Opinion ID: 544733
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The APA Challenge

Text: 27 Petitioners argue that the FAA failed to offer a satisfactory explanation for its decision, and that the decision was therefore arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. Sec. 706(2)(A). See Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass'n v. State Farm Mutual Ins. Co., 463 U.S. 29, 43, 103 S.Ct. 2856, 2866, 77 L.Ed.2d 443 (1983) (agency must articulate a satisfactory explanation for its action). In particular, petitioners question the FAA's decision to reject the recommendation of the National Transportation Safety Board that the FAA rely on non-random forms of drug testing. 28 This argument is without merit. The FAA, contrary to petitioners' contention, explained specifically why it chose to require random testing, reasoning that there was more evidence supporting the efficacy of random testing programs than of non-random programs. See 53 Fed.Reg. 47034, 47035, 47048. Its decision that safety concerns outweighed privacy concerns in this context was a reasonable, if controversial, decision, and cannot be overturned as arbitrary and capricious. 29 Petitioners also argue that the FAA's decision to include flight attendants within the testing requirements is inconsistent with prior FAA decisions denying petitions of flight attendants to establish safety rules limiting their on-duty time. The duty time decisions, however, do not stand for the proposition that impairment of flight attendants' performance is never a public safety consideration. Rather, the FAA concluded that, on the evidence before it, there was no correlation between flight attendant duty time and risk to passengers. We see no conflict between the duty time decisions and the inclusion of flight attendants in the drug testing program. 10 Accordingly, we hold that the FAA acted within its authority in requiring random drug testing of flight attendants.