Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 241 / Tuesday, December 15, 2020 / Notices 81265 

1While the drug testing positive rate for covered 

service employees also increased from 0.50 percent 

in 2018 to 0.57 percent in 2019, a concerning trend 

upwards, 0.57 percent is far below the 0.80 positive 

rate for MOW employees and remains substantially 

below the 1.0 percent threshold for raising rates. 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

[Docket No. FRA–2001–11213, Notice No. 

25] 

Drug and Alcohol Testing: 

Determination of Minimum Random 

Testing Rates for 2021 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notification of determination. 

SUMMARY: This notification of 

determination announces FRA’s 

minimum annual random drug and 

minimum annual random alcohol 

testing rates for covered service and 

maintenance-of-way (MOW) employees 

for calendar year 2021. 

DATES: This determination takes effect 

December 15, 2020. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gerald Powers, FRA Drug and Alcohol 

Program Manager, by email: 

gerald.powers@dot.gov or by telephone: 

202–493–6313; or Sam Noe, FRA Drug 

and Alcohol Program Specialist, by 

email: sam.noe@dot.gov or by 

telephone: 615–719–2951. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FRA is 

announcing the 2021 minimum annual 

random drug and alcohol testing rates 

for covered service and MOW 

employees. For calendar year 2021, the 

minimum annual random testing rates 

for covered service employees will 

continue to be 25 percent for drugs and 

10 percent for alcohol, while the 

minimum annual random testing rates 

for MOW employees will continue to be 

50 percent for drugs and will be lowered 

to 10 percent for alcohol. Because these 

rates represent minimums, railroads and 

contractors may conduct FRA random 

testing at higher rates. 

Discussion 

To set its minimum annual random 

testing rates for each year, FRA 

examines the last two complete calendar 

years of railroad industry drug and 

alcohol program data submitted to its 

Management Information System (MIS). 

FRA has also, however, reserved the 

right to consider factors other than MISreported data before deciding whether 

to lower annual minimum random 

testing rates. See 63 FR 71789 (Dec. 30, 

1998). 

Random Testing Rates for Covered 

Service Employees 

The rail industry’s random drug 

testing positive rate for covered service 

employees (employees subject to the 

Federal hours of service laws and 

regulations) remained below 1.0 percent 

for 2018 and 2019. The Administrator 

has therefore determined the minimum 

annual random drug testing rate for the 

period January 1, 2021, through 

December 31, 2021, will remain at 25 

percent for covered service employees. 

The industry-wide random alcohol 

testing violation rate for covered service 

employees remained below 0.5 percent 

for 2018 and 2019. Therefore, the 

Administrator has determined the 

minimum random alcohol testing rate 

will remain at 10 percent for covered 

service employees for the period 

January 1, 2021, through December 31, 

2021. 

Random Testing Rates for MOW 

Employees 

MOW employees became subject to 

FRA random drug and alcohol testing in 

June 2017. See 81 FR 37894 (June 10, 

2016). FRA now has MIS data for two 

full consecutive years of the industrywide performance rates for MOW 

employees, 2018 and 2019. While FRA 

may lower the minimum random drug 

testing rate to 25 percent whenever the 

industry-wide random drug positive rate 

is less than 1.0 percent for two 

consecutive calendar years while testing 

at the 50 percent rate, FRA has reserved 

the right to consider other factors before 

deciding whether to lower annual 

minimum random testing rates. See 63 

FR 71789 (Dec. 30, 1998). 

As illustrated in the figures in the 

appendix below, in contrast to the drug 

testing positive rate for covered service 

employees that remained substantially 

below 1.0 percent for 2018 and 2019, 

the random drug testing positive rate for 

MOW employees is not only trending 

upwards, but also approaching the 1.0 

percent positive rate threshold at which 

point the Administrator will raise the 

drug testing rate under 49 CFR 

219.625(d)(2). Specifically, the industrywide random drug testing violation rate 

for MOW employees increased from 

0.69 percent in 2018 to 0.8 percent in 

2019, and MOW employees continue to 

have a higher positive testing rate than 

covered service employees.1 The 

Administrator further notes that MOW 

employees who were performing duties 

for a railroad before June 12, 2017, were 

exempted from the pre-employment 

drug testing requirement. See 49 CFR 

219.501(e). As such, some MOW 

employees may remain who have never 

been subject to FRA drug testing 

because they have not yet been 

randomly selected. 

Taking these factors into 

consideration, the Administrator finds it 

is currently not in the interest of 

railroad safety to lower the random drug 

testing rate for MOW employees. 

Therefore, for the period January 1, 

2021, through December 31, 2021, the 

Administrator has determined that the 

minimum annual random drug testing 

rate will continue to be 50 percent for 

MOW employees. 

Because the random alcohol testing 

violation rate for MOW employees 

remained substantially below 0.5 

percent for 2018 and 2019, and has been 

trending downwards, the Administrator 

has determined that the minimum 

annual random alcohol testing rate will 

be lowered to 10 percent for MOW 

employees for the period January 1, 

2021, through December 31, 2021. 

BILLING CODE 4810–06–P 

Appendix 

81266 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 241 / Tuesday, December 15, 2020 / Notices 


EN15DE20.010</GPH>
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 241 / Tuesday, December 15, 2020 / Notices 81267 

Issued in Washington, DC 

Quintin C. Kendall, 

Deputy Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27521 Filed 12–14–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–C 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. NHTSA–2020–0108; Notice 1] 

Notice of Receipt of Petition for 

Decision That Nonconforming Model 

Year 2014–2018 Chevrolet 2500 Trucks 

Are Eligible for Importation 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration, Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Receipt of petition. 

SUMMARY: This document announces the 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration (NHTSA) receipt of a 

petition for a decision that model year 

(MY) 2014–2018 Chevrolet 2500 Trucks 

(TKs) that were not originally 

manufactured to comply with all 

applicable Federal motor vehicle safety 

standards (FMVSS) with a GVWR range 

of 6,600–7,200 lbs, are eligible for 

importation into the United States 

because they are substantially similar to 

vehicles that were originally 

manufactured for sale in the United 

States and that were certified by their 

manufacturer as complying with the 

safety standards (the U.S.-certified 

version of the 2014–2018 Chevrolet 

Silverado TKs) and are capable of being 

readily altered to conform to the 

standards. 

DATES: The closing date for comments 

on the petition is January 14, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written data, views, 

and arguments on this petition. 

Comments must refer to the docket and 

notice number cited in the title of this 

notice and may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 

• Mail: Send comments by mail 

addressed to the U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Docket Operations, 

M–30, West Building Ground Floor, 

Room W12–140, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: Deliver comments 

by hand to the U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Docket Operations, 

M–30, West Building Ground Floor, 

Room W12–140, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. The 

Docket Section is open on weekdays 

from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except for Federal 

Holidays. 

• Electronically: Submit comments 

electronically by logging onto the 

Federal Docket Management System 

(FDMS) website at https://

www.regulations.gov/. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Comments may also be faxed to 

(202) 493–2251. 

Comments must be written in the 

English language, and be no greater than 

15 pages in length, although there is no 

limit to the length of necessary 

attachments to the comments. If 

comments are submitted in hard copy 

form, please ensure that two copies are 

provided. If you wish to receive 

confirmation that comments you have 

submitted by mail were received, please 

enclose a stamped, self-addressed 

postcard along with the comments. Note 

that all comments received will be 

posted without change to https://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. 

All comments and supporting 

materials received before the close of 

business on the closing date indicated 

above will be filed in the docket and 

will be considered. All comments and 

supporting materials received after the 


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