Procedures for Transportation Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs
The following is a summary of the Final Rule:
1)      The Department is required by the Omnibus Transportation Employees Testing Act (Omnibus Act) to follow the HHS requirements for the testing procedures/protocols and drugs for which we test.
2)      Primary laboratory requirements in this final rule include:
            - Testing for MDMA (aka. Ecstasy);
            - Lowering cutoff levels for cocaine and amphetamines;
            - Conducting mandatory initial testing for heroin;
3)      The Department brought several testing definitions in-line with those of HHS.
4)      Each Medical Review Officer (MRO) will need to be re-qualified – including passing an examination given by an MRO training organization - every five years.  The Final Rule eliminated the requirement for each MRO to take 12 hours of continuing education every three years.
5)      An MRO will not need to be trained by an HHS-approved MRO training organization as long as the MRO meets DOT’s qualification and requalification training requirements.
6)      MRO recordkeeping requirements did not change from the five years for non-negatives and one year for negatives.
7)      The Final Rule does not allow the use of HHS-Certified Instrumented Initial Testing Facilities (IITFs) to conduct initial drug testing because the Omnibus Act requires laboratories to be able to perform both initial and confirmation testing but IITFs cannot conduct confirmation testing.
8)      The Final Rule is effective October 1, 2010.
 
 Read the changes to FMCSR part 40

Public Act 58 of 2010

HB 4370 of 2009 (PA 58 of 2010) is part of a three-bill package that amended the Michigan Vehicle Code to prohibit "texting" while driving.  It was tie-barred to the two other bills, House Bills 4370 and 4394. 

SB 0468 of 2009 (PA 0059 of 2010)amended Section 907 of the Vehicle Code to apply to violations of the texting ban.  A person will be ordered to pay costs and a civil fine of $100 for a first offense and $200 for a second or subsequent offense.  The bill also amends Section 732 to specify that a texting violation will not be entered on the master driving record.

HB 4394 of 2009 (PA 60 of 2010) amends the Vehicle Code to prohibit a person from reading, typing, or sending text messages using a wireless two-way communication device, including a wireless phone, that is located in the person's hand or lap while operating a moving motor vehicle on a street or highway in the state. ("Wireless two-way communication device" does not include a global positioning or navigation system affixed to the vehicle.)

This will not prohibit an individual from using a device to report a traffic accident, medical emergency, or serious road hazard; report a situation in which the person believed his or her personal safety was in jeopardy; report or avert the perpetration or potential perpetration of a criminal act against the individual or another person; or carry out official duties as a police officer, law enforcement official, member of a paid or volunteer fire department, or emergency vehicle operator.

An individual who violats the bill will be responsible for a civil infraction and may be fined $100 for a first offense and $200 for a subsequent offense.

The bill will supersede all local ordinances regulating the use of a communication device while operating a motor vehicle in motion on a street or highway, although a local unit of government may adopt an ordinance or enforce an existing ordinance substantially corresponding to the bill.

House Bill 4370 amends the Michigan Vehicle Code to prohibit points from being entered on a person's driving record for a violation of the provisions in House Bill 4394 (S-5).

The bills will take effect on July 1, 2010. The bills are tie-barred to each other, meaning none may take effect unless all were enacted.

Final Rule : Electronic On-Board Recorders for Hours-of-Service Compliance

To read the entire final rule click the link below:
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/administration/rulemakings/final/On-Board-Recorders-for-HOS-Compliance.pdf

SUMMARY: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) amends the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) to incorporate new performance standards for electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) installed in commercial motor vehicles CMVs) manufactured on or after June 4, 2012. On-board hours-of-service (HOS) recording devices meeting FMCSA’s current requirements and installed in CMVs manufactured before June 4, 2012 may continue to be used for the remainder of the service life of those CMVs.

Motor carriers that have demonstrated serious noncompliance with the HOS rules will be subject to mandatory installation of EOBRs meeting the new performance standards. If FMCSA determines, based on HOS records reviewed during a compliance review, that a motor carrier has a 10 percent or greater violation rate (‘‘threshold rate violation’’) for any HOS regulation listed in the new Appendix C to part 385...

Exerpt:

Subpart J—Remedial Directives
Sec.
385.801 Purpose and scope.
385.803 Definitions and acronyms.
385.805 Events triggering issuance of remedial directive and proposed determination of unfitness.
385.807 Notice and issuance of remedial directive.
385.809 [Reserved]
385.813 Issuance and conditional rescission of proposed unfitness determination.
385.815 Exemption for AOBRD users.
385.817 Administrative review.
385.819 Effective of failure to comply with remedial directive

Subpart J—Remedial Directives§ 385.801 Purpose and scope.
(a) This subpart establishes procedures for FMCSA’s issuance of notices of remedial directives and proposed determinations of unfitness.
(b) This subpart establishes the circumstances under which FMCSA will direct motor carriers (including owner-operators leased to motor carriers, regardless of whether the owner-operator has separate operating authority under part 365), in accordance with § 385.1(a), to install electronic onboard recorders (EOBRs) in their commercial motor vehicles as a remedy for threshold rate violations, as defined by § 385.803, of the part 395 hours-ofservice regulations listed in Appendix C to this part.
(c) This subpart establishes the procedures by which motor carriers may challenge FMCSA’s issuance of proposed determinations of unfitness and remedial directives.
(d) The provisions of this subpart apply to all motor carriers subject to the requirements of part 395 of this chapter.

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 49 CFR Part 367 [Docket No. FMCSA–2009–0231] RIN 2126–AB19

Fees for the Unified Carrier Registration Plan and Agreement

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Final rule.
SUMMARY: This rule establishes annual registration fees and a fee bracket structure for the Unified Carrier
Registration (UCR) Agreement for the calendar year beginning January 1, 2010

Chapter 257
MOTOR VEHICLES
updated 04/13/2010

257.208.amended Destruction of certain records; maintaining of records involving operation of commercial motor vehicles. ....

(1) Except as otherwise specified in this section, the secretary of state may destroy any department records maintained on file for 7 years, including the information contained in the central file maintained under section 204a.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, records of convictions.....

(3) If a person who is a commercial license holder or a noncommercial license holder who operates a commercial motor vehicle is convicted under a law of this state, a local ordinance substantially corresponding to a law of this state, or a law of another state substantially corresponding to a law of this state of any of the following violations, the record of that conviction shall be maintained for the life of the person or until the person moves to another jurisdiction:

(a) Operating a vehicle in violation of section 625.

(b) Operating a commercial motor vehicle in violation of section 625m.

(c) Leaving the scene of an accident.

(d) Using a vehicle to commit a felony.

(e) Refusing to take an alcohol or controlled substance test required under this act.

(f) Operating a commercial motor vehicle when the person's operator's or chauffeur's license or vehicle group designation is suspended, revoked, or canceled as a result of prior violations committed while operating a commercial motor vehicle.

(g) Operating a commercial motor vehicle when the person is disqualified from operating a commercial motor vehicle.

(h) Causing any fatality through the negligent operation of a commercial motor vehicle.

(4) Records of stolen vehicles reported in section 253 may be destroyed after being maintained on file for the year of entry plus 4 years.

Today – Thursday February 25, 2010 – in the Federal Register, the DOT has published three Drug and Alcohol Program Final Rules:
 
1. One rule adopts in total an Interim Final Rule authorizing employers to disclose to State commercial driver licensing (CDL) authorities the drug and alcohol violations of employees who hold CDLs and operate commercial motor vehicles (CMVs), when a State law requires such reporting. This rule also permits third-party administrators (TPAs) to provide the same information to State CDL licensing authorities where State law requires the TPAs to do so for owner-operator CMV drivers with CDLs.  Therefore, it represents no change to our current regulations.
You can find this rule at:  http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-3729.pdf
2. A second rule updates two important DOT forms – the U.S. DOT Alcohol Testing Form (ATF) and the Management Information System(MIS) Data Collection Form:
·        While use of the new ATF is authorized immediately, its use is required by August 1, 2010.
                                                i.    Updated Paperwork Reduction act Burden Statement;
                                                ii.   New DOT form number;
                                                iii.   Addition instructions on the reverse side of page 3; and
                                               iv.    Results box text is smaller font and have been moved.
·         The new MIS form is authorized for use in 2011 to report calendar year 2010 MIS data.
                                                i.      Updated Paperwork Reduction act Burden Statement;
                                                ii.      New DOT form number;
                                                iii.      MIS instructions changed “RSPA” to "PHMSA.”
You can find this rule at:  http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-3731.pdf 
3. The third regulation adopts in total an earlier Interim Final Rule’s procedures for using an alcohol screening device.  Therefore, it  represents no change to our current regulations.
You can find this rule at:  http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-3730.pdf
 

Public Act 169 of 2009

if a police officer, a peace officer, or an authorized agent of the Michigan Department of Transportation or a county road commission believes that the weight of a vehicle and load is unlawful, the officer or agent may require the driver to stop and submit to a weighing of the vehicle by portable or stationary scales approved and sealed by the Department of Agriculture as a legal weighing device. The scales are required to be approved and sealed as a legal weighing device by a qualified person using testing equipment certified or approved by the Department of Agriculture as a legal weighing device.

Under PA 169, a bond will be required in the amount of the fines and costs, rather than double that amount (as under previous law).
Public 169 of 2009: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(goznxl55p4plbj3xide54ajv))/mileg.aspx?page=getobject&objectname=2009-SB-0433

Public Act 146 of 2009
http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2009-2010/billenrolled/House/htm/2009-HNB-4999.htm

This Act amendsMichigan Vehicle Code sec. 257.722:

(6) The seasonal reductions described under subsection (8) to the loading maximums and gross vehicle weight requirements of subsection (12) do not apply to public utility vehicles under the following circumstances:

(a) For emergency public utility work on restricted roads, as follows:

(i) If required by the county road commission, the public utility or its subcontractor shall notify the county road commission, as soon as practical, of the location of the emergency public utility work and provide a statement that the vehicles that were used to perform the emergency utility work may have exceeded the loading maximums and gross vehicle weight requirements of subsection (12) as reduced under subsection (8). The notification may be made via facsimile or electronically.

(ii) The public utility vehicle travels to and from the site of the emergency public utility work while on a restricted road at a speed not greater than 35 miles per hour.

(b) For non emergency public utility work on restricted roads, as follows:

(i) If the county road commission requires, the public utility or its subcontractor shall apply to the county road commission annually for a seasonal truck permit for roads under its authority before seasonal weight restrictions are effective. The county road commission shall issue a seasonal truck permit for each public utility vehicle or vehicle configuration the public utility or subcontractor anticipates will be utilized for nonemergency public utility work. The county road commission may charge a fee for a seasonal truck permit that does not exceed the administrative costs incurred for the permit.

For complete information read the legislation: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2009-2010/billenrolled/House/htm/2009-HNB-4999.htm