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

FTA must certify annually that they are in
compliance with the alcohol and drug testing
regulations as part of their Annual List of
Certifications and Assurances for FTA
Grants and Cooperative Agreements. Rural
systems that receive FTA Section 5311,
5307, or 5309 funding through a state
department of transportation do not certify
directly to FTA; rather the state must certify
annually on their behalf. Most states require
their subrecipients to certify compliance as
part of the state annual grant submission. In
instances where a rural system does not
submit a grant application annually, the state
should require annual letters from each,
certifying compliance with the drug and
alcohol testing regulations.
Sample letters of certification can be
found in the Sample Documentation section
of Chapter 2, “Regulatory Overview.”
Your certification must be authorized by
your governing board (if you have one), or
by another authorized official. You should
review your program and ensure its
compliance prior to signing. Figure 10-2
shows examples of individuals who might
be authorized to certify compliance at
various types of organizations and the
records needed to show proper granting of
authority and review.
States must certify the compliance of
transit agencies they oversee. Simply
requiring transit agencies to certify that they
are in compliance may not be adequate.
Examples of oversight activities include the
following:
• Technical assistance and training to
establish and operate programs
• On-site monitoring and inspection
• Regular reporting and follow-up
If you receive more than $25,000 in
funding directly from FTA, you must also
certify compliance with the Drug-Free
Workplace Act of 1988. A copy of the
required Drug-Free Workplace Act
certification is included in Chapter 13. The
certification is normally submitted to your
regional FTA office at the same time as, and
as part of, your grant application. See
Chapter 13 for a detailed discussion of the
Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988.
Section 5. SANCTIONS
If you do not institute a program
including all of the elements required by the
applicable regulations, your agency can lose
its FTA funding.
You should be very careful in preparing
both your reports and your certifications.
Neither should be prepared or signed
casually. It is especially important to ensure
that your governing board or senior officials
who will sign (or authorize you to sign)
annual reports and certifications are fully
informed on a regular basis about the status
and activities of the program.
Your signature on the annual reports and
certifications indicates that their contents are
true and accurate to the best of your
knowledge. If you knowingly and willingly
make, or cause others to make, false
statements or misrepresentations in either
the annual reports or the certifications, you
are committing a federal crime and are
subject to criminal penalties including a fine
of up to $10,000, imprisonment of up to 5
years, or both (§1001 of Title 18 of the U.S.
Code).
Chapter 10. Administrative Requirements 10-11 August 2002