[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2331 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2331
To amend the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century to provide
from the Highway Trust Fund additional funding for Indian reservation
roads, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 4, 2003
Mr. Matheson (for himself, Mr. Renzi, and Mr. Udall of New Mexico)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century to provide
from the Highway Trust Fund additional funding for Indian reservation
roads, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Tribal Transportation Program
Improvement Act of 2003''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) because many Indian tribes are located in remote areas,
transportation is particularly important to the basic quality
of life and economic development of Indian tribes;
(2) safe roads are essential for--
(A) Indian children to travel to and from school;
(B) sick and elderly individuals to receive basic
health care and medical treatment; and
(C) food and other necessities to be delivered to
shops and consumers;
(3) transportation is critical to the efforts of Indian
tribes to--
(A) sustain robust economies; and
(B) attract new jobs and businesses;
(4) most Indian tribes lack the basic transportation
systems that other people in the United States take for
granted;
(5) Indian communities continue to lag behind the rest of
the United States in quality of life and economic vitality;
(6) unemployment rates in Indian country frequently exceed
50 percent, and poverty rates often exceed 40 percent;
(7) the limited availability of housing and jobs on Indian
reservations forces people to commute long distances each day
to travel to work or school, obtain health care, take advantage
of basic government services, go shopping, or even obtain
drinking water;
(8) the Indian reservation roads system established under
title 23, United States Code, comprises more than 50,000 miles
of roads under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
and tribal, State, county, and local governments;
(9) more than \2/3\ of those roads are not paved, and many
resemble roads in third-world countries;
(10) as of the date of enactment of this Act, approximately
140 of the 753 bridges under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of
Indian Affairs are rated as being deficient;
(11) The Indian reservation roads system serves both
Indians and the general public and is part of a unified
national road network;
(12) even though the Indian reservation roads system is
perhaps the most rudimentary of any transportation network in
the United States, more than 2,000,000,000 vehicle miles are
traveled annually on the system;
(13) the poor quality of so many Indian reservation roads
has a serious impact on highway safety;
(14) according to the Federal Highway Administration, the
highway fatality rate on Indian reservation roads is 4 times
the national average highway fatality rate on all roads;
(15) automobile accidents are the primary cause of death
for young Indian individuals; and
(16) the Federal Highway Administration estimates the
backlog of improvement needs for Indian reservation roads at
approximately $6,800,000,000.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to reauthorize, expand,
and streamline the Indian reservation roads program to improve
transportation safety and better meet the needs of Indian individuals
and other members of the traveling public.
SEC. 3. INDIAN RESERVATION ROADS.
(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 1101(a)(8)(A) of the
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (112 Stat. 112) is
amended by striking ``of such title'' and all that follows and
inserting ``of that title--
``(i) $225,000,000 for fiscal year 1998;
``(ii) $275,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 1999 through 2003;
``(iii) $350,000,000 for fiscal year 2004;
``(iv) $425,000,000 for fiscal year 2005;
and
``(v) $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2006 through 2009.''.
(b) Obligation Ceiling.--Section 1102(c)(1) of the Transportation
Equity Act for the 21st Century (23 U.S.C. 104 note; 112 Stat. 116) is
amended--
(1) by striking ``distribute obligation'' and inserting the
following: ``distribute--
``(A) obligation'';
(2) by inserting ``and'' after the semicolon at the end;
and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) for any fiscal year after fiscal year 2003,
any amount of obligation authority made available for
Indian reservation road bridges under section
202(d)(4), and for Indian reservation roads under
section 204, of title 23, United States Code;''.
(c) Indian Reservation Road Bridges.--Section 202(d)(4) of title
23, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (B)--
(A) by striking ``(B) Reservation.--Of the
amounts'' and all that follows through ``to replace,''
and inserting the following:
``(B) Funding.--
``(i) Reservation of funds.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
there is authorized to be appropriated from the
Highway Trust Fund $15,000,000 for each of
fiscal years 2004 through 2009 to carry out
planning, design, engineering, construction,
and inspection of projects to replace,''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(ii) Availability.--Funds made available
to carry out this subparagraph shall be
available for obligation in the same manner as
if the funds were apportioned under chapter
1.''; and
(2) in subparagraph (D)--
(A) by striking ``(D) Approval requirement.--'' and
inserting the following:
``(D) Approval and need requirements.--''; and
(B) by striking ``only on approval of the plans,
specifications, and estimates by the Secretary.'' and
inserting ``only--
``(i) on approval by the Secretary of
plans, specifications, and estimates relating
to the projects; and
``(ii) in amounts directly proportional to
the actual need of each Indian reservation, as
determined by the Secretary based on the number
of deficient bridges on each reservation and
the projected cost of rehabilitation of those
bridges.''.
(d) Fair and Equitable Distribution.--Section 202(d) of title 23,
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(5) Fair and equitable distribution.--To ensure that the
distribution of funds to an Indian tribe under this subsection
is fair, equitable, and based on valid transportation needs of
the Indian tribe, the Secretary shall--
``(A) verify the existence, as of the date of the
distribution, of all roads that are part of the Indian
reservation road system; and
``(B) distribute funds based only on those
roads.''.
(e) Indian Reservation Road Planning.--Section 204(j) of title 23,
United States Code, is amended in the first sentence by striking ``2
percent'' and inserting ``4 percent''.
SEC. 4. FEDERAL LANDS HIGHWAY PROGRAM DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.
Section 202(d)(3) of title 23, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(C) Federal lands highway program demonstration
project.--
``(i) In general.--The Secretary shall
establish a demonstration project under which
all funds made available under this title for
Indian reservation roads and for highway
bridges located on Indian reservation roads as
provided for in subparagraph (A) shall be made
available, on the request of an affected Indian
tribal government, to the Indian tribal
government for use in carrying out, in
accordance with the Indian Self-Determination
and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et
seq.), contracts and agreements for the
planning, research, engineering, and
construction described in that subparagraph.
``(ii) Exclusion of agency participation.--
In accordance with subparagraph (B), all funds
for Indian reservation roads and for highway
bridges located on Indian reservation roads to
which clause (i) applies shall be paid without
regard to the organizational level at which the
Federal lands highway program has previously
carried out the programs, functions, services,
or activities involved.
``(iii) Selection of participating
tribes.--
``(I) Participants.--
``(aa) In general.--For
each fiscal year, the Secretary
shall select 12 geographically
diverse Indian tribes from the
applicant pool described in
subclause (II) to participate
in the demonstration project
carried out under clause (i).
``(bb) Consortia.--Two or
more Indian tribes that are
otherwise eligible to
participate in a program or
activity to which this title
applies may form a consortium
to be considered as a
single tribe for the purpose of becoming part of the applicant pool
under subclause (II).
``(cc) Funding.--An Indian
tribe participating in the
pilot program under this
subparagraph shall receive
funding in an amount equal to
the sum of the funding that the
Indian tribe would otherwise
receive in accordance with the
funding formula established
under the other provisions of
this subsection, and an
additional percentage of that
amount equal to the percentage
of funds withheld during the
applicable fiscal year for the
road program management costs
of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
under subsection (f)(1).
``(II) Applicant pool.--The
applicant pool described in this
subclause shall consist of each Indian
tribe (or consortium) that--
``(aa) has successfully
completed the planning phase
described in subclause (III);
``(bb) has requested
participation in the
demonstration project under
this subparagraph through the
adoption of a resolution or
other official action by the
tribal governing body; and
``(cc) has demonstrated
financial stability and
financial management capability
in accordance with subclause
(III) during the 3-fiscal year
period immediately preceding
the fiscal year for which
participation under this
subparagraph is being
requested.
``(III) Criteria for determining
financial stability and financial
management capacity.--For the purpose
of subclause (II), evidence that,
during the 3-year period referred to in
subclause (II)(cc), an Indian tribe had
no uncorrected significant and material
audit exceptions in the required annual
audit of the Indian tribe's self-
determination contracts or self-
governance funding agreements with any
Federal agency shall be conclusive
evidence of the required stability and
capability.
``(IV) Planning phase.--
``(aa) In general.--An
Indian tribe (or consortium)
requesting participation in the
demonstration project under
this subparagraph shall
complete a planning phase that
shall include legal and
budgetary research and internal
tribal government and
organization preparation.
``(bb) Eligibility.--A
tribe (or consortium) described
in item (aa) shall be eligible
to receive a grant under this
subclause to plan and negotiate
participation in a project
described in that item.''.
SEC. 5. TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Chapter 4 of title 23, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 412. Tribal Transportation Safety Program
``(a) Definition of Indian Tribe.--In this section, the term
`Indian tribe' has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C.
450b).
``(b) Program.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall carry out a program
to provide to eligible Indian tribes (as determined by the
Secretary) competitive grants for use in establishing tribal
transportation safety programs on--
``(A) Indian reservations; and
``(B) other land under the jurisdiction of an
Indian tribe.
``(2) Use of funds.--Funds from a grant provided under
paragraph (1) may be used to carry out a project or activity--
``(A) to prevent the operation of motor vehicles by
intoxicated individuals;
``(B) to promote increased seat belt use rates;
``(C) to eliminate hazardous locations on, or
hazardous sections or elements of--
``(i) a public road;
``(ii) a public surface transportation
facility;
``(iii) a publicly-owned bicycle or
pedestrian pathway or trail; or
``(iv) a traffic calming measure;
``(D) to eliminate hazards relating to railway-
highway crossings; or
``(E) to increase transportation safety by any
other means, as determined by the Secretary.
``(c) Federal Share.--The Federal share of the cost of carrying out
the program under this section shall be 100 percent.
``(d) Funding.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, there
are authorized to be appropriated from the Highway Trust Fund (other
than the Mass Transit Account) to carry out this section--
``(1) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 and 2005;
``(2) $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 and 2007;
and
``(3) $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 and
2009.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 4 of title 23,
United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to
section 411 the following:
``412. Tribal Transportation Safety Program.''.
SEC. 6. INDIAN RESERVATION RURAL TRANSIT PROGRAM.
Section 5311 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding
at the end the following:
``(k) Indian Reservation Rural Transit Program.--
``(1) Definition of indian tribe.--In this subsection, the
term `Indian tribe' has the meaning given the term in section 4
of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act
(25 U.S.C. 450b).
``(2) Program.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary of Transportation
shall establish and carry out a program to provide
competitive grants to Indian tribes to establish rural
transit programs on reservations or other land under
the jurisdiction of the Indian tribes.
``(B) Amount of grants.--The amount of a grant
provided to an Indian tribe under subparagraph (A)
shall be based on the need of the Indian tribe, as
determined by the Secretary of Transportation.
``(3) Funding.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
for each fiscal year, of the amount made available to carry out
this section under section 5338 for the fiscal year, the
Secretary of Transportation shall use $20,000,000 to carry out
this subsection.''.
SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING INDIAN RESERVATION ROADS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) the maintenance of roads on Indian reservations is a
responsibility of the Bureau of Indian Affairs;
(2) amounts made available by the Federal Government as of
the date of enactment of this Act for maintenance of roads on
Indian reservations under section 204(c) of title 23, United
States Code, comprise only 30 percent of the annual amount of
funding needed for maintenance of roads on Indian reservations
in the United States; and
(3) any amounts made available for construction of roads on
Indian reservations will be wasted if those roads are not
properly maintained.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that Congress
should annually provide to the Bureau of Indian Affairs such funding as
is necessary to carry out all maintenance of roads on Indian
reservations in the United States.
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