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

the consequences for prohibited drug use and alcohol misuse.
The regulation specifies that safety-sensitive employees are prohibited from using
five illegal substances (marijuana, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, and phencyclidine).
Safety-sensitive employees are also prohibited from misusing alcohol. The rule requires
testing of safety-sensitive employees in five situations: (1) Pre-employment (including
transfer to a safety-sensitive position within the organization; (2) Reasonable suspicion;
(3) Random; (4) Post-accident; and (5) Return-to-duty/follow-up (periodic). Drug testing
is required in all five situations. Alcohol testing is required for all situations except for
pre-employment.
The rule requires the use of the Department-wide drug and alcohol testing
procedures contained in 49 CFR Part 40. If a covered employee tests positive for illegal
drug use or alcohol misuse or otherwise violates the rule, the employee must be removed
from his or her safety-sensitive position. The employee must then be informed about
education and rehabilitation programs. Should the employer decide to retain a covered
employee whose test result has been verified positive, the employee must be evaluated by
a substance abuse professional. Prior to returning an employee to a safety-sensitive
function, the employer must ensure that the employee has successfully completed
rehabilitation; the rule does not require the employer to pay for rehabilitation.
Any action on the part of FTA for noncompliance is against recipients of Federal
transit funds, i.e., transit systems, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), states,
and third party contractors that perform safety-sensitive functions. MPOs and states are
affected by this regulation if they receive Federal transit funds and (1) they provide
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