Guidance for Drug-Free Workplace Requirements (Financial Assistance)

Danny Werfel,

Deputy Controller.

Although some of the guidance was organized differently within OMB circulars or other documents, much of the guidance in this subtitle existed prior to the establishment of title 2 of the CFR. Specifically:

182.5

What does this part do?

182.10

How is this part organized?

182.15

To whom does the guidance apply?

182.20

What must a Federal agency do to implement the guidance?

182.25

What must a Federal agency address in its implementation of the guidance?

182.30

Where does a Federal agency implement the guidance?

182.35

By when must a Federal agency implement the guidance?

182.40

How is the guidance maintained?

Subpart A—Purpose and Coverage 182.100

How is this part written?

182.105

Do terms in this part have special meanings?

182.110

What do subparts A through F of this part do?

182.115

Does this part apply to me?

182.120

Are any of my Federal assistance awards exempt from this part?

182.125

Does this part affect the Federal contracts that I receive?

Subpart B—Requirements for Recipients Other Than Individuals

182.200

What must I do to comply with this part?

182.205

What must I include in my drug-free workplace statement?

182.210

To whom must I distribute my drug-free workplace statement?

182.215

What must I include in my drug-free awareness program?

182.220

By when must I publish my drug-free workplace statement and establish my drug-free awareness program?

182.225

What actions must I take concerning employees who are convicted of drug violations in the workplace?

182.230

How and when must I identify workplaces?

Subpart C—Requirements for Recipients Who Are Individuals

182.300

What must I do to comply with this part if I am an individual recipient?

Subpart D—Responsibilities of Agency Awarding Officials

182.400

What are my responsibilities as an agency awarding official?

Subpart E—Violations of This Part and Consequences 182.500

How are violations of this part determined for recipients other than individuals?

182.505

How are violations of this part determined for recipients who are individuals?

182.510

What actions will the Federal Government take against a recipient determined to have violated this part?

182.515

Are there any exceptions to those actions?

Subpart F—Definitions

182.605

Award.

182.610

Controlled substance.

182.615

Conviction.

182.620

Cooperative agreement.

182.625

Criminal drug statute.

182.630

Debarment.

182.635

Drug-free workplace.

182.640

Employee.

182.645

Federal agency or agency.

182.650

Grant.

182.655

Individual.

182.660

Recipient.

182.665

State.

182.670

Suspension.

This part provides Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance for Federal agencies on the portion of the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 (41 U.S.C. 701-707, as amended) that applies to grants. It also applies the provisions of the Act to cooperative agreements and other financial assistance awards, as a matter of Federal Government policy.

This part is organized in two segments.

(a) Sections 182.5 through 182.40 contain general policy direction for Federal agencies' use of the uniform policies and procedures in subparts A through F of this part.

(b) Subparts A through F of this part contain uniform governmentwide policies and procedures for Federal agency use to specify the—

(1) Types of awards that are covered by drug-free workplace requirements;

(2) Drug-free workplace requirements with which a recipient must comply;

(3) Actions required of an agency awarding official; and

(4) Consequences of a violation of drug-free workplace requirements.

This part provides OMB guidance only to Federal agencies. Publication of this guidance in the Code of Federal Regulations does not change its nature—it is guidance and not regulation. Federal agencies' implementation of the guidance governs the rights and responsibilities of other persons affected by the drug-free workplace requirements.

To comply with the requirement in Section 41 U.S.C. 705 for Governmentwide regulations, each Federal agency that awards grants or cooperative agreements or makes other financial assistance awards that are subject to the drug-free workplace requirements in subparts A through F of the guidance must issue a regulation consistent with those subparts.

Each Federal agency's implementing regulation:

(a) Must establish drug-free workplace policies and procedures for that agency's awards that are consistent with the guidance in this part. When adopted by a Federal agency, the provisions of the guidance have regulatory effect for that agency's awards.

(b) Must address some matters for which the guidance in this part gives the agency discretion. Specifically, the regulation must—

(1) State whether the agency:

(i) Has a central point to which a recipient may send the notification of a conviction that is required under § 182.225(a) or § 182.300(b); or

(ii) Requires the recipient to send the notification to the awarding official for each agency award, or to his or her official designee.

(2) Either:

(i) State that the agency head is the official authorized to determine under § 182.500 or § 182.505 that a recipient has violated the drug-free workplace requirements; or

(ii) Provide the title of the official designated to make that determination.

(c) May also, at the agency's option, identify any specific types of financial assistance awards, in addition to grants and cooperative agreements, to which the Federal agency makes this guidance applicable.

Each Federal agency that awards grants or cooperative agreements or makes other financial assistance awards that are subject to the drug-free workplace guidance in this part must issue a regulation implementing the guidance within its chapter in subtitle B of this title of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Federal agencies must submit proposed regulations to the OMB for review within nine months of the issuance of this part and issue final regulations within eighteen months of the guidance.

The OMB publishes proposed changes to the guidance in the Federal Register for public comment, considers comments with the help of appropriate interagency working groups, and then issues any changes to the guidance in final form.

(a) This part uses a “plain language” format to make it easier for the general public and business community to use and understand. The section headings and text, often in the form of questions and answers, must be read together.

(b) Pronouns used within this part, such as “I” and “you,” change from subpart to subpart depending on the audience being addressed.

This part uses terms that have special meanings. Those terms are defined in subpart F of this part.

Subparts A through F of this part specify standard policies and procedures to carry out the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 for financial assistance awards.

(a) Portions of this part apply to you if you are either—

(1) A recipient of a Federal assistance award (see definitions of award and recipient in §§ 182.605 and 182.660, respectively); or

(2) A Federal agency awarding official.

(b) The following table shows the subparts that apply to you:

This part does not apply to any award to which the agency head, or his or her designee, determines that the application of this part would be inconsistent with the international obligations of the United States or the laws or regulations of a foreign government.

This part will affect future contract awards indirectly if you are debarred or suspended for a violation of the requirements of this part, as described in § 182.510(c). However, this part does not apply directly to procurement contracts. The portion of the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 that applies to Federal procurement contracts is carried out through the Federal Acquisition Regulation in chapter 1 of Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations (the drug-free workplace coverage currently is in 48 CFR part 23, subpart 23.5).

There are two general requirements if you are a recipient other than an individual.

(a) First, you must make a good faith effort, on a continuing basis, to maintain a drug-free workplace. You must agree to do so as a condition for receiving any award covered by this part. The specific measures that you must take in this regard are described in more detail in subsequent sections of this subpart. Briefly, those measures are to—

(1) Publish a drug-free workplace statement and establish a drug-free awareness program for your employees (see §§ 182.205 through 182.220); and

(2) Take actions concerning employees who are convicted of violating drug statutes in the workplace (see § 182.225).

(b) Second, you must identify all known workplaces under your Federal awards (see § 182.230).

You must publish a statement that—

(a) Tells your employees that the unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensing, possession, or use of a controlled substance is prohibited in your workplace;

(b) Specifies the actions that you will take against employees for violating that prohibition; and

(c) Lets each employee know that, as a condition of employment under any award, he or she:

(1) Will abide by the terms of the statement; and

(2) Must notify you in writing if he or she is convicted for a violation of a criminal drug statute occurring in the workplace and must do so no more than five calendar days after the conviction.

You must require that a copy of the statement described in § 182.205 be given to each employee who will be engaged in the performance of any Federal award.

You must establish an ongoing drug-free awareness program to inform employees about—

(a) The dangers of drug abuse in the workplace;

(b) Your policy of maintaining a drug-free workplace;

(c) Any available drug counseling, rehabilitation, and employee assistance programs; and

(d) The penalties that you may impose upon them for drug abuse violations occurring in the workplace.

If you are a new recipient that does not already have a policy statement as described in § 182.205 and an ongoing awareness program as described in § 182.215, you must publish the statement and establish the program by the time given in the following table:

There are two actions you must take if an employee is convicted of a drug violation in the workplace:

(a) First, you must notify Federal agencies if an employee who is engaged in the performance of an award informs you about a conviction, as required by § 182.205(c)(2), or you otherwise learn of the conviction. Your notification to the Federal agencies must—

(1) Be in writing;

(2) Include the employee's position title;

(3) Include the identification number(s) of each affected award;

(4) Be sent within ten calendar days after you learn of the conviction; and

(5) Be sent to every Federal agency on whose award the convicted employee was working. It must be sent to every awarding official or his or her official designee, unless the Federal agency has specified a central point for the receipt of the notices.

(b) Second, within 30 calendar days of learning about an employee's conviction, you must either-

(1) Take appropriate personnel action against the employee, up to and including termination, consistent with the requirements of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), as amended; or

(2) Require the employee to participate satisfactorily in a drug abuse assistance or rehabilitation program approved for these purposes by a Federal, State or local health, law enforcement, or other appropriate agency.

(a) You must identify all known workplaces under each agency award. A failure to do so is a violation of your drug-free workplace requirements. You may identify the workplaces—

(1) To the agency official that is making the award, either at the time of application or upon award; or

(2) In documents that you keep on file in your offices during the performance of the award, in which case you must make the information available for inspection upon request by agency officials or their designated representatives.

(b) Your workplace identification for an award must include the actual address of buildings (or parts of buildings) or other sites where work under the award takes place. Categorical descriptions may be used (e.g., all vehicles of a mass transit authority or State highway department while in operation, State employees in each local unemployment office, performers in concert halls or radio studios).

(c) If you identified workplaces to the agency awarding official at the time of application or award, as described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section, and any workplace that you identified changes during the performance of the award, you must inform the agency awarding official.

As a condition of receiving a Federal agency award, if you are an individual recipient, you must agree that—

(a) You will not engage in the unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensing, possession, or use of a controlled substance in conducting any activity related to the award; and

(b) If you are convicted of a criminal drug offense resulting from a violation occurring during the conduct of any award activity, you will report the conviction:

(1) In writing.

(2) Within 10 calendar days of the conviction.

(3) To the Federal agency awarding official or other designee for each award that you currently have, unless the agency designates a central point for the receipt of the notices, either in the award document or its regulation implementing the guidance in this part. When notice is made to a central point, it must include the identification number(s) of each affected award.

As a Federal agency awarding official, you must obtain each recipient's agreement, as a condition of the award, to comply with the requirements in—

(a) Subpart B of this part, if the recipient is not an individual; or

(b) Subpart C of this part, if the recipient is an individual.

A recipient other than an individual is in violation of the requirements of this part if the agency head or his or her designee determines, in writing, that—

(a) The recipient has violated the requirements of Subpart B of this part; or

(b) The number of convictions of the recipient's employees for violating criminal drug statutes in the workplace is large enough to indicate that the recipient has failed to make a good faith effort to provide a drug-free workplace.

An individual recipient is in violation of the requirements of this part if the agency head or his or her designee determines, in writing, that—

(a) The recipient has violated the requirements of Subpart C of this part; or

(b) The recipient is convicted of a criminal drug offense resulting from a violation occurring during the conduct of any award activity.

If a recipient is determined to have violated this part, as described in § 182.500 or § 182.505, the agency may take one or more of the following actions—

(a) Suspension of payments under the award;

(b) Suspension or termination of the award; and

(c) Suspension or debarment of the recipient under the agency's regulation implementing the OMB guidance on nonprocurement debarment and suspension (2 CFR part 180), for a period not to exceed five years.

The agency head may waive with respect to a particular award, in writing, a suspension of payments under an award, suspension or termination of an award, or suspension or debarment of a recipient if the agency head determines that such a waiver would be in the public interest. This exception authority cannot be delegated to any other official.

Award means an award of financial assistance by a Federal agency directly to a recipient.

(a) The term award includes:

(1) A Federal grant or cooperative agreement, in the form of money or property in lieu of money.

(2) A block grant or a grant in an entitlement program, whether or not the grant is exempted from coverage under the Governmentwide rule that implements OMB Circular A-102 (for availability of OMB circulars, see 5 CFR 1310.3) and specifies uniform administrative requirements.

(b) The term award does not include:

(1) Technical assistance that provides services instead of money.

(2) Loans.

(3) Loan guarantees.

(4) Interest subsidies.

(5) Insurance.

(6) Direct appropriations.

(7) Veterans' benefits to individuals (i.e., any benefit to veterans, their families, or survivors by virtue of the service of a veteran in the Armed Forces of the United States).

Controlled substance means a controlled substance in schedules I through V of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812), and as further defined by regulation at 21 CFR 1308.11 through 1308.15.

Conviction means a finding of guilt (including a plea of nolo contendere) or imposition of sentence, or both, by any judicial body charged with the responsibility to determine violations of the Federal or State criminal drug statutes.

Cooperative agreement means an award of financial assistance that, consistent with 31 U.S.C. 6305, is used to enter into the same kind of relationship as a grant (see definition of grant in § 182.650), except that substantial involvement is expected between the Federal agency and the recipient when carrying out the activity contemplated by the award. The term does not include cooperative research and development agreements as defined in 15 U.S.C. 3710a.

Criminal drug statute means a Federal or non-Federal criminal statute involving the manufacture, distribution, dispensing, use, or possession of any controlled substance.

Debarment means an action taken by a Federal agency to prohibit a recipient from participating in Federal Government procurement contracts and covered nonprocurement transactions. A recipient so prohibited is debarred, in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation for procurement contracts (48 CFR part 9, subpart 9.4) and agency regulations implementing the OMB guidance on nonprocurement debarment and suspension (2 CFR part 180, which implements Executive Orders 12549 and 12689).

Drug-free workplace means a site for the performance of work done in connection with a specific award at which employees of the recipient are prohibited from engaging in the unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensing, possession, or use of a controlled substance.

(a) Employee means the employee of a recipient directly engaged in the performance of work under the award, including—

(1) All direct charge employees;

(2) All indirect charge employees, unless their impact or involvement in the performance of work under the award is insignificant to the performance of the award; and

(3) Temporary personnel and consultants who are directly engaged in the performance of work under the award and who are on the recipient's payroll.

(b) This definition does not include workers not on the payroll of the recipient (e.g., volunteers, even if used to meet a matching requirement; consultants or independent contractors not on the payroll; or employees of subrecipients or subcontractors in covered workplaces).

Federal agency or agency means any United States executive department, military department, government corporation, government controlled corporation, any other establishment in the executive branch (including the Executive Office of the President), or any independent regulatory agency.

Grant means an award of financial assistance that, consistent with 31 U.S.C. 6304, is used to enter into a relationship—

(a) The principal purpose of which is to transfer a thing of value to the recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law of the United States, rather than to acquire property or services for the Federal Government's direct benefit or use; and

(b) In which substantial involvement is not expected between the Federal agency and the recipient when carrying out the activity contemplated by the award.

Individual means a natural person.

Recipient means any individual, corporation, partnership, association, unit of government (except a Federal agency) or legal entity, however organized, that receives an award directly from a Federal agency.

State means any of the States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or possession of the United States.

Suspension means an action taken by a Federal agency that immediately prohibits a recipient from participating in Federal Government procurement contracts and covered nonprocurement transactions for a temporary period, pending completion of an investigation and any judicial or administrative proceedings that may ensue. A recipient so prohibited is suspended, in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation for procurement contracts (48 CFR part 9, subpart 9.4) and agency regulations implementing the OMB guidance on nonprocurement debarment and suspension (2 CFR part 180, which implements Executive Orders 12549 and 12689). Suspension of a recipient is a distinct and separate action from suspension of an award or suspension of payments under an award.

[FR Doc. E9-14019 Filed 6-12-09; 8:45 am]

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