HHS Updates Official List of Approved Drug Testing Labs
Published Date: 6/1/2026
Notice
Summary
Hey federal agencies! This notice shares the up-to-date list of labs and testing sites approved to do urine and oral fluid drug tests that meet strict government rules. If a lab loses its certification, it’s dropped from the list until it’s fixed. Staying current helps keep drug testing fair and reliable, with no extra costs or delays for agencies.
Analyzed Economic Effects
6 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 5 costs, 0 mixed.
Certification steps and maintenance rules
To become HHS-certified, a laboratory or Instrumented Initial Testing Facility (IITF) must pass three rounds of performance testing and an on-site inspection. To keep certification, a lab or IITF must participate in quarterly performance testing and periodic on-site inspections.
No oral-fluid labs currently certified
The notice states that "at this time, there are no laboratories certified to conduct drug and specimen validity tests on oral fluid specimens." Federal workplace programs that want certified oral-fluid testing currently have no HHS-certified labs to use.
IITFs cannot perform oral-fluid testing
HHS explicitly states that IITFs are not allowed to conduct oral fluid testing. IITFs are therefore limited to urine testing under the HHS Mandatory Guidelines.
DOT restriction on IITF testing
The notice states that the Department of Transportation (DOT) does not allow IITFs to test DOT-regulated specimens. DOT-regulated testing must follow DOT rules, not IITF procedures described here.
Some labs restricted to VA or DoD employees
The notice lists specific laboratories that perform testing only for certain Federal employee groups: the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center lab tests for Veterans Affairs (VA) employees only, and the US Army Forensic Toxicology Drug Testing Laboratory tests for Department of Defense (DoD) employees only.
Lab withdraws from certification on June 30, 2026
The notice announces that Alere Toxicology Services (Richmond, VA) is voluntarily withdrawing from the National Laboratory Certification Program effective June 30, 2026. That lab will be omitted from the monthly certified list thereafter.
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Key Dates
Department and Agencies
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