CLEARINGHOUSE How does it affect your recordkeeping? Todays Agenda: - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

DOT Drug & Alcohol

CLEARINGHOUSE

How does it affect your recordkeeping?

Today’s Agenda:

• CDL Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse Rule:

– What is the Clearinghouse? – Who is subject? – Implementation date – Recordkeeping – What do employers need to do next? – How can Lakeland Occupational Health help employers?

The Process From Collection to Reporting

Why was the Clearinghouse Created?

Keep our roadways SAFE!

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) goal is to prevent CDL holders with positive drug and alcohol test results, refused tests,

• r drivers who have not undergone the return-to-

duty drug and alcohol rehabilitation process from job hopping. The new Clearinghouse system provides real-time information about CDL driver drug and alcohol program violations.

Clearinghouse Final Rule

• Final Rule

– Mandated by Congress and initially published December 5, 2016 – Established requirements for the Clearinghouse – Identified January 6, 2020 as the Clearinghouse implementation date – Clearinghouse final rule:

www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/commercial-drivers-license-drug-and-alcohol-clearinghouse

Clearinghouse Timeline

Who is Required to Register with the Clearinghouse?

• Employers of CDL drivers who operate commercial motor

vehicles (CMVs)

• Consortia/Third-Party Administrators (C/TPAs)
• Medical Review Officers (MROs)
• Substance Abuse Professionals (SAPs)
• State Drivers Licensing Agencies (SDLAs)

**Highly recommended for all drivers who hold commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) or commercial learner’s permits (CLPs)

Drivers: Portal Account

While Clearinghouse registration is not required for all drivers, drivers must register in order to:

• Provide electronic consent to release detailed drug and/or

alcohol violation information in their Clearinghouse record to a current or prospective employer (full query)

• Review their own Clearinghouse record and initiate the

process to revise or remove incorrectly entered information

• Identify a substance abuse professional (SAP) to report on

return-to-duty (RTD) activities

• No cost for drivers to create account, access Clearinghouse

records or electronically sign for consents

Drivers: Self-reporting to Employers

 Section 382.415 requires drivers to report

DOT testing violations unknown to their current employer

 Examples include:

 Positive pre-employment test for

another company

 Violation for a concurrent employer

under a different agency such as FTA, FAA, FRA, PHMSA or USCG

Who is Required to Populate Data in the Clearinghouse?

 Medical Review Officers (MRO)  Substance Abuse Professional (SAP)  Employers subject to Part 382

** Consortium/Third-Party Administrator (C/TPA)

Data Source: Medical Review Officer (MRO)

 MRO’s are required to report the following into the

Clearinghouse within two business days of verified determination:

 Verified positive, adulterated, or substituted drug

test result

 Refusal to submit to a drug test requiring a

determination by the MRO, as specified in 49 CFR 40.191

 Driver admission to the MRO  Changes made to a verified drug test per 49 CFR

Part 40 (must be reported within one business day

• f making changes to the reported result)

_________________________________ Additional information MRO reports:

 Reason for test  Specimen ID Number  Driver’s name, date of birth, CDL

number and State of issuance

 Employer’s name, address, and

USDOT Number, if applicable

 Date of the test and date of the

verified result

 Test result

________________________________

Data Source: Substance Abuse Professional (SAP)

SAP must be designated by the driver in order to provide data on driver in the Clearinghouse

• Records provided by SAP:

 Date of initial assessment completed on driver (must be entered into the

Clearinghouse by the close of the business day following assessment)

 Date of completion for assessments and treatment that determines driver is

eligible for return-to-duty testing (must be entered into the Clearinghouse by the close of the business day following the determination)

Employer Registration

 Registration process:

 Verify your information. If you currently have a USDOT Number, the Clearinghouse

will pull your contact and company information from other FMCSA systems

 Designate your C/TPA. If you work with a C/TPA, you must designate them in the

Clearinghouse before they can access the Clearinghouse on your behalf. This is required for all Owner-Operators (employers who employ themselves as CDL driver)

 Invite assistants. Send invitations to other employees to access the Clearinghouse on

your behalf, allowing them to register as part of your company or organization

 Select and purchase a query plan. Employers will pay a fee when querying the

Clearinghouse for current and prospective employees’ drug and alcohol program violations

Clearinghouse Query Fees

• Employers are charged a fee for conducting queries in the

Clearinghouse

• Employers must purchase query plans to ensure they or

their designated C/TPA can conduct queries

• Queries plans are purchased directly from the

Clearinghouse by the employer

• Purchased queries plans never expire
• C/TPA cannot purchase query plans on behalf of

employers

Query Plans - Cost

INDIVIDUAL

QUERY PLAN

$1.25

Flat per query rate (limited or full) ✓ Flat per query rate (1.25), for limited or full queries ✓ Bundles customized to meet your business needs ✓ Queries never expire ✓ Purchase additional query plans, as needed

How do I Register:

STEP 1: Create a Login.gov Account  To register and gain access to the Clearinghouse first requires users to create an account with login.gov

▪ Login.gov is a multifactor authentication process ▪ Authentication via phone (voice or text message)

• After setting up a login.gov

account, registration will be completed in the Clearinghouse

• Employers will be asked about

their portal credentials

• Owner/Operators will be asked

to identify their C/TPA

• Drivers will enter their CDL

information

User Dashboard

▪ Homepage for Clearinghouse activity includes:

• Invite and manage assistants
• Manage C/TPAs
• Purchase query plans
• Report drug and alcohol

program violations (January)

• Conduct queries (January)

What do Employers Report to the Clearinghouse?

 Drug and alcohol violations by the close of the third business day after

the employer is notified. Violations include:

 Confirmed alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater  Certain refusal-to-test scenarios  Actual knowledge of violation  Negative return-to-duty test  Successful completion of all follow-up tests

 If an owner-operator commits a drug and alcohol program violation,

this information must be reported by the C/TPA

Refusal-to-Test Scenarios:

 Refusing to go to the collection site  Not showing up  Arriving late  Leaving the collection site without

providing specimen

 Failure to cooperate  Admissions to the collector

Actual Knowledge of Violation:

 Per §382.107 includes:

 Alcohol use within four hours of

coming on duty and during on- duty time;

 Alcohol use following an accident

prior to post-accident testing; and

 Controlled substance use  Traffic citation DUI in CDL CMV

Clearinghouse Data Retention

Driver violation information is removed if the following criteria are met:

1.

SAP reports assessment and treatment successful; AND

2.

Employer’s report of negative return-to-duty test; AND

3.

Current employer reports completion of follow-up tests; AND

4.

Five years pass since the original violation

Limited Queries:

Is driver consent required? How is consent provided? For how long is consent effective? What action is required?

▪ Yes ▪ Outside the Clearinghouse ▪ May be electronic or wet signature Note: FMCSA has provided a sample limited consent request form on the website Limited consent form must specify time range Consent refused:

• Query cannot be conducted
• Driver removed from safety-sensitive functions

Consent provided:

• Retain via paper or electronically in driver’s

qualification file

• Request limited query in the Clearinghouse

Reason for Query Information Returned Required Action

▪ Annual check on currently employed driver ▪ Ad hoc/periodic check on driver No records found in the Clearinghouse for queried driver No action required Records found in the Clearinghouse for queried driver Full query must be conducted for violation and/or RTD details to be released; if full query is not conducted within 24 hours, driver is removed from safety-sensitive functions, including operating a CMV

Full Queries:

Reason for Query Information Returned Required Action

▪ Pre-employment check on prospective driver ▪ Limited query returned records found for queried driver ▪ Ad hoc/periodic check on driver Full violation and/or RTD details for queried driver If driver has a violation and no negative RTD test result, driver is removed from safety-sensitive functions If driver has a violation and a negative RTD test result, no action required

Is driver consent required? How is consent provided? For how long is consent effective? What action is required?

▪ Yes Electronically within the Clearinghouse For each full query for individual driver Consent refused:

• Employer notified of refused consent
• Query cannot be conducted
• Driver cannot perform/removed from safety-sensitive functions

Consent provided:

• Query conducted
• Violation details released, including RTD status
• If queried driver has violation and no negative RTD test result,

driver removed from safety-sensitive functions

Pre-employment (Full) Queries January 6, 2020 - January 5, 2023

 Employers subject to Part 382 must:

 Perform pre-employment queries

in the Clearinghouse (Full Queries); and

 Collect DOT testing history via the

safety performance history (SPH)

 Applicants need a portal account to

grant access

Pre-employment (Full) Queries Starting January 6, 2023

 Manual safety performance history (SPH) inquiry is

no longer required

 Employers contact former employers when:

 There is no proof of completion of all DOT follow-

up test (i.e., what is the status of the process)

 It is a safety-sensitive position under another DOT

agency (i.e., pipeline, transit, air, maritime, rail)

Queries: 30 Days Following

 New information is reported to employer when entered within 30 days

• f the pre-employment full query

Employer Query Record Keeping:

 Beginning January 6, 2020:

 In addition to full query,

safety performance history (SPH) paperwork retained for 3 years

 After January 6, 2023

 Valid registration in

Clearinghouse fulfills record keeping requirements

Data Source: Consortia/Third Party Administrators (C/TPA)

• C/TPAs can be designated by an employer to perform data

entry and queries in the Clearinghouse on their behalf

• Employers must specifically assign permission to C/TPAs

inside the Clearinghouse which the C/TPA must then accept

• As an owner-operator, you are required to work with a C/TPA

– Owner-operators may report violations about drivers employed by the owner, however, if a violation occurs with the owner-operator this must be reported by the C/TPA

What can Lakeland Occupational Health Offer as your Consortium/Third Party Administrator (C/TPA)?

Lakeland Occupational Health can be designated by the employer as their C/TPA to perform data entry and queries in the Clearinghouse on your behalf:

 Report violations

 Alcohol tests results of 0.04 or greater  Refusals to take an alcohol or drug test  Actual knowledge of a violation

 Report return-to-duty (RTD) test results  Successful completion of follow-up testing  Conduct annual queries on behalf of employer

Employer Steps for Implementation:

1.

Register your company

2.

Designate C/TPA

3.

Purchase your queries

4.

Set up assistants

5.

Update and issue revised policy to drivers regarding the Clearinghouse

6.

Collect signed receipts from driver:

1.

DOT Drug & Alcohol policy addendum, acknowledging the updates

2.

General consent for limited queries

7.

Encourage drivers to register

Q & A session

Thank You for Participating!

Lakeland Care, Employer Services www.lakelandcare.com