Implementation Guidelines - Federal Transit Administration - U.S. ...

compliance. You are encouraged to
communicate the requirements to your
contractors, and if necessary, provide them
with tools and technical assistance, such as
the following:
• Provide copies of the regulations
(Part 655 and Part 40).
• Provide copies of resource
materials: Implementation
Guidelines; Best Practices
manual; Random Drug Testing
Manual; and the FTA Drug and
Alcohol Regulations Update.
• Provide contractor DAPMs with
education and training on the
regulations.
• Offer substance abuse awareness
training to safety-sensitive
employees.
• Offer reasonable suspicion
training for supervisors.
• Provide assistance in establishing
a scientifically valid random
selection process.
• Develop specification and
evaluation criteria for service
agents.
• Conduct a detailed policy review.
• Assist in the establishment of
record keeping procedures.
• Assist in the preparation of MIS
reports.
If your contractor(s) is unable to comply,
you may include them in your own program
(e.g., random selection process, testing
services). Under this scenario, the
contractor will still be responsible for
program administration, but you will have
greater control over the technical aspect of
their testing program.
You should also conduct ongoing
oversight of your contractor(s) to ensure that
their programs remain in compliance.
Oversight functions might include requiring
and monitoring periodic (e.g., monthly,
quarterly) management reports on policy
modifications, changes in service agents,
training, and the number, type, and results of
tests. You can also perform mock audits on
contractors mimicking the FTA audit
process (see Chapter 14 for information on
the audit process). The Best Practices
manual also discusses contractor oversight
and provides examples of contactor
oversight checklists in Section 4.2 and
Appendix C. This checklist can be used to
structure the contractor review, document
your oversight efforts, and identify areas
that require corrective action. If your
agency has direct oversight responsibilities,
you may also directly access contractor
employee records including test results.
You must take whatever actions are
necessary and appropriate to ensure
contractor compliance. If a contractor is
unwilling or unable to comply with the
regulations, you must discontinue using this
contractor for safety-sensitive duties, or
jeopardize your FTA funding. Contractors
that bid on safety-sensitive work should be
considered non-responsive if they do not
have or are not able to establish an FTAcompliant
drug and alcohol testing program.
Section 4. STATE OVERSIGHT
OF SUBRECIPIENT
The FTA regulation (§655.81) requires
that each grantee including states, ensure
that recipients of funds under 49 U.S.C.
Chapter 12. Program Monitoring 12-5 August 2002