On May 2, 2023, the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and Federal Transit Administration (FTA); U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) published a Final Rule in the Federal Register amending the U.S. Department of Transportation’s regulated industry drug testing program to include oral fluid testing. This rule becomes effective on June 1, 2023.
As summarized, this final rule will provide employers a choice on testing methodology to reduce employee cheating on urine drug screens and provide a less intrusive means of achieving the safety goals of the program.
This is the first step toward employers using this alternate method of testing regulated employees. The next step is for a minimum of two laboratories must be certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Until at least two labs are certified, employers must continue to utilize urine drug screening for all regulated drug testing.
Click here to review the new rule, which amends the FAA, FMCSA, FRA, and FTA regulations to ensure consistency within the Department of Transportation and by removing references to the word, “urine” and/or adding references to oral fluid.
Frasco Profiles is monitoring this closely. For updates on the required laboratory certifications, be sure to follow us at @FrascoProfiles and check our blog posts at frascoprofiles.com/blog.