ARSA and Six Other Organizations Appeals to FAA Against New Drug and Alcohol Test Expansion
The Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA), along with six other aviation trade associations, has submitted a joint appeal to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to withdraw its proposed rulemaking on extending drug and alcohol testing requirements to repair station personnel located outside the United States.
The associations argue that the rulemaking is inconsistent with the Administrative Procedure Act's requirement for regulations to have a rational basis.
The groups contend that the proposed rule unfairly targets foreign nationals by imposing regulations not applied to U.S. citizens performing similar work abroad. They also highlight that the rule would require international certificate holders to seek exemptions whenever their country's laws conflict with U.S. requirements, a task for which maintenance professionals are not equipped.
Moreover, the associations believe the rule underestimates the number of affected individuals by failing to account for employees at every tier in the contractor chain. They also point out that the rule unevenly imposes testing requirements on certain repair station personnel while exempting U.S. citizens working abroad for other certificate holders and anyone in Canada due to its reciprocal relationship with the United States.
The joint comments assert that the rulemaking lacks a clear safety concern justification and could potentially interfere with foreign commerce and national sovereignty. The associations urge the FAA to withdraw the rulemaking and instead focus on addressing legitimate threats to aviation safety.
In addition to ARSA, the following organizations joined the comments:
Convective SIGMET A weather advisory concerning convective weather significant to the safety of all aircraft. Convective SIGMETs are issued for tornadoes, lines of thunderstorms, e>[...]
Aero Linx: United Flying Octogenarians WELCOME to a most extraordinary group of aviators, the United Flying Octogenarians (UFO). Founded in 1982 with just a handful of pilots, we h>[...]
Pilot’s Decision To Attempt Takeoff With Frost Covering The Airplane’s Wings Analysis: The pilot of the light sport airplane was preparing to depart for a cross-country>[...]
“We’ve paid for the cable line’s repair for the customer and have apologized for the inconvenience this caused them...” Source: Some followup info from an A>[...]
Coupled Approach An instrument approach performed by the aircraft autopilot, and/or visually depicted on the flight director, which is receiving position information and/or steerin>[...]
ANN's Daily Aero-Term (12.01.25): Convective SIGMET
See All