August 8, 2001
Ms. Claudia Rayford Rodgers
Worker Safety Associate Advocate
U.S. Small Business Administration
409 Third St., S.W., 7th Fl.
Washington, DC 20416
Dear Ms. Rayford Rodgers:
I would like to thank you for taking the time to meet with Jeffrey Smith, Brian Lagana, Robert Capozzi, and myself on July 31, 2001. We were very pleased to see that the Office of Management and Budget and the Small Business Administration were receptive to receiving our comments on how the new Department of Transportation CFR 49 part 40 regulations will impact providers and end users of drug and alcohol testing. As the voice of the drug and alcohol testing industry, DATIA would like to stress that we all have the same goal in creating a workable set of regulations that will provide for the safety of the public and the transportation industry.
As we discussed during the meeting, it is impractical and confusing for the Custody and Control Form (CCF) to list contact information for both the employer and the consortium/third party administrator (C/TPA) when the employer has elected, as allowed by CFR 49 part 40, to have his/her company’s drug and alcohol testing program managed by a C/TPA. When the employer has elected to have the allowed test results and paperwork sent through the C/TPA, it is imperative that this is clearly communicated on the CCF to allow for timely reporting of drug test results. While the July 31st DOT amendments allow the employer’s mailing address to be omitted from the CCF, the regulations still require the employer’s fax number to be listed. Since the regulations encourage service providers to fax paperwork, this change in effect only makes the situation more confusing. The specimen collector and the Medical Review Officer must still make a judgment call as to which fax number to send the paperwork to. If drug testing results and paperwork are not to be faxed to the employer, what is the purpose of listing the employer’s fax number? We would request that SBA follow-up on this issue through the available federal courses of action.
Enclosed you will find a letter sent to Ken Edgell, Department of Transportation, addressing this and other issues that DATIA believes were not properly addressed in the technical amendments to CFR 49 part 40. Again, thank you for your time. If I can answer any questions that you may have or provide you with additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me. I can be reached at 703-548-0901 or lshelton@datia.org.
Sincerely,
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Laura E. Shelton
Executive Director
Read DATIA's letter urging DOT to address the issue of the consortium/third party administrator and employer’s address on the Custody and Control Form.
Review DATIA's follow-up letter to DOT.
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