Laboratory requirements

(a) All substance abuse testing performed in the State shall be performed by a testing laboratory licensed by the department for that purpose, or certified for substance abuse testing by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and approved by the director, except as provided in section 329B-5.5. (b) Testing of samples from this State performed in another state shall be performed only by laboratories certified for substance abuse testing by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and approved by the director. No laboratory located outside of the State shall be licensed by the department to perform substance abuse testing. (c) The director shall adopt rules governing: (1) Standards for approval and licensure of qualified testing laboratories, and suspension and revocation of a license; (2) Qualifications of laboratory personnel; (3) Body component samples that are appropriate for substance abuse testing; (4) Selection of medical review officers determined to be qualified by the department, and procedures to be followed by medical review officers in the reception, review, and interpretation of the results of laboratory tests requested by a third party; (5) Procedures for taking samples that ensure privacy to the individuals tested and prevent or detect tampering with the sample; (6) Methods of analysis and procedures to ensure reliable testing results, including standards for initial screening and confirmatory tests; provided that confirmatory tests for drugs or metabolites of drugs shall utilize a gas chromatograph with a mass spectrometer detector or other reliable methods approved by the director; (7) Cutoff levels of alcohol, drugs, or the metabolites of drugs; (8) Chain of custody procedures to ensure proper identification, labeling, and handling of the samples to be tested; (9) Retention and storage procedures and durations to ensure availability of samples for retesting when necessary; (10) Establishing fees for licensing of laboratories; (11) Retention of substance abuse test information by the laboratory; and (12) Procedures to ensure confidentiality of the substance abuse testing procedures and substance abuse test information. (d) No laboratory shall be licensed to perform substance abuse testing in the State unless the laboratory participates in and continues to demonstrate satisfactory performance in drug proficiency testing as determined by the director.