DRUG & ALCOHOL TESTING
FAA SEEKS OVERSEAS DRUG & ALCOHOL TESTING INFORMATION
IN REGARDS TO THE RECENT ANRPM ON DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING, ARSA RELEASED THE FOLLOWING ANNOUNCEMENT.
O
n March 17, the Federal Aviation Adminis- tration (FAA) issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to collect information to draft regulations regarding
controlled substance and alcohol testing of part 145 repair station employees located outside the United States. This development was initially reported by the
Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) when the FAA announced that it would seek comments to the ANPRM on March 13. The FAA rulemaking is not a surprise; in fact, it is the
direct result of a carefully crafted legislative compromise in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act (P.L. 112-95; enacted, Feb. 14, 2012). Specifically, the law mandates in Sec. 301:
(1). IN GENERAL.--The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Transportation, acting jointly, shall request the governments of foreign countries that are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization to establish international standards for alcohol and controlled substances testing of persons that perform safety-sensitive maintenance functions on commercial air carrier aircraft.
(2). APPLICATION TO PART 121 AIRCRAFT WORK.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator shall promulgate a proposed rule requiring that all part 145 repair station employees responsible for safety sensitive maintenance functions on part 121 air carrier aircraft
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are subject to an alcohol and controlled substances testing program determined acceptable by the Administrator and consistent with the applicable laws of the country in which the repair station is located. (emphasis added) ARSA steadfastly believes mandating drug and alcohol testing of maintenance providers is unnecessary and burdensome with no flight safety benefit. Unfortunately, for many years, labor unions, opposed to contract maintenance, successfully lobbied the FAA and Congress to mandate onerous requirements on repair stations, including drug and alcohol testing. Efforts to impose drug and alcohol testing on foreign maintenance providers date back to 2007, when then- House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-Min.) included a broader version of the provision in his House-passed FAA reauthorization bills (H.R. 2881; H.R. 915), which as written would have required specimens be sent back to the United States for testing. Industry and foreign civil aviation authorities (CAAs), such as the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), fought these efforts, amid the threat of the European Union-United States Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) collapsing. With many proponents adamant that requiring drug and alcohol testing in sovereign countries (despite strict laws prohibiting it) and several other key issues taking precedence, the FAA reauthorization bills were not enactment.
DOMmagazine
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