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Title 49, TransportationRelease 119-110

§353 Toxicological Testing of Officers and Employees

Title 49 › SUBTITLE I — DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION › CHAPTER 3 — GENERAL DUTIES AND POWERS › SUBCHAPTER III — MISCELLANEOUS › § 353

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

When the Secretary or a DOT component head orders a post-accident or post-incident toxicology test of an officer or employee, they must collect a sample as soon as possible and try to do it within 4 hours. Each component head must report to the Secretary how long collection took and why for tests linked to accidents or incidents the National Transportation Safety Board investigates. An officer or employee may not use failure to follow these timing rules as a claim or defense in any administrative or court proceeding.

Full Legal Text

Title 49, §353

Transportation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Collecting Specimens.—
When the Secretary of Transportation or the head of a component of the Department of Transportation conducts post-accident or post-incident toxicological testing of an officer or employee of the Department, the Secretary or head shall collect the specimen from the officer or employee as soon as practicable after the accident or incident. The Secretary or head shall try to collect the specimen not later than 4 hours after the accident or incident.
(b)Reports.—
The head of each component shall submit a report to the Secretary on the circumstances about the amount of time required to collect the specimen for a toxicological test conducted on an officer or employee who is reasonably associated with the circumstances of an accident or incident under the investigative jurisdiction of the National Transportation Safety Board.
(c)Noncompliance Not a Defense.—
An officer or employee required to submit to toxicological testing may not assert failure to comply with this section as a claim, cause of action, or defense in an administrative or judicial proceeding.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 35349 App.:1657–1.Nov. 28, 1990, Pub. L. 101–641, § 5, 104 Stat. 4656. In this section, the words “officer or employee” are substituted for “employee” for clarity and consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the United States Code. In subsection (a), the words “Secretary of Transportation or the head of a component of the Department of Transportation” are substituted for “Department of Transportation, including any of its agencies” for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the Code. In subsection (b), the word “Secretary” is substituted for “Office of the Secretary of Transportation” for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the Code. The words “within that agency” are omitted as unnecessary. In subsection (c), the words “An officer or employee required to submit to toxicological testing may not assert” are substituted for “may not be asserted” for clarity.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

49 U.S.C. § 353

Title 49, Transportation

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110