UPDATE – FMCSA Proposed Regulations Regarding Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse

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As DATIA reported last week, the FMCSA announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to establish the Commercial Driver’s License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (Clearinghouse), a database under the Agency’s administration that will contain controlled substances (drug) and alcohol test result information for the holders of commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs). At that time, the notice had not yet been officially published, and a due date for comments was unavailable. The notice was published in the Federal Register yesterday, and the official due date for comments is April 21, 2014. View the official NPRM.

The proposed rule would require FMCSA-regulated motor carrier employers, Medical Review Officers (MROs), Substance Abuse Professionals (SAPs), and consortia/third party administrators (C/TPAs) supporting U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) testing programs to report verified positive, adulterated, and substituted drug test results, positive alcohol test results, test refusals, negative return-to-duty test results, and information on follow-up testing. The proposed rule would also require employers to report actual knowledge of traffic citations for driving a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) while under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or drugs.

The proposed rule would establish the terms of access to the database, including the conditions under which information would be submitted, accessed, maintained, updated, removed, and released to prospective employers, current employers, and other authorized entities. Finally, it would require laboratories that provide FMCSA-regulated motor carrier employers with DOT drug testing services to report annual summary information about their testing activities. This rule is mandated by Section 32402 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act.

You can view the full NPRM via the link below.

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-02-20/pdf/2014-03213.pdf

Drug & Alcohol Testing Industry Association
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