ortation Employee Testing Act’s requirement that DOT harmonize its testing requirements with those adopted by the HHS for federal workers. Nevertheless, the DOT engaged in a detailed rulemaking process and considered feedback from the relevant stakeholders who each play a part in the federal transportation drug and alcohol testing process.Now final, the regulations impact the drug and alcohol testing programs covering an estimated 8 million transportation workers, including each of the DOT’s sub agencies with mandatory drug testing requirements, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PMHSA). The procedural changes will also impact Coast Guard drug and alcohol programs, which also follow DOT testing protocols. The new regulations are published in the Federal Register at 88 FR 27596 and can be accessed from the DOT’s Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy & Compliance (ODAPC).An employer typically will have the right to determine which type of sample it will collect for drug testing purposes. This change to the regulations should provide welcome flexibility for both employers and employees. For example, if an employee cannot produce a sufficient urine specimen and a recollection is needed, an oral fluids test can be administered more expeditiously than a second urine collection, which may take up to three hours to complete under existing regulation. Obtaining an alternative specimen may also obviate the need for an employee who fails to produce a specimen in a timely manner to obtain a medical evaluation or be deemed to have refused the test. Third-party administrators and collector representatives are urging employers to work with their drug testing vendors to ensure that their preferred approaches are communicated to their account managers.Testing MechanicsOral flui