Federal Drug/Alcohol Testing Rules Clarified

Proposed amendments were adopted to clarify the FAA’s anti-drug and alcohol-misuse regulations pertaining to testing requirements; reasonable cause for testing; periodic drug testing; the anti-drug program approval process; and drug- and alcohol-abuse prevention programs. An FAA proposal to make it clear that each person who performs a safety-sensitive function directly or by contract for an employer is subject to testing was not adopted because several parties commented that, because more people would have to be tested, this proposal was more than just “clarifying.” To gather more information on this proposal, the FAA said it intends to publish a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking in the near future.