American Indian Transportation Improvement Act of 1997

Summary: American Indian Transportation Improvement Act of 1997 - Amends the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 to:  (1) extend and increase through FY 2002 the authorization of appropriations for Indian reservation roads under the Federal lands highway program; (2) permit up to three percent of the funds allocated for Indian reservation roads for a fiscal year to be used for providing mass transportation services to Indian tribes; and (3) exclude funds made available under the Federal lands highway program for a public land highway constructed on an Indian reservation from the apportionment adjustments, hold harmless provisions. 
(Sec. 5) Revises requirements regarding the scenic byway programs to:   (1) require the Secretary of Transportation to provide technical assistance and make grants to Indian tribes for the planning and development of Indian tribe scenic byway programs; (2) provide for a Federal share of 80 percent for the costs of planning and development of Indian tribe scenic byway programs; and (3) extend such programs through FY 2002, requiring that not less than one percent of funds made available for a fiscal year be used to make competitive grants to Indian tribes for the planning and development of Indian tribe scenic byway programs. 
(Sec. 6) Amends Federal law concerning highways to define the terms:  (1) "Indian tribal transportation department"; and (2) "Indian tribe." 
(Sec. 7) Revises the requirement regarding acceptance by the Secretary of certification relating to certain highway or other transportation construction projects to include Indian tribes. 
(Sec. 8) Revises the requirement regarding the allocation of apportioned funds for highway safety programs to require that not less than one percent of the ten percent of funds made available to a State under the surface transportation program for transportation enhancement activities for a fiscal year be transferred to, and used by, the Secretary to make competitive grants to Indian tribes for transportation enhancement activities. 
(Sec. 9) Repeals requirements regarding set asides for Indian reservation bridges under the highway bridge replacement and rehabilitation program.  Replaces them with a requirement providing for an amount equal to one percent of the highway bridge replacement and rehabilitation program funds available to be apportioned to States, to be allocated to the Secretary for projects to replace, rehabilitate, paint, or apply calcium magnesium acetate to highway bridges that are part of the Indian reservation road system, with priority given to bridges with the highest level of deficiency. 
(Sec. 10) Revises the requirement with respect to the set aside for technical assistance centers to:  (1) extend and increase through FY 2002 the amount of funding set aside for technical and financial support for such centers; and (2) require that the set aside amount include at least $1 million per fiscal year for each of the Indian technical centers established. 
(Sec. 11) Revises requirements relating to highway safety programs to:  (1) remove reference to "political subdivision of a State" with respect to the application of the requirements on Indian reservations; and (2) require that 95 percent of funds for highway safety programs on Indian reservations be apportioned to Indian tribes (currently such funds are apportioned to the Secretary of the Interior). 
(Sec. 12) Amends Federal law concerning transportation to revise the requirement relating to the set-asides from the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund to require that not less than one percent is available for transportation services to Indian tribes:  (1) under an allocation formula, to be established by the Secretary through negotiations with Indian tribes; and (2) with respect to any fiscal year commencing before the formula is established, under an allocation formula established by the Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``American Indian Transportation 
Improvement Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the Federal Government has a responsibility to promote 
        the general welfare of the United States by supporting 
        interstate, national, and international commerce through the 
        use of Federal resources to assist States, Indian tribes, and 
        local governments in the development and maintenance of 
        physical infrastructure, including roads, highways, byways, 
        bridges, and other transportation-related structures;
            (2) there exists a unique legal and political relationship 
        between the United States and tribal governments and a unique 
        Federal responsibility to American Indians and Alaska Natives;
            (3) under law and practice, the United States has 
        undertaken a trust responsibility to protect and preserve 
        Indian tribes, Indians, and tribal assets and resources;
            (4) this Federal responsibility includes working with 
        tribal governments and their members to improve the condition 
        of the physical infrastructure used by tribes for their 
        economic well-being;
            (5) the demonstrated need for improvements to physical 
        infrastructure on Indian land is acute, and the Federal 
        Government should assist in making the improvements and in 
        developing tribal and private mechanisms to achieve the goals 
        of economic self-sufficiency and political self-determination;
            (6)(A) Indian tribes of the United States are served by 
        over 50,000 miles of roads nationwide;
            (B) the road system of the Bureau of Indian Affairs 
        constitutes about 21,000 miles, or 42 percent, of roads serving 
        Indian tribes;
            (C) State and county roads make up the largest percentage, 
        about 49 percent, of roads serving Indian tribes; and
            (D) tribal roads account for approximately 5 percent, and 
        private and Federal roads (other than Bureau of Indian Affairs 
        roads) make up the small balance of approximately 4 percent, of 
        roads serving Indian tribes;
            (7)(A) the Indian reservation roads program established 
        under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 
        1991 (Public Law 102-240) is targeted at the Bureau of Indian 
        Affairs road system that constitutes less than \1/2\ of the 
        total mileage of roads on Indian reservations in the United 
        States;
            (B) only 11 percent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs roads 
        are rated as being in good condition; and
            (C) of the unpaved Bureau of Indian Affairs roads, 90 
        percent are known to be in poor condition and none of the 
        unpaved roads are rated as being in good condition;
            (8)(A) annual funding of the Indian reservation roads 
        program, through the Highway Trust Fund, as authorized by the 
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, has become 
the major source of funding for new road construction on Indian land in 
the United States;
            (B) the Bureau of Indian Affairs road construction budget 
        has virtually vanished; and
            (C) the Bureau of Indian Affairs continues to provide 
        minimal funding of about $25,000,000 per fiscal year for road 
        maintenance of its road system;
            (9)(A) in the late 1950's, Bureau of Indian Affairs road 
        construction and maintenance funding reached a high of 
        $10,000,000 per fiscal year for the first time in history;
            (B) by 1979, Bureau of Indian Affairs road budgets for 
        construction and maintenance reached their peak of almost 
        $80,000,000 per fiscal year, and then declined rapidly;
            (C) in the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 
        (Public Law 97-424), the funding levels for the Indian 
        reservation roads program stabilized at about $100,000,000 
        through the Highway Trust Fund for each of fiscal years 1984 
        through 1986;
            (D) the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation 
        Assistance Act of 1987 (Public Law 100-17) reduced the annual 
        Highway Trust Fund authorization to $80,000,000 for each of 
        fiscal years 1987 through 1991; and
            (E) in almost every fiscal year since fiscal year 1992, the 
        Indian reservation roads program has been funded at 
        $191,000,000 per fiscal year;
            (10)(A) Indian reservation roads are needed to support 
        economic development activities, education, health, and 
        virtually every aspect of reservation life; and
            (B) some of the most scenic highways in the United States 
        are on Indian reservations;
            (11)(A) at current and historic levels of funding, Indian 
        road conditions continue to fall behind national standards; and
            (B) to help alleviate some of the poor transportation 
        conditions on Indian reservations in the United States, there 
        is a need to increase the level of funding, from the Highway 
        Trust Fund, for the Indian reservation roads program to 
        $300,000,000 per fiscal year, from the current level of 
        $191,000,000 per fiscal year; and
            (12) Federal assistance described in this section should be 
        provided in a manner that recognizes the rights of Indian self-
        determination and self-governance by providing the assistance, 
        to the maximum extent practicable, directly to Indian tribal 
        governments.

SEC. 3. INDIAN RESERVATION ROADS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1003(a)(6)(A) of the Intermodal Surface 
Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (Public Law 102-240; 105 Stat. 
1919) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``1992 and'' and inserting ``1992,''; and
            (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 
        following: ``, $250,000,000 for fiscal year 1998, $275,000,000 
        for fiscal year 1999, and $300,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
        2000 through 2002''.
    (b) Mass Transportation Services.--Section 1032(d) of the 
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (23 U.S.C. 202 
note; 105 Stat. 1975) is amended by inserting before the period at the 
end the following: ``and not more than 3 percent of the funds allocated 
for Indian reservation roads for a fiscal year may be used for 
providing mass transportation services to Indian tribes''.
    (c) Maintenance.--Section 204(b) of title 23, United States Code, 
is amended in the second sentence by inserting before the period at the 
end the following: ``and, in the case of Indian reservation roads, 
maintenance thereof''.

SEC. 4. APPORTIONMENT ADJUSTMENTS.

    Section 1015 of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency 
Act of 1991 (23 U.S.C. 104 note; 105 Stat. 1943) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``1997'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``2002''; and
            (2) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting after ``Federal 
        lands highways program'' the following: ``(other than funds for 
        a public land highway constructed on an Indian reservation)''.

SEC. 5. SCENIC BYWAYS PROGRAM.

    Section 1047 of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency 
Act of 1991 (23 U.S.C. 101 note; 105 Stat. 1996) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) by inserting ``and Indian tribes'' after ``the 
                States'' each place it appears;
                    (B) by striking ``term is'' and inserting ``terms 
                are''; and
                    (C) by inserting ``or Indian tribe'' after 
                ``State'';
            (2) in subsection (c), by inserting ``or Indian tribe'' 
        after ``State''; and
            (3) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) in the first sentence--
                            (i) by striking ``There'' and inserting the 
                        following:
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), there''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``1995, 1996, and 1997'' 
                        and inserting ``1995 through 2002''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Indian tribes.--Not less than 1 percent of the funds 
        made available to the Secretary for a fiscal year under 
        paragraph (1) shall be used by the Secretary to make 
        competitive grants to Indian tribes for the planning, design, 
        and development of Indian tribe scenic byway programs.''.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 101(a) of title 23, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting after the undesignated paragraph defining ``Indian 
reservation roads'' the following:
    ``The term `Indian tribal transportation department' means the 
department, commission, board, or member of an Indian tribe that is 
charged by its laws with the responsibility for highway construction.
    ``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).''.

SEC. 7. CERTIFICATION ACCEPTANCE.

    Section 117(a) of title 23, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``or Indian tribe'' after ``any State'' 
        each place it appears;
            (2) by inserting ``or Indian tribal transportation 
        department'' after ``State highway department''; and
            (3) by inserting ``or tribal'' after ``with State''.

SEC. 8. TRANSPORTATION ENHANCEMENT ACTIVITIES.

    Section 133(d)(2) of title 23, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``10 percent'' and inserting the following:
                    ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), 10 
                percent''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Indian tribes.--Not less than 1 percent of 
                the funds made available to a State for a fiscal year 
under subparagraph (A) shall be transferred to, and used by, the 
Secretary to make competitive grants to Indian tribes for 
transportation enhancement activities.''.

SEC. 9. INDIAN RESERVATION BRIDGES.

    Section 144(g) of title 23, United States Code, is amended by 
striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following:
            ``(4) Indian reservation bridges.--Notwithstanding 
        subsection (e), an amount equal to 1 percent of the highway 
        bridge replacement and rehabilitation program funds available 
        to be apportioned to States under this section shall be 
        allocated to the Secretary for projects to replace, 
        rehabilitate, paint, or apply calcium magnesium acetate to 
        highway bridges that are part of the Indian reservation road 
        system, with priority given to bridges with the highest level 
        of deficiency (as determined in accordance with the National 
        Bridge Inspection Standards of the Bureau of Indian 
        Affairs).''.

SEC. 10. INDIAN TECHNICAL CENTERS.

    Section 326(c) of title 23, United States Code, is amended in the 
second sentence--
            (1) by striking ``$6,000,000 per fiscal year for each of 
        the fiscal years 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997'' and 
        inserting ``$10,800,000 for each of fiscal years 1992 through 
        2002''; and
            (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 
        following: ``and including at least $1,000,000 per fiscal year 
        for each of the Indian technical centers established under 
        subsection (b)''.

SEC. 11. HIGHWAY SAFETY PROGRAMS.

    Section 402(i) of title 23, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and `political subdivision of a State' 
        includes'' and inserting ``and''; and
            (2) in the first proviso, by striking ``to the Secretary of 
        the Interior'' and inserting ``for Indian tribes''.

SEC. 12. MASS TRANSIT SET-ASIDE.

    Section 5338(h) of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) not less than 1.0 percent is available for 
        transportation services to Indian tribes--
                    ``(A) under an allocation formula, which shall be 
                established by the Secretary of Transportation through 
                negotiations with Indian tribes; and
                    ``(B) with respect to any fiscal year commencing 
                before the formula is established under subparagraph 
                (A), under an allocation formula established by the 
                Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration of 
                the Department of Transportation.''.