CDL Drug and Alchol Clearinghouse
Publication date: December 8, 2016
Effective date: February 7, 2017
Summary
FMCSA amends the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations to establish requirements for the Commercial Driver's License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse , a database under the Agency's administration that will contain information about violations of FMCSA's drug and alcohol testing program for the holders of commercial driver's licenses (CDLs).
Motor carrier employers will be required to query the clearinghouse for information concerning current or prospective employees who have unresolved violations of the federal drug and alcohol testing regulations that prohibit them from operating a CMV. Employers and medical review officers also would have to report drug and alcohol testing program violations. The final rule requires motor carriers, medical review officers, third-party administrators, and substance abuse professionals to report information about drivers who: (1) test positive for drugs or alcohol; (2) refuse drug and alcohol testing; and (3) undergo the return-to-duty drug and alcohol rehabilitation process
Motor carriers will be required to search the clearinghouse annually for current employees and during the pre-employment process for prospective employees to determine whether a driver violated drug or alcohol testing requirements with a different employer. Because the clearinghouse would replace current procedures for monitoring compliance, motor carriers' duty to retain its own compliance records will end three years after the clearinghouse begins operation.
This rule is mandated by the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21).
The compliance date is January 6, 2020.
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