Effective October 1, 2010, the Department of Transportation (the Department or DOT) is amending certain provisions of its drug testing procedures dealing with laboratory testing of urine specimens. Some of the changes will also affect the training of and procedures used by Medical Review Officers. The changes are intended to create consistency with many, but not all, of the new requirements established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. On November 25, 2008 (73 FR 7185), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued a Final Notice of Revisions to the HHS Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs (HHS Mandatory Guidelines) that included changes to the procedures for collection and testing of urine specimens, creation of and requirements for the certification of Instrumented Initial Test Facilities (IITFs), collection site oversight requirements, and changes to the role of and standards for collectors and Medical Review Officers (MROs). The HHS Mandatory Guidelines were to become effective May 1, 2010, but on April 30, 2010 (75 FR 22809), HHS postponed implementation until October 1, 2010. On February 4, 2010, DOT published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) (75 FR 5722) seeking comments about changing part 40 to be consistent with certain aspects of the HHS Mandatory Guidelines. This final rule responds to the comments and makes a number of changes to the existing rules governing the Department's drug testing program.

For further information contact: Mark Snider, Senior Policy Advisor (S-1), Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590; telephone number 202-366-3784 (voice), 202-366-3897 (fax), or mark.snider@dot.gov (e-mail).