'' means the number of covered employees found during 
random tests given under part 654 to

[[Page 66231]]

have an alcohol concentration of .04 or greater, plus the number of 
employees who refuse a random test required by part 654, divided by the 
total reported number of random alcohol tests conducted under part 654, 
plus the total number of refusals of random tests, required by part 
654.)
    FTA has received and analyzed the 1998 data from large and small 
transit employers. The ``positive rate'' for random drug tests was 1.07 
percent and the ``violation rate'' for random alcohol tests was 0.22 
percent; therefore, for 2000, transit employers will continue to be 
required to conduct random drug tests at a rate equivalent to at least 
50 percent of the total number of their ``safety-sensitive'' employees 
for prohibited drugs. In 1999, the FTA lowered the random alcohol 
testing rate to 10 percent. Because the random alcohol violation rate 
was lower than .5 percent for two consecutive years (0.19 percent for 
1997 and 0.22 percent for 1998), the random alcohol testing rate will 
remain at 10 percent for 2000.
    FTA will be publishing, in December, a detailed report on the 1998 
data collected from large and small employers. This report may be 
obtained from the Office of Safety and Security, Federal Transit 
Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Room 9301, Washington, DC 
20590, (202) 366-2896.

    Date Issued: November 17, 1999.
Nuria I. Fernandez,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 99-30595 Filed 11-23-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P