DOT Approved EBT Devices

A note on the name. “DOT-approved” is industry shorthand and it is how people search for this list, so we keep it — but the precise position is that DOT does not “approve” devices for you. Eligibility comes from ODAPC’s approved-device web pages — §§40.229 and 40.231 make the devices listed there the only ones permitted for DOT alcohol testing — plus the Part 40 procedural requirements below. Appearing on the list does not by itself make any particular use of a device compliant.

These devices appear on the approved Evidential Breath Measurement Device list. Listing alone does not make a device usable for a confirmation test. Under §40.231(a) a confirmation test may only be run on an EBT that also meets §40.231(b) — it must print a triplicate result, assign a unique sequential test number readable before the test and printed on each copy, print the manufacturer, serial number and time, distinguish alcohol from acetone at 0.02, test an air blank and perform an external calibration check. Devices that do not meet §40.231(b) are screening-only. Per §40.229 and §40.231 the operative lists are ODAPC’s approved-device web pages — “Approved Screening Devices to Measure Alcohol in Bodily Fluids” (ASDs) and “Approved Evidential Breath Measurement Devices” (EBTs) — and those are the only devices Part 40 permits (amended 82 FR 52246, 13 Nov 2017). NHTSA’s conforming-products process sits underneath that, but for Part 40 compliance check ODAPC’s pages before purchasing.