Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas 1
94th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2023 SENATE BILL 341 3
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By: Senator J. Boyd 5
By: Representative McClure 6
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO AMEND THE COMMERCIAL DRIVER AL COHOL AND 9
DRUG TESTING ACT TO COMPLY WITH FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER 10
SAFETY ADMINISTRATIO N REGULATIONS; AND F OR OTHER 11
PURPOSES. 12
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Subtitle 15
TO AMEND THE COMMERCIAL DRIVER ALCOHOL 16
AND DRUG TESTING ACT TO COMPLY WITH 17
FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY 18
ADMINISTRATION REGULATIONS. 19
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 22
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 27, Chapter 23, Subchapter 2 is amended 24
to read as follows: 25
27-23-202. Definitions. 26
(a) As used in this subchapter: 27
(1) "Commercial Driver's License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse" 28
means the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's database that: 29
(A) Contains information required to be reported by 30
employers and service agents regarding drivers who are subject to the 31
Department of Transportation's controlled substance and alcohol testing 32
regulations; and 33
(B) Is used to provide information for queries concerning 34
driver records; 35
(2)(A)(i) “Consortium/third -party administrator” means a service 36 SB341
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agent that provides or coordinates the provision of drug and alcohol testing 1
services to employers that are required to comply with the drug and alcohol 2
testing provisions under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulati ons, 49 3
C.F.R. pts. 350-399, as in effect on January 1, 2009 November 8, 2021. 4
(ii) A consortium/third -party administrator performs 5
tasks concerning the operation of an employer's drug and alcohol testing 6
programs. 7
(B) “Consortium/third -party administrator” includes 8
without limitation, groups of employers who join together to administer, as a 9
single entity, the drug and alcohol testing programs of its members that are 10
required under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, 49 C.F.R. pts. 11
350-399, as in effect on January 1, 2009 November 8, 2021. 12
(C) A consortium/third -party administrator is not an 13
“employer” for purposes of this subchapter; 14
(2)(A)(3) "Department of Transportation" means an agency or 15
operating administration of the United States Department of Transportation 16
administering regulations requiring alcohol or drug testing under 14 C.F.R. 17
pts. 61, 63, 65, 121, and 135 and 49 C.F.R. parts 199, 219, 382, and 655 as 18
in effect on November 8, 2021. 19
(4)(A) “Employee” means a person who is a holder of an Arkansas 20
commercial driver license and is subject to drug and alcohol tests under the 21
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, 49 C.F.R. pts. 350 -399, as in 22
effect on January 1, 2009 November 8, 2021. 23
(B) “Employee” includes an individual currently performing 24
safety-sensitive transportation jobs and an applicant for employment in 25
safety-sensitive transportation jobs subject to preemployment testing; and 26
(3)(5)(A) “Employer” means an Arkansas person or entity 27
employing one (1) or more employees subject to the drug and alcohol testing 28
provisions under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, 49 C.F.R. pts. 29
350-399, as in effect on January 1, 2009 November 8, 2021. 30
(B) “Employer” includes: 31
(i) An individual who holds an Arkansas commercial 32
driver license who is self -employed in a safety -sensitive transportation job 33
for which drug and alcohol tests are required under the Federal Motor Carrier 34
Safety Regulations, 49 C.F.R. pts. 350 -399, as in effect on January 1, 2009 35
November 8, 2021; and 36 SB341
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(ii) An Arkansas employer's officer, representative, 1
or management personnel . 2
(b) Except as provided in this subchapter, the definition 3
under 49 C.F.R. § 40.3, as in effect on January 1, 2009 November 8, 2021, 4
applies to a term that is used in this subchapter if that term is defined 5
under 49 C.F.R. § 40.3, as in effect on January 1, 2009 November 8, 2021. 6
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SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 27 -23-203 is amended to read as follows: 8
27-23-203. Applicability — Exemptions. 9
(a) This subchapter applies to: 10
(1) An Arkansas employer who is required to comply with the drug 11
and alcohol testing provisions under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 12
Regulations, 49 C.F.R. pts. 350 -399, as in effect on January 1, 2009 November 13
8, 2021; 14
(2) An employee who holds an Arkansas commercial driver license 15
and who either: 16
(A) Is employed by an Arkansas employer in a safety -17
sensitive transportation job for which drug and alcohol tests are required 18
under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, 49 C.F.R. pts. 350-399, 19
as in effect on January 1, 2009 November 8, 2021; or 20
(B) Has submitted an application for employment with an 21
Arkansas employer for a safety -sensitive transportation job for which drug 22
and alcohol tests are required under the Fe deral Motor Carrier Safety 23
Regulations, 49 C.F.R. pts. 350 -399, as in effect on January 1, 2009 November 24
8, 2021; and 25
(3) A consortium/third -party administrator that provides or 26
coordinates the provision of drug and alcohol testing services to Arkansas 27
employers that are required under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 28
Regulations, 49 C.F.R. pts. 350 -399, as in effect on January 1, 2009 November 29
8, 2021. 30
(b) This subchapter does not apply to an individual who is exempt from 31
holding a commercial driver l icense notwithstanding whether the individual 32
holds a commercial driver license. 33
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SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 27 -23-205 is repealed: 35
27-23-205. Reporting test results. 36 SB341
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(a) An Arkansas employer shall report to the Office of Driver Services 1
within three (3) business days the results of an alcohol screening test that 2
is performed on an employee who holds an Arkansas commercial driver license 3
if: 4
(1) The alcohol screening test is performed pursuant to 49 5
C.F.R. § 382.303 or § 382.305, as in effect on Jan uary 1, 2009; and 6
(2) One (1) of the following occurs regarding the alcohol 7
screening test: 8
(A) A valid positive result; or 9
(B) The refusal to provide a specimen for an alcohol 10
screening test. 11
(b) An Arkansas employer shall report within three (3) business days 12
to the Office of Driver Services any of the following occurrences regarding a 13
drug test result of an employee who holds an Arkansas commercial driver 14
license: 15
(1) A valid positive result on a drug test for any of the 16
following drugs: 17
(A) Marijuana metabolites; 18
(B) Cocaine metabolites; 19
(C) Amphetamines; 20
(D) Opiate metabolites; or 21
(E) Phencyclidine; 22
(2) The refusal to provide a specimen for a drug test; or 23
(3) The submission of an adulterated specimen, a dilute positive 24
specimen, or a substituted specimen on a drug test performed. 25
(c) A consortium/third -party administrator shall report to the Office 26
of Driver Services within three (3) business days the results of an alcohol 27
screening test that is performed on a n Arkansas employer or employee who 28
holds an Arkansas commercial driver license if: 29
(1) The alcohol screening test is performed pursuant to 49 30
C.F.R. § 382.303 or § 382.305, as in effect on January 1, 2009; and 31
(2) One (1) of the following occurs reg arding the alcohol 32
screening test: 33
(A) A valid positive result; or 34
(B) The refusal to provide a specimen for an alcohol 35
screening test. 36 SB341
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(d) A consortium/third -party administrator shall report within three 1
(3) business days to the Office of Driver Services any of the following 2
occurrences regarding a drug test result of an Arkansas employer or employee 3
who holds an Arkansas commercial driver license: 4
(1) A valid positive result on a drug test for any of the 5
following drugs: 6
(A) Marijuana metabolites; 7
(B) Cocaine metabolites; 8
(C) Amphetamines; 9
(D) Opiate metabolites; or 10
(E) Phencyclidine; 11
(2) The refusal to provide a specimen for a drug test; or 12
(3) The submission of an adulterated specimen, a dilute positive 13
specimen, or a substituted specimen on a drug test performed. 14
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SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 27 -23-206 is amended to read as follows: 16
27-23-206. Maintenance of information — Confidentiality. 17
(a) The Office of Driver Services shall maintain the information 18
provided under this section in a database to be known as the “Commercial 19
Driver Alcohol and Drug Testing Database” for at least three (3) years. 20
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, 21
personally identifying information of employees in the database is 22
confidential and shall be released by the Office of Driver Services only as 23
provided under § 27-23-207. 24
(c) The use of one (1) report generated from the database to establish 25
noncompliance for the imposition of a penalty under § 27 -23-209 shall not 26
subject the contents of the entire database to disclosure. 27
(1) The Office of Driver Services shall obtain a driver's record 28
from the Commercial Driver's License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse when the 29
driver has applied for a commercial driver's license. 30
(2) A driver consents to the release of information from the 31
Commercial Driver's License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse by applying for a 32
commercial driver's license under 49 C.F.R. § 382.725 as in effect on 33
November 8, 2021. 34
(b) The Office of Driver Services: 35
(1) Shall only use the information received from the Commercial 36 SB341
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Driver's License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse to determine a driver's 1
qualifications to operate a commercial motor vehicle; and 2
(2) May not divulge or permit any oth er person or entity to 3
divulge any information from the Commercial Driver's License Drug and Alcohol 4
Clearinghouse to any person or entity not directly involved in determining a 5
driver's qualifications to operate a motor vehicle. 6
7
SECTION 5. Arkansas Co de §§ 27-23-207 - 27-23-209 are repealed. 8
27-23-207. Use of database by employers. 9
(a) An Arkansas employer shall submit a request for information from 10
the Commercial Driver Alcohol and Drug Testing Database for each employee who 11
is subject to drug and alcohol testing under this subchapter. 12
(b) The request for information shall be submitted to the Office of 13
Driver Services by the Arkansas employer with an authorization that is signed 14
by the employee. 15
(c)(1)(A) The fee for the request for information is a nominal fee not 16
to exceed one dollar ($1.00) per employee per request. 17
(B) The Office of Driver Services shall determine the 18
amount of the fee. 19
(C) The Office of Driver Services shall set the fee before 20
implementation by rule. 21
(2) The fee shall be assessed to and paid by the Arkansas 22
employer requesting the information. 23
(d) The Arkansas employer shall maintain a record of the report from 24
the database that results from the request for information submitted under 25
this section for at least t hree (3) years. 26
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27-23-208. Use of database by employee. 28
(a) An employee who holds a commercial driver license may submit a 29
request for information from the Commercial Driver Alcohol and Drug Testing 30
Database for his or her report. 31
(b) The request for information shall be submitted with a signed 32
authorization to the Office of Driver Services by the employee who holds a 33
commercial driver's license. 34
(c)(1) The fee for the request for information is one dollar ($1.00) 35
per request. 36 SB341
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(2) The fee shall b e submitted with the signed authorization. 1
2
27-23-209. Penalties. 3
(a)(1) The penalty for an Arkansas employer who knowingly fails to 4
check the Commercial Driver Alcohol and Drug Testing Database as required 5
under this subchapter is one thousand dollars ($1,000). 6
(2) The penalty described in subdivision (a)(1) of this section 7
shall be assessed beginning July 1, 2008. 8
(b)(1) Except as provided under subdivision (b)(2) of this section, 9
the penalty for an Arkansas employer who knowingly hires an employe e with a 10
record of a positive alcohol or drug test in the database is five thousand 11
dollars ($5,000). 12
(2) This subsection does not apply to an employee who has 13
completed a treatment program or an education program prescribed by a 14
substance abuse profess ional and who has been found eligible to return to 15
duty by the employer as provided under 49 C.F.R. §§ 40.281 — 40.313, as in 16
effect on January 1, 2009. 17
(c) The penalty for an Arkansas employer who knowingly fails to report 18
an occurrence regarding an alc ohol or drug screening test as required under § 19
27-23-205(a) or § 27-23-205(b) is five hundred dollars ($500). 20
(d)(1) The penalty for a consortium/third -party administrator who 21
knowingly fails to report an occurrence regarding a drug or alcohol test 22
result as required under § 27 -23-205(c) or § 27-23-205(d) is five hundred 23
dollars ($500). 24
(2) If the consortium/third -party administrator is out of state, 25
the penalty under subdivision (d)(1) of this section shall be extended to the 26
Arkansas employer that c ontracted with the consortium/third -party 27
administrator. 28
(e) The penalties under this section do not apply to the State of 29
Arkansas, an agency of the state, or a political subdivision of the state. 30
(f) Moneys collected under this section are special re venues and shall 31
be deposited into the State Treasury to the credit of the State Highway and 32
Transportation Department Fund. 33
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SECTION 6. Arkansas Code § 27 -23-210 is amended to read as follows: 35
27-23-210. Miscellaneous authority — Rules. 36 SB341
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(a) The Office of Driver Services shall pursue grants available 1
through the United States Department of Transportation or other entity to 2
assist with the cost of this program compliance with the Commercial Driver's 3
License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse . 4
(b) The Office of Driver Services may: 5
(1) Adopt rules to administer this subchapter; and 6
(2) Receive and expend any moneys arising from grants, 7
contributions, or reimbursements from the United States Department of 8
Transportation or other entity for performing its duties under this 9
subchapter; and 10
(3) Contract with a third party to administer the Commercial 11
Driver Alcohol and Drug Testing Database . 12
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