Statewide Drug & Alcohol Testing RFP Requirements.pdf

I O W A D E P A R T M E N T O F T R A N S P O R T A T I O N | I O W A D O T . G O V

Purpose

The Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) is seeking a qualified vendor capable of providing drug and alcohol testing services for Iowa DOT employees who are subject to the U.S.

Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) drug and alcohol testing requirements. These services apply to employees who are required to possess a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) and perform safety‑sensitive functions as defined under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations in 49 CFR Parts 40 and 382.

The resulting Contract will be available for use by all State of Iowa Agencies and other eligible Political Subdivisions.

Acronyms

BAT – Breath Alcohol Technician CCF – Federal Drug Testing Custody and Control Form CDL – Commercial Driver’s License DER – Designated Employer Representative FMCSA – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration FTA – Federal Transit Administration Iowa DOT – Iowa Department of Transportation MIS – Management Information System MRO – Medical Review Officer SAP – Substance Abuse Professional STT – Screening Test Technician U.S. DOT – United States Department of Transportation

Current Environment The Iowa DOT requires collection and testing services for all CDL‑regulated employees, including ongoing participation in the federally mandated drug and alcohol testing program.

Testing requires coordination across multiple statewide collection sites, courier services, a federally certified laboratory, and a Medical Review Officer (MRO). Current testing volumes average 1,200 drug tests and 150 alcohol tests per year. Testing requirements include pre-employment, random, reasonable suspicion, post-accident, return to duty, and follow up.

Scope of Work

The successful Responder will provide all services required for a compliant drug and alcohol testing program, including collection, courier services, laboratory testing, MRO services, reporting, compliance documentation, and trainings.

The successful Responder must administer the program in full compliance with all current U.S. DOT and FMCSA drug and alcohol testing regulations (49 CFR Parts 40 and 382). This includes required testing types and all subsequent regulatory updates.

Requirements

The following sections include the minimum mandatory requirements. As part of their proposal, Responders are required to provide a comprehensive and detailed explanation describing how they will meet each requirement, including the procedures, processes, and resources that will be used to ensure compliance.

Collection Sites Respondent must maintain collection sites located within city limits of:

Iowa City/Coralville, Ames, Cedar Falls/Waterloo, and Des Moines/Altoona/Urbandale/West Des Moines, Council Bluffs/Omaha NE, Sioux City, Davenport, Mason City and Cedar Rapids as well as within a 30-mile radius of each Iowa DOT facility.

Responders must complete Attachment 5 – Collection Site Addresses as part of their proposal submission.

Required Testing Services Provide all testing types required under federal regulations, including pre-employment, random, reasonable suspicion, post-accident, return-to-duty, and follow-up.

Courier Services

• Provide the name of the courier service that will be used.

• Provide a coverage area map for the courier service.

• Managing specimen transport and courier coverage.

• Procedure to manage the urine specimens being shipped to the drug testing laboratory within 24 hours or the next business day.

Reporting Requirements

• MIS reporting capability.

• Ad-hoc report capability.

• Provide the following sample reports.

o Quarterly certificate of enrollment of participant (CDL employees) in random testing selection pool.

o Quarterly random batch selection of participants to be tested.

o Quarterly drug and alcohol summary sheets to indicate all participants tested in the past quarter.

o Quarterly status reports for random drug and alcohol testing rates throughout the calendar year.

Required Partners and Qualifications Respondent must provide or contract with:

• A certified drug testing laboratory certified by Health and Human Services under the National Laboratory Certification Program that performs drug tests using urine specimens with split specimen collection conducted to be analyzed for the drugs or classes of drugs in accordance with the U.S. DOT regulations.

o Provide the name of the laboratory used to process the urine specimens.

o Provide the Laboratory Certification of the proposed laboratory.

o Procedure to verify the drug testing laboratory is in compliance with the U.S. DOT regulations.

• A qualified MRO who is a licensed physician and meets the qualifications of the U.S. DOT regulations.

o Provide the name of the MRO who will be contracted by the Respondent.

o Provide the credentials of the MRO.

o Procedure to verify MRO is in compliance with the U.S. DOT regulations.

• Collection sites must employ certified STTs, BATs, and urine specimen collectors that meet their respective requirements in accordance with U.S. DOT regulation. Collection sites must use breath alcohol testing equipment in accordance with U.S. DOT regulations.

o Describe the process for verifying qualifications of all personnel including all STTs, BATs, and Urine Specimen collectors at collection sites.

• A courier service to pick up urine specimens at collection sites and deliver to contracted drug testing laboratories.

Collection Services

• Bundled or unbundled services provided by collection sites, courier service, MRO, and drug testing laboratories.

• Pre-employment, random, reasonable suspicion, post-accident, return-to-duty, and follow-up testing.

• Ability to provide collection services at collection sites Monday through Friday during normal business hours

• Afterhours sample collection for required for post-accident, reasonable suspicion, random, return to duty, and follow-up testing.

Procedures Provide procedures for:

• Conducting each required testing type.

• Remaining current on U.S. DOT drug and alcohol testing requirements pursuant to U.S. DOT drug and alcohol testing pursuant to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations 49 CFR, Parts 40 and 382.

• Policy of quality assurance program including record keeping, chain of custody process, and fail safe back up procedures to prevent loss of documentation.

• Afterhours/post‑accident testing availability.

• Random selection methodology on a quarterly basis.

• Reporting negative or confirmed positive test results to the MRO for verification.

• Policy for storage of medical records.

• Demonstrated accuracy of test results and quality assurance program.

• Procedure for oversight, evaluation and verification of quality assurance plan that inspections, calibration and maintenance of equipment is performed by the manufacturer in accordance with the U.S. DOT regulations for breath alcohol testing equipment and of collection services at collection sites.

• Protocol to provide expert witness testimony regarding possible grievances, arbitrations or litigation.

Communication Requirements Provide methods for timely notification of:

• All test results (including immediate positives).

• Any changes or issues with collection sites, courier services, laboratories, or the MRO.

Implementation Plan

• Implementation strategy and milestones (weekly not dates).

• Required Iowa DOT staff involvement.

• Third‑party participants.

• Respondent’s relevant experience with implementations similar in size.

DOT reserves the right to negotiate the implementation schedule with the Successful Responder.

Mitigation Plan

Responders must provide a Service Continuity and Mitigation Plan addressing how the Responder will prevent, manage, and remediate any interruptions or operational issues affecting collection sites, courier services, contracted laboratories, or the MRO. This plan shall include detailed procedures for maintaining compliance with all applicable U.S. DOT regulations during service disruptions, including communication protocols, contingency staffing or resources, and recovery strategies to ensure uninterrupted program administration.

Training Requirements The Successful Responder will be required to provide general user training and training related to federal regulatory updates and is required to administer the training.

Please describe the following as part of your proposal.

• Respondent’s training programs available relating to the contract requirements and training delivery methods. i.e., ability to provide on-site, in-person training; provide website based on-line module training; and provide printed materials for CDL operators and their supervisors.

• Ability to provide training and webinars based on updates or changes to federal regulations.

• Training availability upon request from DOT.

• Optional training that may be leveraged by DOT.

DOT Responsibilities The Iowa DOT will assign a project manager to work with the Successful Responder upon execution of the contract.