An Act To Amend the Employment Practices Law Regarding Substance Abuse Testing
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 0549
Committee: Labor
Sponsors: WESTON, DIAMOND, HASTINGS, NUTTING, THIBODEAU

Legislative Document 
No. 549 
S.P.209 
In Senate, February 12,2009 
An Act To Amend the Employment Practices Law Regarding 
Substance Abuse Testing 
Reference to the Committee on Labor suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Senator WESTON of Waldo. 
9tf){J~ 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Cosponsored by Senators: DIAMOND of Cumberland, HASTINGS of Oxford, NUTTING of 
Androscoggin, Representative: THIBODEAU of Winterport. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 26 MRS A §682, sub-§7, as amended by PL 2001, c. 556, § 1 and PL 2003, 
c. 689, Pt. B, §6, is further amended. to read: 
,: 
" 
. 
7. Substance abuse test. "Substance abuse test" means any test procedure designed 
to take and analyze body fluids or materials from the body for the purpose of detecting 
the presence of substances of abuse. .. The term does not include tests designed to 
determine blood-alcohol concentration levels from a sample of an individual's breath. 
~ .. 
A. "Screening test" means an initial substance abuse test performed through the use 
of immunoassay technology or a federally recognized substance abuse test, or a test 
technology of similar or greater accuracy and reliability approved by the Department 
of Health and Human Services under rules adopted under section 687, and that is 
used as a preliminary step in detecting the presence of substances of abuse. 
(1) A screening test of an applicant's urine or saliva may be performed at the 
point of collection through the use of a noninstrtlmented point of collection test 
device approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration. Section 683, 
subsection 5-A governs the use of such tests. 
B. "ConfIrmation test" means a 2nd substance abuse test that is used to verify the 
presence of a substance of abuse indicated by an initial positive screening test result 
and is a federally recognized substance abuse test or is performed through the use of 
liquid or gas chromatography-mass spectrometry that is used to verify the_presenoe of 
a substanoe of abuse indicated bv an initial Dositive soreenin2' test result. . 
(1) The Department of Health and Human Servioes may reoommend to the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiotion over labor matters that 
other testing teohnologies be authorized for use in oonfmnation tests if the 
department fInds those teohnologies to be of equal or greater aoouraoy and 
reliabilitv than 2'as ohromato2'Faohv mass sneotrometrv. 
C. 
"Federally recognized substance abuse test" means any substance abuse test 
recognized by the federal Food and Drug Administration as accurate and reliable 
through the administration's clearance or approval process. 
Sec. 2. 26 MRS A §683, sub-§2, ~G, as amended by PL 1999, c. 199, §1 and PL 
2003, t. ~89, Pt.. B, §6, is further amended to read: 
G. The cutoff t'evels for both screening and confirmation tests at which the presence 
of a substance of abuse in a sample is considered a positive test result. 
(1) Cutoff levels for confIrmation tests for marijuana may not be lower than 15 
nanograms of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid per milliliter for 
urine samples. 
(2) The Department of 'Health and Human ,Services shall adopt rules under 
section 687 regulating screening and confirmation cutoff levels for other 
substances of abuse, including those substances tested for in blood samples under 
subsection 5, paragraph B, to ensure that levels are set within known tolerances 
of test methods and above mere trace amounts. An employer may request that 
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the Department of Health and Human Services establish a cutoff level for any 
substance of abuse for which the department has not established a cutoff levelt.!. 
(3) Notwithstanding subparagraphs (1) and (2), if the Department of Health and 
Human Services does not have established cutoff levels or procedures for any 
specific federally recognized substance abuse test, the cutoff levels and 
procedures cleared or approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration 
must be used; 
Sec. 3. 26 MRS A §686, sub-§l, 'irC is enacted to read: 
C. 
The department shall allow for the use of any federally recognized substance 
abuse test. 
SUMMARY 
This bill provides that employers using substance abuse testing may use tests that 
have been recognized by the federal Food and Drug Administration as accurate and 
reliable through a clearance or approval process and directs the use of that agency's 
cleared or approved cutoff levels and procedures if the Department of Health and Human 
Services cutoff levels or procedures do not exist for the particular test.