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

Chapter 13. THE DRUG-FREE
WORKPLACE ACT OF 1988
Congress enacted the Drug-Free
Workplace Act (DFWA) of 1988 on
November 18, 1988. This act (Pub. L. 100­
690, title V, subtitle D) requires direct
recipients of $25,000 or more of federal funds
to certify that they will provide drug-free
workplaces for their employees. The
certification is a precondition for receiving a
contract or grant from a federal agency.
Agencies receiving large urban or
discretionary funds (Section 5307 or 5309)
directly from FTA must comply with the
DFWA. They must certify compliance in their
annual grant application certification and
assurances. Rural transit systems that receive
Section 5311 and/or Section 5309 funding are
subrecipients of FTA as the funding programs
are administered through their respective state
DOTs. Most state DOTs pass along the
certification requirement to their subrecipients
Chapter 13. The Drug-Free
Workplace Act of 1988
and require a compliance certification in their
annual grant applications.
Even though this act addresses drug use in
the federal workplace, it is separate and
distinct from the FTA drug and alcohol testing
rules. Compliance with one does not
necessarily mean compliance with the other;
nor does one supercede the other. Most transit
systems will have to comply with both.
The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 is
reprinted in Appendix I of these guidelines.
Section 1. REQUIREMENTS
To comply with the act, recipients must
certify that they will provide a drug-free
workplace by doing the following:
• Publish and distribute a written policy
on substance abuse that notifies
employees that the unlawful
manufacture, distribution, dispensing,
13-1 August 2002