FAA Western

Hemisphere
Office
Drug and Alcohol Testing of
Certain Maintenance Provider
Employees Located Outside of the
United States

Presented to: ALTA MRO Summit

By: Daniel Castro

Date: 15 October 2014

Office of International
Affairs

Congressional Mandate
US Congress directed Secretary of State and Secretary
of Transportation to request the governments of ICAO
Member States establish international standards for
alcohol and controlled substances testing for persons
that perform safety-sensitive maintenance functions on
commercial air carrier aircraft.
To gather information for this rulemaking, APIs Senior
Representatives reached out to aviation authorities in the
affected countries, and Department Of State sent out a
cable asking posts to provide FAAs request for
information to host governments.
ALTA MRO SUMMIT
15 October 2014

Federal Aviation
Administration

Statutory Mandate: 49 U.S.C. 44733(d)(2)

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of

this section, the Administrator shall promulgate a
proposed rule requiring that all part 145 repair station
employees responsible for safety-sensitive
maintenance functions on part 121 air carrier aircraft
be subject to an alcohol and controlled substances
testing program determined acceptable by the
Administrator and consistent with the applicable laws
of the country in which the repair station is located.

ALTA MRO SUMMIT

15 October 2014

Federal Aviation
Administration

ANPRM ACTIONS
4 actions from March 17th, 2014 to July 17th, 2014
March 17th, 2014
ANPRM
79 FR 14621
May 1st, 2014
ANPRM Comment Period Extended
79 FR 24631
May 16th, 2014
ANPRM Comment Period End
July 17th, 2014
ANPRM Comment Period Extended End

ALTA MRO SUMMIT

15 October 2014

Federal Aviation
Administration

Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule Making

ANPRM

FAA published Advanced Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking on 03/17/2014
Comment period extended for 60 days
Comment period closed 07/17/2014
We received 76 substantive comments
10 additional comments were duplicates
5 additional comments requested extension of comment period

ALTA MRO SUMMIT

15 October 2014

Federal Aviation
Administration

Comments Received
We received comments from independent
citizens and various international and U.S.
associations,
Our goal with the ANPRM was to allow the
agency to request comments to gather
information needed to develop a thorough
NPRM,

ALTA MRO SUMMIT

15 October 2014

Federal Aviation
Administration

Comments
Of the 76 substantive comments received 40
generally supported the advance notice of
proposed rulemaking (ANPRM), 29 generally
opposed the ANPRM, 5 stated no position.

ALTA MRO SUMMIT

15 October 2014

Federal Aviation
Administration

Comment Supporting

Commenter Type
Individual
Airline Mechanics Union
Aviation Consulting Firm
Consumer Advocacy Group
Aircraft Manufacturer
Total

ALTA MRO SUMMIT

15 October 2014

Generally Support ANPRM

33
3
2
1
1
40

Federal Aviation
Administration

Comments opposing

Commenter Type
Foreign Repair Station
Foreign Governmental Aviation Organization
Foreign Trade Association
Airline Manufacturer
Foreign Airline
Trade Association
Foreign Aviation Industry Coalition
Foreign Government Representative
Total

ALTA MRO SUMMIT

15 October 2014

Generally Oppose ANPRM

9
4
4
3
3
4
1
1
29

Federal Aviation
Administration

Summary of the Comments

Comment period for the ANPRM closed July 17, 2014.
Comments received from a wide variety of sources,
including private citizens, foreign governments, and various
international and U.S. associations.
40 commenters supported the ANPRM:
A majority of the supporting commenters are individuals and union
leaders in the U.S.
Several commenters expressed a need to expand the rulemaking to
include non-certificated repair stations and apply to maintenance on
part 135 and 91 operators.
Many commenters recommended the FAA prohibit the use of
maintenance personnel in countries that prohibit testing.
Commenters indicated that a rule would improve competitiveness of
U.S. maintenance providers.

ALTA MRO SUMMIT

15 October 2014

Federal Aviation
Administration

10

Current Status
FAA is reviewing comments summited
Next step would probably be the publication
of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making
(NPRM)
Everyone will be able to submit comments
again

ALTA MRO SUMMIT

15 October 2014

Federal Aviation
Administration

11

Contact information
Christopher Barks
Director Western Hemisphere
Office of International Aviation
Tel 507-317-5073
Email: christopher.barks@faa.gov

Danny Castro
Senior FAA Representative
Tel 507-317-5046
Email: daniel.castro@faa.gov

ALTA MRO SUMMIT

15 October 2014

Federal Aviation
Administration

12