New regs for Wednesday: Drug and alcohol testing, radiation standards, air pollution

Wednesday’s edition of the Federal Register contains new rules for drug and alcohol testing of transit employees, nuclear radiation standards, and air pollution emissions at off-site waste facilities.

Here’s what is happening:

Drug and alcohol testing: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is announcing the new drug and alcohol testing rates for transit employees in 2015.

The FTA will require companies to randomly test 25 percent of safety-sensitive employees for drugs, and 10 percent for alcohol, which is the same rate as last year.

The agency will only require the minimum standard for drug and alcohol testing, because the industry has performed well over the last two years. In 2014, less than 1 percent of transit employees failed rug and alcohol tests, according to the agency.

“The annual report includes the number of employees who had a verified positive for the use of prohibited drugs, and the number of employees who tested positive for the misuse of alcohol during the reported year,” the agency wrote.

Radiation standards: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is delaying potentially new radiation protection standards for industry.

The NRC proposed changing the radiation standards last July, but said Tuesday is is extending the comment period to give the public more time to consider the potential changes.

The public will have until June 22 to comment on the advance notice of proposed rulemaking.

Emissions: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing an air pollution emissions review of off-site waste and recovery operations.

The agency is also clarifying emissions limits during the startup, shutdown, and malfunction of these systems, among other things.

The changes go into effect immediately.