An Act To Amend the Employment Practices Law Regarding Substance Abuse Testing
Sec. 1. 26 MRSA §682, sub-§7, as amended by PL 2001, c. 556, §1 and PL 2003, c. 689, Pt. B, §6, is further amended to read:
(1) A screening test of an applicant's urine or saliva may be performed at the point of collection through the use of a noninstrumented point of collection test device approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration. Section 683, subsection 5-A governs the use of such tests.
(1) The Department of Health and Human Services may recommend to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over labor matters that other testing technologies be authorized for use in confirmation tests if the department finds those technologies to be of equal or greater accuracy and reliability than gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
Sec. 2. 26 MRSA §683, sub-§2, ¶G, as amended by PL 1999, c. 199, §1 and PL 2003, c. 689, Pt. B, §6, is further amended to read:
(1) Cutoff levels for confirmation tests for marijuana may not be lower than 15 nanograms of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid per milliliter for urine samples.
(2) The Department of Health and Human Services shall adopt rules under section 687 regulating screening and confirmation cutoff levels for other substances of abuse, including those substances tested for in blood samples under subsection 5, paragraph B, to ensure that levels are set within known tolerances of test methods and above mere trace amounts. An employer may request that the Department of Health and Human Services establish a cutoff level for any substance of abuse for which the department has not established a cutoff level ; .
(3) Notwithstanding subparagraphs (1) and (2), if the Department of Health and Human Services does not have established cutoff levels or procedures for any specific federally recognized substance abuse test, the cutoff levels and procedures cleared or approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration must be used;
Sec. 3. 26 MRSA §686, sub-§1, ¶C is enacted to read:
SUMMARY
This bill provides that employers using substance abuse testing may use tests that have been recognized by the federal Food and Drug Administration as accurate and reliable through a clearance or approval process and directs the use of that agency's cleared or approved cutoff levels and procedures if the Department of Health and Human Services cutoff levels or procedures do not exist for the particular test.