Document ID: FRA-2001-11213-0024
Agency: fra
Document Type: Rule
Title: Drug and Alcohol Testing: Determination of Minimum Random Testing Rates for 2018
Posted Date: 2017-12-28T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 248 (Thursday, December 28, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 61485]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27976]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

49 CFR Part 219

[Docket No. FRA-2001-11213, Notice No. 22]

Drug and Alcohol Testing: Determination of Minimum Random Testing 
Rates for 2018

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notification of determination.

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SUMMARY: This notification of determination announces the FRA 
Administrator's minimum annual random drug and alcohol testing rates 
for calendar year 2018.

DATES: This notification of determination is effective December 28, 
2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerry Powers, FRA Drug and Alcohol 
Program Manager, W33-310, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590 (telephone 202-493-6313); or Sam 
Noe, FRA Drug and Alcohol Program Specialist (telephone 615-719-2951).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For the next calendar year, FRA determines 
the minimum annual random drug testing rate and the minimum annual 
random alcohol testing rate for railroad employees covered by hours of 
service laws and regulations (covered service employees) based on the 
railroad industry data available for the two previous calendar years 
(for this document, calendar years 2015 and 2016). Railroad industry 
data submitted to FRA's Management Information System (MIS) shows the 
rail industry's random drug testing positive rate for covered service 
employees has continued to be below 1.0 percent for the applicable two 
calendar years. FRA's Administrator has therefore determined the 
minimum annual random drug testing rate from January 1, 2018 through 
December 31, 2018, will remain at 25 percent of covered service 
employees under Sec.  219.602 of FRA's drug and alcohol rule (49 CFR 
part 219). In addition, because the industry-wide random alcohol 
testing violation rate for covered service employees has continued to 
be below 0.5 percent for the applicable two calendar years, the 
Administrator has determined the minimum annual random alcohol testing 
rate will remain at 10 percent of covered service employees from 
January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018, under Sec.  219.608. Because 
these rates represent minimums, railroads may conduct FRA random 
testing of covered service employees at higher rates.
    On June 12, 2017, maintenance-of-way (MOW) employees became subject 
to FRA random drug and alcohol testing. In the final rule which 
expanded the scope of part 219 to include MOW employees (81 FR 37894, 
June 10, 2016), FRA had set the initial minimum annual random testing 
rates for MOW employees at 50 percent of MOW employees for drugs and 25 
percent of MOW employees for alcohol; FRA had set identical initial 
minimum random testing rates for covered employees when they first 
became subject to random testing. Unlike covered employees, however, 
FRA does not yet have two full years of MIS data to gauge the industry-
wide random drug and random alcohol positive rates for MOW employees. 
For this reason, FRA's Administrator has determined that for MOW 
employees, from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018, the minimum 
annual random drug testing rate will remain at 50 percent of MOW 
employees, and the minimum annual random alcohol testing rate will 
remain at 25 percent of MOW employees. As with covered service 
employees, because these rates represent minimums, railroads may 
conduct FRA random testing of MOW employees at higher rates.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on December 21, 2017.
Juan D. Reyes, III,
Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2017-27976 Filed 12-27-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-06-P