DATIA's key objective when founded in 1995 was to provide a national voice for the drug and alcohol testing industry among policymakers in Washington, DC. In 1999, this advocacy and lobbying took on increased importance when DATIA succeeded in gaining Congressional recognition of the importance of the Drug Free Workplace Grants Program, which a year earlier the association had played a key role in passing. With the success of the program comes Congress' desire to reauthorize the program and make available considerably more money for grants. This recognition, among other successes, has solidified DATIA’s role as an effective and recognized voice for the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry in Washington.
In 2000, DATIA will continue to actively work with Congress to create and endorse new drug and alcohol testing legislation that could open new markets and change the way in which the drug and alcohol testing industry conducts business. In addition, DATIA will closely monitor Federal agencies to ensure that any proposed new regulations, or changes to existing regulations, are consistent with industry desires, especially as they may affect the safety, privacy and dependability of the services that DATIA members provide.
(1) Department of Transportation 49 CFR Part 40
Now that the Department of Transportation (DOT) has published its much anticipated Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to revise its drug and alcohol testing regulations (49 CFR) Part 40, DATIA can move forward with its agenda to help DOT make the new revisions more friendly to the drug and alcohol testing industry. DATIA feels there are several areas the DOT needs to address before anything is finalized. A couple of which are the regulations concerning Consortiums and Third Party Administrators, and Public Interest Exclusions.
First and foremost DATIA wants to amend the part of Part 40 language that deals with Consortiums and Third Party Administrators (C/TPAs). In the new revisions DOT made it clear that C/TPAs cannot act as an agent of the employer and therefore cannot receive test results from the Medical Review Officer (MRO). DATIA feels by not allowing C/TPAs to contact the employer with the results, it will make the whole reporting process more expensive and time consuming.
In addition to C/TPAs, DATIA would like DOT to further address the issue of Public Interest Exclusions (PIEs). A PIE is a directive from DOT to employers not to use certain drug and alcohol testing service providers if the provider fails or refuses to provide services required under Part 40 regulations. DOT tried to simplify the issue of PIEs by saying they will only institute one if a serious offense is committed. DATIA would like DOT to clarify what constitutes a serious offense and who would define it. There are just to many gray areas surrounding these issues and others in DOTs new proposed rewrite of Part 40. DATIA has met with DOT, Federal Highway Administration, and the United States Coast Guard to discuss what we perceive as considerable flaws in the newly proposed regulations. Through the Part 40 comment process DATIA intends to make sure these issues and others are resolved so that our members can be as productive as possible.
(2) Department of Health and Human Services Mandatory Guidelines
DATIA has also been actively involved with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) consideration of the Second Draft Mandatory Guidelines for Workplace Drug Testing Programs. Through the comment process DATIA was able to get DHHS to clarify some key points; like defining what the requirements are for Point of Collection Tests (POCTs), and eliminating many of requirements for POCTs. Another previous area of concern that was remedied by DATIA’s submission of comments was the changing of the Custody Control Forms (CCFs). HHS almost universally agreed to the changes proposed by DATIA and the results show in the new forms.
Still, there is one area of contention concerning the new Draft Mandatory Guidelines. HHS still has not clarified what the requirements are for an HHS-approved POCT, and collector certification programs. The committees of industry professionals that have advised DATIA’s specimen collection training and certification program recommend that face-to-face training was the only way to ensure that the trainee actually understood the material presented to them. DATIA feels that although technology offers many convenient forms of training or certification these mediums do not offer the interaction needed to ensure that the trainee absorbs the necessary information to become proficient in his/her respective specialty.
DATIA will continue to work with HHS through the comments process to ensure that DATIA’s members and the drug and alcohol testing industry as a whole will benefit from the new mandatory guidelines.
(3) Small Business Tax Credit – Drug Free Workplace
With the Drug Free Workplace (H.R. 2614) still pending in Congress, one of the continuing top legislative agenda items for DATIA in 2000/2001 is to work with Congress, the White House and other industry groups to increase funding for this program, and introduce legislation offering small business tax credits for companies that implement drug free workplace programs. This credit will increase awareness of the benefits of drug testing among the small business community and provide much-needed financial incentives.
Many small business leaders have said they do not implement drug-testing programs because they do not know where to start setting up a program and need guidance as to what the industry accepted practices are. Information on drug free workplace programs is not readily available to small businesses therefore many small business leaders are also concerned with the potential costs of the program. This proposed legislation would remedy both these problems by providing small business with the necessary information, and establishing a federal tax credit to make programs financially affordable. By doing this DATIA hopes the amount of small businesses implementing drug free workplace programs will increase. DATIA continues to meet with the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to discuss the feasibility of such a program. DATIA will continue to keep its members abreast of this important industry initiative.
(4) Electronic Signatures and Custody Control Forms
With the passage of S.761, Electronic Signatures in global and National Commerce Act, DATIA can now focus on the Department of Transportation’s position on e-signatures. Even though this landmark legislation has passed, the hard work of getting the different federal agencies, and especially the DOT to allow for e-signatures, is yet to come. DATIA thinks this legislation has the ability to simplify the drug testing process by making the effort of filling out and sending in Custody Control Forms (CCFs), less time consuming. It would also prevent employers from sending in incomplete or incorrect forms by not letting a person move on to the next section before all the previous sections are fill in completely and correctly.
Getting DOT to implement such a directive will not doubt be one of the hardest things DATIA will encounter in the next year. However, DATIA plans on attacking this issue head on. In order for DOT to allow for e-signatures Congress has to make the whole process of setting up the program easier. Often agencies don’t get the necessary help from Congress to get these plans on the ground and running. Incentives need to be provided like; giving departments more money to handle the initial costs of hiring outside contractors to install the program, and allowing DOT the leeway to implement the project so it best serves DOT and the public. DATIA plans to work with both DOT and members of Congress to make sure the transition of making e-signatures available to the public via government agencies is a smooth one.
(5) Adulterants
DATIA has identified the sale and use of adulterants to falsify a drug test result as an issue requiring legislative action at the state and local levels, as well as at the federal level. DATIA finds that falsifying drug tests through the use of adulterants compromises the health and safety of employees, and undermines the integrity of the drug and alcohol testing industry.
Currently, four states (Texas, Pennsylvania, Nebraska and South Carolina) have implemented laws criminalizing the use of adulterants to falsify drug test results, as well as offering for sale clean urine and other forms of adulterating substances. Under federal law, no such prohibitions exist, even though the majority of drug tests are federally mandated. Guidances have been issued on the subject, but nothing has been done to prevent their sale and use.
DATIA is proposing a two-pronged approach to combat the sale and use of adulterants, and bring back the level of reliance and credibility that drug testing was always meant to provide to employers and others. The first prong of DATIA's strategy calls on its members to contact their State Attorney General concerning the ease with which products to falsify a drug test result can be purchased, particularly on the Internet. Members should also contact the major search engines (Yahoo!, Excite, HotBot, etc.) informing them of the potential illegality of listing such sites.
DATIA will work on behalf of the industry at the federal level to propose ways of banning the sale and use of adulterants at the national level. DATIA will accomplish this through cooperative efforts with the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), Congress and various federal departments.
(6) School Drug Testing
DATIA will continue to work with Congress in support of drug-free school legislation. DATIA is supportive of any measures by Congress that target schools in an effort to curb drug use by children, and strongly believes that drug-testing is an important component of any legislation.
In the 106th Congress, DATIA submitted testimony to the House of Representatives in response to a hearing by the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth, and Families, which is part of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. This Committee is responsible for considering most legislation that affects school drug testing programs.
As part of DATIA’s testimony to the House of Representatives, they reiterated their support of a good drug-testing model for school districts across the country. DATIA will actively work with Congress to positively promote this issue in the House and the Senate.
DATIA will also continue to work with Congress to reenergize movement on bills similar to H.R. 1735 (Empowering Parents to Fight Drugs Act), and H.R.1642 (Parental Consent Drug Testing and Counseling Act), or on new legislation with the similar goal of creating drug-free schools, during the 107th Congress.
(7) Miscellaneous
DATIA will continue to be a resource to Congress by providing Congressional Committees testimony to promote the interests of the drug and alcohol testing industry. Both the House and the Senate have held hearings and introduced legislation on different aspects of drug and alcohol testing. Congress is currently considering issues directly affecting the drug and alcohol testing industry. These issues are proving to be popular issues for this Congress and have elicited strong emotions from both proponents and opponents of drug testing
There is a strong voice for the industry located in Washington, DC ready and able to provide expert advice on matters of public policy as it relates to drug and alcohol testing. See DATIA's website (www.datia.org) for additional information on legislation considered by Congress.
If you have any questions contact DATIA at (800) 355-1257 or DATIA@wpa.org.
Read DATIA's Legislative and Regulatory Review Year End 2000
