Two House Democrat leaders expressed an increasing impatience with the U.S. FAA’s failure to implement mandatory drug- and- alcohol testing requirements for foreign repair stations. Congress in 2012 and 2016 directed the FAA to implement such requirements. The FAA in 2014 issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking, but has not yet finalized any rule.

 “We…are utterly confused by and disappointed with the FAA’s failure to finalize a rule requiring that workers at foreign repair stations be subject to screening for alcohol and controlled substance use—just as workers at U.S. facilities are—despite two explicit Congressional mandates directing the FAA to act,” said Reps. Pete DeFazio (D-Oregon), the senior Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, and Rick Larsen (D-Washington), the Democrat leader of the T&I aviation subcommittee, in a letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

The lack of such a requirement is part of “serious concerns” they have regarding the FAA’s oversight of foreign repair stations overall, the lawmakers added. They pointed to DOT Inspector General findings over the past decade highlighting weaknesses in oversight. “The only thing consistent about the FAA’s oversight of these FAA-certificated facilities—which number more than 700 abroad—is its inconsistency, leaving far too many stones unturned,” the lawmakers concluded.

The Aeronautical Repair Station Association, meanwhile, in past has urged Congress to remain patient with the drug and alcohol rules, noting that the imposition of such requirements on foreign repair stations could present legal and practical challenges and must be consistent with the laws of the country where the repair station is located.