What Drug Testing Do USCG Rules Require for Crewmembers?

U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) drug testing rules for crewmembers are in 46 CFR Part 16. Testing follows the procedures in 49 CFR Part 40 and uses only laboratories certified by the Department of Health and Human Services (46 CFR 16.113, 46 CFR 16.201). A crewmember is an individual onboard a vessel acting under the authority of a Coast Guard credential, or an individual engaged or employed onboard a U.S.-owned vessel that is required to be operated by a credentialed individual. Exceptions include certain fish processing personnel, scientific personnel on oceanographic research vessels, and industrial personnel on industrial vessels (46 CFR 16.105).

Part 16 includes these test types:

• Pre-employment. A marine employer may not engage or employ an individual as a crewmember unless the individual passes a drug test for that employer. The employer may waive the test if the individual passed a required test within the previous six months with no subsequent positive drug tests during the remainder of the six-month period, or was in a random program for at least 60 days during the previous 185 days without failing or refusing a test (46 CFR 16.210).
• Periodic. An applicant passes a drug test for certain credential transactions, such as an original Merchant Mariner Credential or the renewal of an officer endorsement (46 CFR 16.220).
• Random. Marine employers run random testing programs for covered crewmembers, such as those filling positions required by an inspected vessel's Certificate of Inspection. The minimum annual rate is 50 percent of covered crewmembers unless the Commandant adjusts it through a Federal Register notice (46 CFR 16.230).
• Serious marine incident. Persons directly involved are tested for drugs and alcohol (46 CFR 16.240). Alcohol testing is due within 2 hours and drug specimen collection within 32 hours, unless safety concerns directly related to the incident prevent it (46 CFR 4.06-3).
• Reasonable cause. The decision rests on a reasonable and articulable belief based on direct observation of "specific, contemporaneous physical, behavioral, or performance indicators of probable use," observed by two persons in supervisory positions where practicable (46 CFR 16.250).

When a credentialed individual fails a drug test, the employer reports the result in writing to the nearest Officer in Charge, Marine Inspection, and the individual is removed from duties that directly affect safe vessel operation. Before returning to work, the MRO determines that the individual is drug-free and that the risk of subsequent use is sufficiently low to justify the return to work, and the individual agrees to at least six unannounced tests in the first year (46 CFR 16.201).