Top government officials heard industry concerns on remaining unresolved issues
relating to the Department of Transportation’s rulemaking
to change the mandatory drug and alcohol testing regulations. The meeting,
which occurred on Monday, November 27 was requested by DATIA and was part of The
White House’s review of DOT’s work before the regulation can be issued.
DATIA presented a comprehensive review and
analysis of the DOT docket, which showed that 80 percent of the comments sent
to DOT during the rulemaking process on the issue supported the DATIA position
to allow “service agents” such as consortiums and third party administrators
to serve as the agent of the employer. DOT had proposed to require each “actual
employer” to have a Designated Employer Representative on staff to interface
with the MRO, and prohibited employers from contracting this role out to service
agents. DOT’s proposal, however, was supported by only 20 percent of the
comments received, a decisive rejection of the proposal.
DATIA presented the relevant regulatory law that applied to the rulemaking including
the Regulatory Flexibility Act, the Paperwork Reduction Act, and the Administrative
Procedures Act, which require that impacts and costs be considered before releasing
the final regulation.
DATIA’s other issues involved the quarterly statistical summary issue, and
the blind sampling requirement in DOT’s notice of proposed rulemaking. DATIA
made the point that both these requirements had no stated or empirical support,
and therefore were of no “practical utility” as required by the Paperwork
Reduction Act.
Invited by DATIA to accompany our presentation was a representative from the Society
for Human Resources, a 150,000 member association which also supported DATIA’s
concerns on the Designated Employer Representative Issue.
This meeting followed a recent meeting between DATIA and the Small Business Administration
where DATIA outlined the regulation’s impact on small business. Officials
from SBA were also present at the White House meeting and are following it to
ensure that it complies with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, which DOT claims
it is exempt from.
Relevant Links
DATIA's Meeting Points with
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Results of DATIA’s Review of DOT Docket
on 49 CFR Part 40 Rulemaking
Follow Up Letter to DOT on Why Small Firms Would Be
Impacted
DATIA's Comments to DOT Docket for NPRM,
49 CFR Part 40
