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

duty and follow-up testing under specific circumstances. The Act requires that
recipients follow the testing procedures set out by the Department of Health and Human
Services (DHHS).
The Act does not require recipients to follow a particular course of action when
they learn that a safety-sensitive employee has violated a law or Federal regulation
concerning alcohol or drug use. Rather, the Act directs FTA to issue regulations
establishing consequences for the use of alcohol or prohibited drugs by individuals
performing safety-sensitive functions in the transit industry. Possible consequences
include education, counseling, rehabilitation programs, and suspension or termination
from employment.
In authorizing this regulatory scheme, the Act has pre-empted inconsistent State
or local laws, rules, regulations, ordinances, standards, or orders. However, provisions of
State criminal law, which impose sanctions for reckless conduct leading to actual loss of
life, injury, or damage to property, are not pre-empted by the Act.
Previous Action by FTA
On December 15, 1992, FTA issued two notices of proposed rule making to
prevent prohibited drug use and alcohol misuse (49 CFR Parts 653 and 654). (57 FR
59646 and 57 FR 59660). The rules established a process whereby safety-sensitive
employees would be tested on a pre-employment, random, reasonable suspicion, post-
accident, return-to-duty, and follow-up basis.
In the December 1992 Federal Register notice, FTA stated that it was
“considering combining the final FTA alcohol and drug testing regulations into one part
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