Court Sides with ARSA But Upholds New FAA Testing

The Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) initiated a 2006 lawsuit that challenged the FAA mandate that anti-drug and alcohol testing programs apply to aviation maintenance contractors “at any tier.” In a two-to-one decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit agreed with ARSA that the FAA violated the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) by not properly considering the impact of its rule on small businesses. The FAA had determined that repair stations and their subcontractors were not directly affected by the rule and therefore did not need to compete the RFA analysis. The Court upheld the FAA’s new testing requirements, but remanded the rule and directed the FAA to conduct the proper RFA analysis. For related news