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Office of the Secretary of Transportation
SUMMARY: The Department is amending certain provisions of its drug testing procedures for 6-acetylmorphine (6-AM), a unique metabolite of heroin. Laboratories and Medical Review Officers (MROs) will no longer be required to consult with one another regarding the testing for the presence of morphine when the laboratory confirms the presence of 6-AM. This rule is intended to streamline the laboratory process for analyzing and reporting 6-AM positive results and will facilitate MRO verification of 6-AM positive results.
DATES: The rule is effective July 3, 2012. Comments to this interim final rule should be submitted by June 4, 2012. Late-filed comments will be considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: To ensure that you do not duplicate your docket submissions, please submit them by only one of the following means:
* Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
* Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., West Building Ground Floor Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001;
* Hand Delivery: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone number is 202-366-9329;
Instructions: You must include the agency name and docket number DOT- OST-2010-0026 or the Regulatory Identification Number (2105-AE14) for the rulemaking at the beginning of your comments. All comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bohdan Baczara, U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590; 202-366-3784 (voice), 202-366-3897 (fax), or [email protected] (email).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For its drug testing regulation, the Department of Transportation (DOT) is required by the Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991 (Omnibus Act) to incorporate the laboratory testing protocols and standards established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Omnibus Act requires that we utilize HHS-certified laboratories and that we follow the HHS Mandatory Guidelines for identifying the specific drugs for which we test and the scientific methodologies the laboratories must use for testing. Because of these requirements and to create consistency with certain aspects of the new HHS Mandatory Guidelines...