The Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance is issuing a Statement of Enforcement Discretion for Substance Abuse Professionals (SAP) that is effective January 1, 2023. The document authorizes SAPs to conduct remote assessments and evaluations for employees with drug and alcohol violations. You can view the guidance document at https://www.transportation.gov/odapc/statement_of_enforcement_discretion_SAPs
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ODAPC Guidance – DOT Statement of Enforcement Discretion for Substance Abuse Professionals
Reminder to Substance Abuse Professionals – Ensuring a Return-to-Duty Process Unique to Each Individual Employee
- Reminder to Substance Abuse Professionals (SAPs) – Ensuring a Return to Duty Process Unique to Each Individual Employee It has come to the attention of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) that some Substance Abuse Professionals (SAP) are providing Return-to-Duty (RTD) timelines to employees who have violated the DOT drug and/or alcohol regulations before conducting the required initial evaluation and SAP assessment of the employee. Doing so directly contravenes 49 CFR Part 40 and potentially compromises public safety. It also undermines the SAP's role in evaluating each individual employee and directing that employee to get the specific help the employee needs. As a reminder, your role as a SAP is important to the DOT return-to-duty process. You are not an advocate for the employer or the employee. Your function as a SAP is to protect the public interest in safety by evaluating the employee and recommending appropriate education and/or treatment, follow-up tests, and aftercare. As a SAP, the decisions you make and the actions you take regarding an employee who has violated the DOT drug and/or alcohol regulations have the potential to impact transportation safety. The ultimate goals of the SAP process are to address the employee's needs for rehabilitation for the sake of the employee, and to give the employee the tools the employee needs to return to the performance of safety-sensitive duties. Consistent with sound clinical and established SAP standards of care in clinical practice, and utilizing reliable alcohol and drug abuse assessment tools, you must conduct an assessment and evaluation, either in-person or virtually (per applicable guidance), of the employee. In our longstanding SAP Guidelines, we have told SAPs, "The evaluation should be comprised of a review of the employee's psychosocial history, an in-depth review of the employee's drug and alcohol use history (with information regarding onset, duration, frequency, and amount of use; substance(s) of use and choice; emotional and physical characteristics of use; and associated health, work, family, personal, and interpersonal problems); and an evaluation of the employee's current mental status." We want to strongly remind SAPs of the following 49 CFR Part 40 regulatory requirements:
As a resource, the Substance Abuse Professional Guidelines is posted on our website. The document can be found at https://www.transportation.gov/odapc/substance-abuse-professional-guidelines.
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A Notice for Federal Drug Testing Collection Sites & CDL Employers Regarding FMCSA Regulated Employees
On September 9, 2022, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) sent out a list serve titled "A Notice for Federal Drug Testing Collection Sites & CDL Employers Regarding FMCSA Regulated Employees". The notice reminds collection sites and employers to only use a Federal Drug Testing Custody and Control Form (CCF) when testing employees subject to FMCSA drug testing regulations and to properly fill out the Federal CCF. The notice is being re-posted here in its entirety. For any questions, please contact FMCSA's drug and alcohol program office at FMCSADrugandAlcohol@dot.gov
A Notice for Federal Drug Testing Collection Sites & CDL Employers Regarding FMCSA Regulated Employees The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has regulations governing drug and alcohol testing for certain transportation industry employees. These regulations help ensure that the traveling American public can feel safe in their day to day journeys. Part of the effective execution of these regulations relies upon drug testing collection sites. For Federal drug testing programs to operate efficiently and effectively, collection sites play an integral role in making sure the right individuals are administered the right tests. There are several modes under DOT that have regulations about how employees in their specific part of the transportation industry should be tested. For the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), one of the modes under DOT, only commercial driver's license (CDL) holders, commercial learner's permit (CLP) holders, or drivers that should have either a CDL or CLP should be given a DOT drug test with FMCSA specified as the DOT Agency on the custody and control form (CCF). Administering Federal drug tests to anyone other than these groups under FMCSA regulations creates an unnecessary administrative burdens on everyone in the Federal drug testing arena including, employers, drivers, medical review officers, third party administrators, and Federal staff. It is for this reason that FMCSA put together the, "Collection Site Notice" linked below. This notice provides important information for both collection sites and employers to use when determining who should be given what type of test. Employers: Please keep this notice handy and make sure that anyone involved in drug and alcohol testing at your company has a copy of it. Collection Sites: Please review the attached notice with your staff. Also, we encourage posting the second page of the notice in your collection site, particularly in places where collections are actively taking place. DOT and FMCSA drug and alcohol testing regulations make it safer for everyone in the United States to get around. This notice will help ensure that these regulations are implemented properly. FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Testing Program Website
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DOT Publishes Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Electronic Signatures, Forms and Storage for Drug and Alcohol Testing Records
Published in today's Federal Register is an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) requesting public comment on how DOT's regulation for conducting workplace drug and alcohol testing for the federally regulated transportation industry, 49 CFR Part 40, could be amended (1) to allow electronic signatures on documents required to be created and utilized under the regulations, (2) to be able to use electronic versions of forms, and (3) to electronically store forms. The information received in response to this ANPRM will assist DOT in the development of proposed regulatory amendments intended to provide additional flexibility and reduced costs for the industry while maintaining the integrity and confidentiality requirements of the drug and alcohol testing regulations. To read the Federal Register Notice in its entirety use this link https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2022-08-05/pdf/2022-16862.pdf. The comment period for the ANPRM closes on October 4, 2022. Comments to the docket can be submitted using this link https://www.regulations.gov/docket/DOT-OST-2022-0027/document.
Please provide widest dissemination within your regulated industries.
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Updated Substance Abuse Professional Guidelines and Updated ODAPC Guidance – DOT Statement of Enforcement Discretion for Substance Abuse Professionals and Service Agents
On May 6, 2022, the Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance posted its updated Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) guidelines. A listing of the updates can be found on the last page of the guidelines. The document can be found at https://www.transportation.gov/odapc/sap. On June 15, 2022, the Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance updated its Statement of Enforcement Discretion for Substance Abuse Professionals and Service Agents guidance document. The document extends the guidance for SAPs to conduct remote assessments and evaluations until December 31, 2022 and terminates the guidance regarding the service agent's requalification timelines. You can view the updated guidance at https://www.transportation.gov/odapc/program-guidance.
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The Department of Health and Human Services Proposes Revised Drug Testing Procedures for the Federal Drug Free Workplace Programs
On April 7, 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published two important notices in the Federal Register. Specifically, HHS has proposed revisions to the:
Because the Department of Transportation (DOT) must follow the HHS scientific guidelines for DOT-regulated drug testing laboratory procedures, participants in the DOT transportation industry drug testing program should be aware of the important issues that HHS is considering. Any final rule issued by HHS regarding these proposals may affect the DOT testing program under 49 CFR Part 40, but only after DOT conducts its own rulemaking. DOT is providing this notice so that employers, employees, and testing service providers involved in the DOT drug testing program are aware of the HHS proposals. We recommend that DOT program participants review the HHS proposals and, if they have views or concerns to express, provide comment to HHS. We urge interested persons to read the HHS proposals carefully, and to provide any comments directly to the HHS Docket at https://www.regulations.gov/docket/SAMHSA-2022-0001/document
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