U.S. takes step towards allowing hair testing
October 25, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. signed into law yesterday legislation that will allow fleets to employ hair testing, a move the American Trucking Associations (ATA) has been lobbying for.
The bill, which cleared Congress, was designed to combat the opioid crisis in the U.S.
“Our fleets need to depend on the most accurate, reliable and failsafe drug testing methods available today, and this legislation pushes the federal government to recognize those means of testing,” said Bill Sullivan, ATA’s executive vice-president of advocacy.
The law directs the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to report to Congress on its progress issuing guidelines for hair testing. In addition, the Secretary of Health and Human Services is required within 60 days to report to the Senate Commerce and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committees on the status for hair testing guidelines, the reasons for delay in issuing guidelines, and a schedule – including benchmarks and an estimated date of delivery – for completion of the guidelines.
The bill also contains reporting requirements on the development of the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse and a deadline for completing work on oral fluids testing.