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

testing program and the quality of testing
services provided by service agents.
Consequently, transit employers must
monitor the quality of its testing service
agents including collection sites, medical
review officers, and substance abuse
professionals. The employer should not
assume that its service agents are
following the correct procedures defined
in 49 CFR Part 40, or that they are truly
knowledgeable about the FTA
regulations. Instead, employers should
provide sufficient oversight to ensure
compliance and to take corrective action
when warranted.
Administrative Requirements
You must maintain certain testing
records (§655.71). Such records and
other personal data associated with the
testing program are subject to certain
conditions for release. Annual reports
summarizing the test results must be
prepared, and upon request, submitted to
FTA (§655.72). You must certify
compliance with the regulations each
year (§655.83). Further discussion of the
administrative requirements are found in
Chapter 10, “Administrative
Requirements.”
Section 5. STATE AND LOCAL
ISSUES
Preemption
The FTA regulations (§655.6)
preempt any state or local law, rule,
regulation, or order when:
• Compliance with both the state or
local requirement and these
regulations is not possible; or
• Compliance with the state or local
requirement is an obstacle to
accomplishing and executing any
requirement of these regulations.
However, these regulations do not
preempt any state criminal laws that
impose sanctions for reckless conduct
leading to loss of life, injury, or damage
to property.
Some states have enacted laws
permitting the use of “medicinal
marijuana” when recommended by a
physician. The federal government does
not recognize the medicinal use of
marijuana as a legitimate medical
explanation, and as such, any positive
result attributed to such use will be
considered a violation of these
regulations.
Litigation
Occasionally, FTA employers’ drug
and alcohol testing programs are
challenged in court. If litigation could
affect the federal drug and alcohol testing
program or individual FTA-assisted
Chapter 2. Regulatory Overview 2-13 August 2002