Overview
On October 7, 2021, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) established federal regulations setting requirements for State Driver Licensing Agencies' (SDLAs) access to and use of driver-specific drug and alcohol program violation information contained in the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse and amended regulations to prohibit commercial learner's permit (CLP) or commercial driver's license (CDL) holders from operating a commercial motor vehicle if they are subject to the commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driving prohibition.
The Clearinghouse is a secure online database that gives employers, FMCSA, SDLAs, and State law enforcement personnel real-time information about CDL and CLP holders' drug and alcohol program violations.
Records of violations of drug and alcohol prohibitions, including positive drug or alcohol test results and test refusals, are contained in the Clearinghouse. When a driver completes the return-to-duty (RTD) process and follow-up testing plan, this information is also recorded in the Clearinghouse.
The regulations require that:
- SDLAs must not issue, renew, upgrade, or transfer a CDL, or CLP, as applicable, for any individual prohibited under FMCSA's regulations from performing safety-sensitive functions, including driving a commercial motor vehicle (CMV), due to one or more drug and alcohol program violations.
- SDLAs must, upon receipt of notification that a driver is prohibited from operating a CMV due to a drug and alcohol program violation, initiate the downgrade process to remove the CLP or CDL privilege from the driver's license within 60 days.
- Drivers completing the return-to-duty process before the downgrade process is completed would no longer be prohibited from operating a CMV and thus would no longer be subject to a downgrade.
As established in the first Clearinghouse final rule, drivers with a “prohibited" Clearinghouse status are prohibited from operating a CMV on public roads. The second Clearinghouse final rule (Clearinghouse-II) further supports this by ensuring that drivers with a “prohibited" Clearinghouse status do not continue to hold a CDL or CLP.
The First Clearinghouse Rule
The first Clearinghouse final rule requires FMCSA-regulated employers, medical review officers (MROs), substance abuse professionals (SAPs), and consortia/third-party administrators (C/TPAs) to report to the Clearinghouse information related to violations of the drug and alcohol regulations in 49 Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 40 and 382 by current and prospective employees.
The first Clearinghouse rule also requires the following:
- Employers are required to query the Clearinghouse for current and prospective employees' drug and alcohol violations before permitting those employees to operate a CMV on public roads.
- Employers are required to annually query the Clearinghouse for each driver they currently employ.
Learn more: Read the first Clearinghouse final rule.
The Second Clearinghouse Rule (CDL Downgrades)
The second Clearinghouse final rule (Clearinghouse-II) supports FMCSA's goal of ensuring that only qualified drivers are eligible to obtain and retain a CDL. Beginning November 18, 2024, SDLAs will be required to remove the commercial driving privileges of drivers in a “prohibited" status in the Clearinghouse, which would result in a downgrade of the CDL until the driver completes the return-to-duty (RTD) process.
Clearinghouse-II also requires the following:
- SDLAs must also query the Clearinghouse before issuing, renewing, upgrading, or transferring CDLs and issuing, renewing, and upgrading CLPs.
- SDLAs must review a driver’s information when notified by FMCSA of a driver’s Clearinghouse status change.
Learn more: Read the Clearinghouse-II final rule (CDL Downgrades).
States with legislative authority currently have the option to voluntarily query the Clearinghouse and downgrade CDLs for prohibited drivers, and may do so before the November 18, 2024, compliance date.