§40.21. May an employer stand down an employee before the MRO has completed the verification process? — Inbound Citations
49 C.F.R. § 40.21
Statutory Authority
Cited by 10 regulations in release 2026-08-27.
Citations to 49 C.F.R. § 40.21 as a whole
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(a) Each petition for a waiver must be in writing and include substantial facts and justification to support the waiver. Each petition must satisfy the substantive requirements for obtaining a waiver, as provided in 49 CFR 40.21.
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(a) To obtain a waiver from 49 CFR 40.21 or from this part you must send your request for a waiver to the Commandant (CG-INV).
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(g) As the MRO, your actions concerning reporting confirmed positive, adulterated, or substituted results to the employer before you have completed the verification process are also governed by the stand-down provisions of § 40.21 .(1) If an employer has a stand-down policy that meets the requirements of § 40.21 , you may report to the DER that you have received an employee's laboratory confirmed positive, adulterated, or substituted test result, consistent with the terms of the waiver the employer received. You must not provide any further details about the test result (e.g., the name of the drug involved).(2) If the employer does not have a stand-down policy that meets the requirements of § 40.21, you must not inform the employer that you have received an employee's laboratory confirmed positive, adulterated, or substituted test result until you verify the test result. For example, as an MRO employed directly by a company, you must not tell anyone on the company's staff or management that you have received an employee's laboratory confirmed test result.
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(a) Each operator who seeks a waiver under § 40.21 of this title from the stand-down restriction must submit an application for waiver in duplicate to the Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
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(b) Each petition for waiver under this section must be filed in a manner and contain the information required by part 211 of this chapter. A petition for waiver of the part 40 prohibition against stand down of an employee before the Medical Review Officer has completed the verification must also comply with § 40.21 of this title.
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(b) An employer subject to this part who seeks a waiver from the prohibition against standing down an employee before the MRO has completed the verification process shall follow the procedures in 49 CFR 40.21. The employer must send a written request, which includes all of the information required by that section to the Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
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(b) Each petition for a waiver must be in writing and include facts and justification to support the waiver. Each petition must satisfy the requirements for obtaining a waiver, as provided in 49 CFR 40.21.
Citations to §40.21(c)
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(c) An employer may request a waiver from the Coast Guard in order to stand-down a crewmember following the Medical Review Officer's receipt of a laboratory report of a confirmed positive test for a drug or drug metabolite, an adulterated test, or a substituted test pertaining to the crewmember. Consistent with 49 CFR 40.21, the request for a waiver must include as a minimum: Information about the organization and the proposed written company policy concerning stand-down. Specific elements required in the written waiver request are contained in 49 CFR 40.21(c).
Citations to §40.21(d)
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(c) The Administrator may grant a waiver subject to 49 CFR 40.21(d).
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(d) The Administrator may grant a waiver subject to 49 CFR 40.21(d).