Regulations

Regulations

• List of Terms Used in Drug and Alcohol Regulation
• Who does this regulation cover?
• Who issues authoritative interpretations of this regulation?
• How can you get an exemption from a requirement in this regulation?
• What are the general responsibilities of employers under this regulation?
• How do DOT drug and alcohol tests relate to non-DOT tests?
• What information about the DER must employers provide to collectors?
• What actions do employers take after receiving verified test results?
• May an employer use a service agent to meet DOT drug and alcohol testing requirements?
• What materials are used to collect urine specimens?
• What drugs do laboratories test for?
• Who may inspect drug-testing laboratories?
• To whom does the MRO transmit reports of drug test results?
• May an employer stand down an employee before the MRO has completed the verification process?
• What information about the DER do employers have to provide to BATs and STTs?
• Are alcohol tests other than saliva or breath permitted under these regulations?
• Must an employer check on the drug and alcohol testing record of employees it is intending to use to perform safety-sensitive duties?
• What tasks may a service agent perform for an employer?
• Who initiates a PIE proceeding?
• Who bears the burden of proof in a PIE proceeding?
• Can you settle a PIE proceeding?
• What form must an employer use to report Management Information System (MIS) data to a DOT agency?
• May an employer require an employee to sign a consent or release form in connection with a DOT drug and alcohol test?
• Where is other information on employer responsibilities found in this regulation?
• Who may collect urine specimens for DOT drug testing?
• When does the Director make a PIE decision?
• May the Federal courts review PIE decisions?
• What is a Shy Bladder?
• What training requirements must a collector meet for urine collection?
• What materials are used to send oral fluid specimens to the laboratory?
• Where is other information on the role of collectors found in this regulation?
• Where does a urine collection for a DOT drug test take place?
• What steps must operators of collection sites take to protect the security and integrity of urine collections?
• What form is used to document a DOT urine collection?
• May employers use the CCF for non-Federal collections or non-Federal forms for DOT collections?
• What steps does the collector take in the collection process before the employee provides a urine specimen?
• How is a monitored collection conducted?
• What are the preliminary steps in the collection process?
• What does the collector check for when the employee presents a specimen?
• How does the collector prepare the specimens?
• When and how is a directly observed collection conducted?
• How is the collection process completed?
• What laboratories may be used for DOT drug testing?
• What are the cutoff concentrations for urine drug tests?
• How do laboratories process incoming specimens?
• What is validity testing, and are laboratories required to conduct it?
• What criteria do laboratories use to establish that a specimen is dilute or substituted?
• What validity tests must laboratories conduct on primary urine specimens?
• What criteria do laboratories use to establish that a specimen is adulterated?
• What do laboratories report and how do they report it?
• How long does the laboratory retain specimens after drug-testing?
• What relationship may a laboratory have with an MRO?
• What happens if the laboratory reports a result different from that expected for a blind specimen?
• What documentation must the laboratory keep, and for how long?
• What are the requirements for submitting blind specimens to a laboratory?
• When and how must a laboratory disclose statistical summaries and other information it maintains?
• Where is other information concerning laboratories found in this regulation?
• What are the MRO’s responsibilities in the DOT drug testing program?
• Who is qualified to act as an MRO?
• What relationship may an MRO have with a laboratory?
• What are the MRO’s functions in reviewing negative test results?
• Under what circumstances may the MRO verify a test as positive, or as a refusal to test because of adulteration or substitution, without interviewing the employee?
• What are the MRO’s functions in reviewing laboratory confirmed positive, adulterated, substituted, or invalid drug test results?
• What does the MRO tell the employee at the beginning of the verification interview?
• How does the MRO or DER notify an employee of the verification process after a confirmed positive, adulterated, substituted, or invalid test result?
• On what basis does the MRO verify test results involving marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, or PCP?
• How does the MRO obtain information for the verification decision?
• How does the MRO notify employees of their right to a test of the split specimen?
• On what basis does the MRO verify test results involving adulteration or substitution?
• May the MRO change a verified positive drug test result or refusal to test?
• What does the MRO do when a negative or positive test result is also dilute?
• What does the MRO do when a drug test result is invalid?
• What are MROs prohibited from doing as part of the verification process?
• What does the MRO do when a drug test specimen is rejected for testing?
• How does the MRO report drug test results?
• How are MRO reports of drug results transmitted to the employer?
• Where is other information concerning the role of MROs and the verification process found in this regulation?
• How does an employee request a test of a split specimen?
• Who is responsible for paying for the test of a split specimen?
• What steps does the first laboratory take with a split specimen?
• What does the second laboratory do with the split specimen when it is tested to reconfirm the presence of a drug or drug metabolite?
• What does the second laboratory do with the split specimen when it is tested to reconfirm an adulterated test result?
• What does the second laboratory do with the split specimen when it is tested to reconfirm a substituted test result?
• What information do laboratories report to MROs regarding split specimen results?
• Through what methods and to whom must a laboratory report split specimen results?
• What does the MRO do with split specimen laboratory results?
• Where is other information concerning split specimens found in this regulation?
• What are the consequences for refusing to take a DOT drug test?
• What happens when an employee does not provide a sufficient amount of urine for a drug test?
• What happens when an individual is unable to provide a sufficient amount of urine for a pre-employment follow-up or return-to-duty test because of a permanent or long-term medical condition?
• What happens when an employer receives a report of a dilute specimen?
• What problems always cause a drug test to be cancelled?
• What problems always cause a drug test to be cancelled and may result in a requirement for another collection?
• What problems cause a drug test to be cancelled unless they are corrected?
• How are drug test problems corrected?
• What is the effect of a cancelled drug test?
• What problem requires corrective action but does not result in the cancellation of a test?
• What procedural problems do not result in the cancellation of a test and do not require corrective action?
• Where is other information on the role of STTs and BATs found in this regulation?
• Where does an alcohol test take place?
• What training requirements must STTs and BATs meet?
• What steps must be taken to protect the security of alcohol testing sites?
• What form is used for an alcohol test?
• May employers use the ATF for non-DOT tests, or non-DOT forms for DOT tests?
• What devices are used to conduct alcohol screening tests?
• What devices are used to conduct alcohol confirmation tests?
• What are the requirements for proper use and care of EBTs?
• What are the requirements for proper use and care of ASDs?
• What are the first steps in any alcohol screening test?
• What is the procedure for an alcohol screening test using an EBT or non-evidential breath ASD?
• What is the procedure for an alcohol screening test using a saliva ASD or a breath tube ASD?
• What are the consequences for refusing to take an alcohol test?
• What happens when an employee is unable to provide a sufficient amount of saliva for an alcohol screening test?
• What procedures does the BAT or STT follow after a screening test result?
• What happens when an employee is unable to provide a sufficient amount of breath for an alcohol test?
• What are the procedures for conducting an alcohol confirmation test?
• What are the first steps in an alcohol confirmation test?
• What happens next after the alcohol confirmation test result?
• What problems always cause an alcohol test to be cancelled?
• What problems cause an alcohol test to be cancelled unless they are corrected?
• What is the effect of a cancelled alcohol test?
• How are alcohol testing problems corrected?
• What is the effect of procedural problems that are not sufficient to cancel an alcohol test?
• Who is qualified to act as a SAP?
• How does a certification organization obtain recognition for its members as SAPs?
• When is a SAP evaluation required?
• What information is an employer required to provide concerning SAP services to an employee who has a DOT drug and alcohol regulation violation?
• Are employers required to provide SAP and treatment services to employees?
• What is the role of the SAP in the evaluation, referral, and treatment process of an employee who has violated DOT agency drug and alcohol testing regulations?
• What is the SAP’s function in conducting the initial evaluation of an employee?
• May employees or employers seek a second SAP evaluation if they disagree with the first SAP’s recommendations?
• Does anyone have the authority to change a SAP’s initial evaluation?
• What is the SAP’s role and what are the limits on a SAP’s discretion in referring employees for education and treatment?
• What is the SAP’s function in the follow-up evaluation of an employee?
• What happens if the SAP believes the employee needs additional treatment, aftercare, or support group services even after the employee returns to safety-sensitive duties?
• How does the return-to-duty process conclude?
• What are the employer’s responsibilities with respect to the SAP’s directions for follow-up tests?
• What is the SAP’s function in prescribing the employee’s follow-up tests?
• Where is other information on SAP functions and the return-to-duty process found in this regulation?
• What are the requirements concerning SAP reports?
• What is the general confidentiality rule for drug and alcohol test information?
• May program participants release drug or alcohol test information in connection with legal proceedings?
• When must the MRO report medical information gathered in the verification process?
• What information must laboratories, MROs, and other service agents release to employees?
• To what additional parties must employers and service agents release information?
• What drug-testing records must employers keep?
• Must service agents comply with DOT drug and alcohol testing requirements?
• What functions may C/TPAs perform with respect to administering testing?
• In what circumstances may a C/TPA act as an intermediary in the transmission of drug and alcohol testing information to employers?
• What records may a service agent receive and maintain?
• What confidentiality requirements apply to service agents?
• What principles govern the interaction between MROs and other service agents?
• What is the purpose of a public interest exclusion (PIE)?
• What limitations apply to the activities of service agents?
• On what basis may the Department issue a PIE?
• What is the discretion of an initiating official in starting a PIE proceeding?
• On what information does an initiating official rely in deciding whether to start a PIE proceeding?
• Before starting a PIE proceeding, does the initiating official give the service agent an opportunity to correct problems?
• How does the initiating official start a PIE proceeding?
• What is the Department’s policy concerning starting a PIE proceeding?
• Who decides whether to issue a PIE?
• How do you contest the issuance of a PIE?
• What information do you present to contest the proposed issuance of a PIE?
• What procedures apply if you contest the issuance of a PIE?
• What matters does the Director decide concerning a proposed PIE?
• What factors may the Director consider?
• How long does a PIE stay in effect?
• What is the scope of a PIE?
• How does the Department notify service agents of its decision?
• How does the Department notify employers and the public about a PIE?
• Must a service agent notify its clients when the Department issues a PIE?
• May a service agent ask to have a PIE reduced or terminated?
• What does the issuance of a PIE mean to transportation employers?
• What is the role of the DOT Inspector General’s office?
• What criteria do laboratories use to establish that a specimen is invalid?
• What training requirements must a collector meet for oral fluid collection?
• Where does an oral fluid collection for a DOT drug test take place?
• How does the collector prepare the oral fluid specimens?
• What are the cutoff concentrations for oral fluid drug tests?