Five of the Department of Transportationâs Operating Administrations (OA) â Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and the United States Coast Guard (USCG)[1] â require drug and alcohol testing for safety-sensitive employees in their regulated industries. With very few exceptions, however, all the drug and alcohol tests performed under the five OA and USCG regulations are conducted using a single source of drug and alcohol testing procedures â 49 CFR Part 40. The Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) is the proponent of Part 40. Part 40 requires the collection of information from a variety of transportation employers, employees and service agents. To ensure the required quality (e.g., privacy, accuracy and confidentiality) of the drug and alcohol testing services provided, OST requires documentation in the collection of urine, breath, and saliva specimens; screening and confirmation of specimen tests; the medical review of results; and the treatment recommendations for those refusing to test or for testing positive for drug use or alcohol misuse. Records related to these activities are to be maintained. This information is used by employers and Department representatives to ensure that those refusing or testing positive are removed from safety-sensitive functions, that program problems are immediately identified and corrected, that quality assurance efforts are working, that security and privacy measures are upheld, and that the fairness and credibility of the Departmentâs testing efforts are maintained. Also, the Management Information System data that is collected (via the MIS form) is used by each of the affected DOT Agencies when calculating their industryâs annual random drug and/or alcohol testing rate.
The number of annual burden hours has increased by 69,210 hours and 673, 324 more responses were estimated compared to the previous estimate. We believe these increases were primarily due to the increase in the number of drug and alcohol tests being performed.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.