# 262.111 Retention of samples and additional testing.

**Citation:** 16 NYCRR 262.111  
**Type / status:** regulation / current  
**Agency:** New York State Public Service Commission  
**Effective:** Not stated  
**Published:** Not stated

Drug and Alcohol Testing. (a) Samples that yield positive results on confirmation must be retained by the laboratory in properly secured, long term, frozen storage for at least 365 days as required by the DOT procedures. Within this 365-day period, the employee or his representative, the operator, the administrator, or the department may request that the laboratory retain the sample 

## Document text

(a) Samples that yield positive results on confirmation must be retained by the laboratory in properly secured, long term, frozen storage for at least 365 days as required by the DOT procedures. Within this 365-day period, the employee or his representative, the operator, the administrator, or the department may request that the laboratory retain the sample for an additional period. If, within the 365-day period, the laboratory has not received a proper written request to retain the sample for a further reasonable period specified in the request, the sample may be discarded following the end of the 365-day period.

(b) If the medical review officer (MRO) determines there is no legitimate medical explanation for a confirmed positive test result other than the unauthorized use of a prohibited drug, and if timely additional testing is requested by the employee according to DOT procedures, the split specimen must be tested. The employee may specify retesting by the original laboratory or by a second laboratory that is certified by the Department of Health and Human Services. The operator may require the employee to pay in advance the cost of shipment (if any) and reanalysis of the sample, but the employee must be reimbursed for such expense if the additional test is negative.

(c) If the employee specifies testing by a second laboratory, the original laboratory must follow approved chain of custody procedures in transferring a portion of the sample.

(d) Since some analytes may deteriorate during storage, detected levels of the drug below the detection limits established in the DOT procedures, but equal to or greater than the established sensitivity of the assay, must, as technically appropriate, be reported and considered corroborative of the original positive results.

## Provenance

- Official: Yes
- Source: <https://govt.westlaw.com/nycrr/Document/I505e6bd4cd1711dda432a117e6e0f345?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default)>
- Source ID: `ny-dps-nycrr`
- SHA-256: `85fb78bbcd46ba54d2c82d2929502175c21156110a7a277f16dda6f2c78fa32d`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-12T06:20:40.894Z
- Exported: 2026-08-25T06:31:49.954Z
- Document slug: `ny-nycrr-262-111`

### Source metadata

```json
{
  "jurisdiction": "US-NY",
  "title": 16,
  "part": "262",
  "partTitle": "Drug and Alcohol Testing",
  "scopeKind": "pipeline-workforce-safety",
  "tocPath": [
    "Part 262 Drug and Alcohol Testing",
    "Drug Testing"
  ],
  "legalScope": "Complete current terminal legal unit exposed by the DPS-designated Title 16 NYCRR pipeline-safety part inventory.",
  "applicabilityCaveat": "Applicability depends on the part and section, Commission jurisdiction, commodity and facility type, intrastate or interstate status, operator and activity, exemptions, waivers, federal preemption, Commission orders, and incorporated law. DPS inspects portions of interstate systems for PHMSA, but PHMSA retains federal enforcement authority. DPS states that all jurisdictional Part 256 gas-holder and Part 257 LPG-plant facilities have been decommissioned even though those regulations remain unrepealed.",
  "incorporationCaveat": "These parts incorporate or rely on federal pipeline regulations, federal and New York statutes, Commission rules and orders, and privately authored technical standards. Part 10 supplies incorporation details. References metadata preserves explicit citations but does not reproduce external material, determine licensing rights, or decide whether a particular incorporation is static or dynamic.",
  "publicationCaveat": "The New York Department of Public Service identifies these eleven Title 16 NYCRR parts as its state pipeline-safety regulations and links to the public DOS/Westlaw NYCRR reading copy. That site labels the online text unofficial and directs users needing evidentiary accuracy to the Official NYCRR maintained by the Department of State Division of Administrative Rules. Each section's 'Current through' date is the most recent official NYCRR supplement covering that section, not a uniform corpus-wide amendment date.",
  "rights": "New York government-edict text is preserved with DPS, Department of State, and publisher attribution. The public reading site's presentation and enhancements, agency marks, forms, annotations, and incorporated federal or privately authored standards require separate rights review; this connector does not claim rights in those materials.",
  "rightsReviewRequired": true,
  "currentThrough": "2024-05-31",
  "historyEvents": "No event is emitted because the section reading copy does not supply an explicit adoption, filing, or effective-date history.",
  "publisherCitation": "16 CRR-NY 262.111",
  "identityAnomaly": null,
  "references": [],
  "region": "NY"
}
```
