I 

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.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tribal Transportation 

5 Program Improvement Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) because many Indian tribes are located in 

2 remote areas, transportation is particularly impor3 tant to the basic quality of life and economic devel4 opment of Indian tribes; 

5 (2) safe roads are essential for—

6 (A) Indian children to travel to and from 

7 school; 

8 (B) sick and elderly individuals to receive 

9 basic health care and medical treatment; and 

10 (C) food and other necessities to be deliv11 ered to shops and consumers; 

12 (3) transportation is critical to the efforts of In13 dian tribes to—

14 (A) sustain robust economies; and 

15 (B) attract new jobs and businesses; 

16 (4) most Indian tribes lack the basic transpor17 tation systems that other people in the United 

18 States take for granted; 

19 (5) Indian communities continue to lag behind 

20 the rest of the United States in quality of life and 

21 economic vitality; 

22 (6) unemployment rates in Indian country fre23 quently exceed 50 percent, and poverty rates often 

24 exceed 40 percent; 
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1 (7) the limited availability of housing and jobs 

2 on Indian reservations forces people to commute 

3 long distances each day to travel to work or school, 

4 obtain health care, take advantage of basic govern5 ment services, go shopping, or even obtain drinking 

6 water; 

7 (8) the Indian reservation roads system estab8 lished under title 23, United States Code, comprises 

9 more than 50,000 miles of roads under the jurisdic10 tion of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and tribal, 

11 State, county, and local governments; 

(9) more than 2 12 ⁄3 of those roads are not paved, 

13 and many resemble roads in third-world countries; 

14 (10) as of the date of enactment of this Act, 

15 approximately 140 of the 753 bridges under the ju16 risdiction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs are rated 

17 as being deficient; 

18 (11) The Indian reservation roads system 

19 serves both Indians and the general public and is 

20 part of a unified national road network; 

21 (12) even though the Indian reservation roads 

22 system is perhaps the most rudimentary of any 

23 transportation network in the United States, more 

24 than 2,000,000,000 vehicle miles are traveled annu25 ally on the system; 
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1 (13) the poor quality of so many Indian res2 ervation roads has a serious impact on highway safe3 ty; 

4 (14) according to the Federal Highway Admin5 istration, the highway fatality rate on Indian res6 ervation roads is 4 times the national average high7 way fatality rate on all roads; 

8 (15) automobile accidents are the primary 

9 cause of death for young Indian individuals; and 

10 (16) the Federal Highway Administration esti11 mates the backlog of improvement needs for Indian 

12 reservation roads at approximately $6,800,000,000. 

13 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to reau14 thorize, expand, and streamline the Indian reservation 

15 roads program to improve transportation safety and better 

16 meet the needs of Indian individuals and other members 

17 of the traveling public. 

18 SEC. 3. INDIAN RESERVATION ROADS. 

19 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

20 1101(a)(8)(A) of the Transportation Equity Act for the 

21 21st Century (112 Stat. 112) is amended by striking ‘‘of 

22 such title’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘of that 

23 title—

24 ‘‘(i) $225,000,000 for fiscal year 

25 1998;
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1 ‘‘(ii) $275,000,000 for each of fiscal 

2 years 1999 through 2003; 

3 ‘‘(iii) $350,000,000 for fiscal year 

4 2004;

5 ‘‘(iv) $425,000,000 for fiscal year 

6 2005; and 

7 ‘‘(v) $500,000,000 for each of fiscal 

8 years 2006 through 2009.’’. 

9 (b) OBLIGATION CEILING.—Section 1102(c)(1) of the 

10 Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (23 

11 U.S.C. 104 note; 112 Stat. 116) is amended—

12 (1) by striking ‘‘distribute obligation’’ and in13 serting the following: ‘‘distribute—

14 ‘‘(A) obligation’’; 

15 (2) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at 

16 the end; and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(B) for any fiscal year after fiscal year 

19 2003, any amount of obligation authority made 

20 available for Indian reservation road bridges 

21 under section 202(d)(4), and for Indian res22 ervation roads under section 204, of title 23, 

23 United States Code;’’. 

24 (c) INDIAN RESERVATION ROAD BRIDGES.—Section 

25 202(d)(4) of title 23, United States Code, is amended—
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1 (1) in subparagraph (B)—

2 (A) by striking ‘‘(B) RESERVATION.—Of 

3 the amounts’’ and all that follows through ‘‘to 

4 replace,’’ and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(B) FUNDING.—

6 ‘‘(i) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—Not7 withstanding any other provision of law, 

8 there is authorized to be appropriated from 

9 the Highway Trust Fund $15,000,000 for 

10 each of fiscal years 2004 through 2009 to 

11 carry out planning, design, engineering, 

12 construction, and inspection of projects to 

13 replace,’’; and 

14 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(ii) AVAILABILITY.—Funds made 

16 available to carry out this subparagraph 

17 shall be available for obligation in the same 

18 manner as if the funds were apportioned 

19 under chapter 1.’’; and 

20 (2) in subparagraph (D)—

21 (A) by striking ‘‘(D) APPROVAL REQUIRE22 MENT.—’’ and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(D) APPROVAL AND NEED REQUIRE24 MENTS.—’’; and 
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘only on approval of the 

2 plans, specifications, and estimates by the Sec3 retary.’’ and inserting ‘‘only—

4 ‘‘(i) on approval by the Secretary of 

5 plans, specifications, and estimates relating 

6 to the projects; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) in amounts directly proportional 

8 to the actual need of each Indian reserva9 tion, as determined by the Secretary based 

10 on the number of deficient bridges on each 

11 reservation and the projected cost of reha12 bilitation of those bridges.’’. 

13 (d) FAIR AND EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—Section 

14 202(d) of title 23, United States Code, is amended by add15 ing at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(5) FAIR AND EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—To 

17 ensure that the distribution of funds to an Indian 

18 tribe under this subsection is fair, equitable, and 

19 based on valid transportation needs of the Indian 

20 tribe, the Secretary shall—

21 ‘‘(A) verify the existence, as of the date of 

22 the distribution, of all roads that are part of 

23 the Indian reservation road system; and 

24 ‘‘(B) distribute funds based only on those 

25 roads.’’. 
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1 (e) INDIAN RESERVATION ROAD PLANNING.—Sec2 tion 204(j) of title 23, United States Code, is amended 

3 in the first sentence by striking ‘‘2 percent’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘4 percent’’. 

5 SEC. 4. FEDERAL LANDS HIGHWAY PROGRAM DEMONSTRA6 TION PROJECT. 

7 Section 202(d)(3) of title 23, United States Code, is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(C) FEDERAL LANDS HIGHWAY PROGRAM

10 DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.—

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

12 shall establish a demonstration project 

13 under which all funds made available 

14 under this title for Indian reservation 

15 roads and for highway bridges located on 

16 Indian reservation roads as provided for in 

17 subparagraph (A) shall be made available, 

18 on the request of an affected Indian tribal 

19 government, to the Indian tribal govern20 ment for use in carrying out, in accordance 

21 with the Indian Self-Determination and 

22 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 

23 et seq.), contracts and agreements for the 

24 planning, research, engineering, and con25 struction described in that subparagraph.
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1 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSION OF AGENCY PARTICI2 PATION.—In accordance with subpara3 graph (B), all funds for Indian reservation 

4 roads and for highway bridges located on 

5 Indian reservation roads to which clause 

6 (i) applies shall be paid without regard to 

7 the organizational level at which the Fed8 eral lands highway program has previously 

9 carried out the programs, functions, serv10 ices, or activities involved. 

11 ‘‘(iii) SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING

12 TRIBES.—

13 ‘‘(I) PARTICIPANTS.—

14 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—For 

15 each fiscal year, the Secretary 

16 shall select 12 geographically di17 verse Indian tribes from the ap18 plicant pool described in sub19 clause (II) to participate in the 

20 demonstration project carried out 

21 under clause (i). 

22 ‘‘(bb) CONSORTIA.—Two or 

23 more Indian tribes that are oth24 erwise eligible to participate in a 

25 program or activity to which this 
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1 title applies may form a consor2 tium to be considered as a single

3 tribe for the purpose of becoming 

4 part of the applicant pool under 

5 subclause (II). 

6 ‘‘(cc) FUNDING.—An Indian 

7 tribe participating in the pilot 

8 program under this subpara9 graph shall receive funding in an 

10 amount equal to the sum of the 

11 funding that the Indian tribe 

12 would otherwise receive in ac13 cordance with the funding for14 mula established under the other 

15 provisions of this subsection, and 

16 an additional percentage of that 

17 amount equal to the percentage 

18 of funds withheld during the ap19 plicable fiscal year for the road 

20 program management costs of 

21 the Bureau of Indian Affairs 

22 under subsection (f)(1). 

23 ‘‘(II) APPLICANT POOL.—The ap24 plicant pool described in this sub-
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1 clause shall consist of each Indian 

2 tribe (or consortium) that—

3 ‘‘(aa) has successfully com4 pleted the planning phase de5 scribed in subclause (III); 

6 ‘‘(bb) has requested partici7 pation in the demonstration 

8 project under this subparagraph 

9 through the adoption of a resolu10 tion or other official action by 

11 the tribal governing body; and 

12 ‘‘(cc) has demonstrated fi13 nancial stability and financial 

14 management capability in accord15 ance with subclause (III) during 

16 the 3-fiscal year period imme17 diately preceding the fiscal year 

18 for which participation under this 

19 subparagraph is being requested.

20 ‘‘(III) CRITERIAFOR DETER21 MINING FINANCIAL STABILITY AND FI22 NANCIAL MANAGEMENT CAPACITY.—

23 For the purpose of subclause (II), evi24 dence that, during the 3-year period 

25 referred to in subclause (II)(cc), an 
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1 Indian tribe had no uncorrected sig2 nificant and material audit exceptions 

3 in the required annual audit of the In4 dian tribe’s self-determination con5 tracts or self-governance funding 

6 agreements with any Federal agency 

7 shall be conclusive evidence of the re8 quired stability and capability. 

9 ‘‘(IV) PLANNING PHASE.—

10 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—An In11 dian tribe (or consortium) re12 questing participation in the 

13 demonstration project under this 

14 subparagraph shall complete a 

15 planning phase that shall include 

16 legal and budgetary research and 

17 internal tribal government and 

18 organization preparation. 

19 ‘‘(bb) ELIGIBILITY.—A tribe 

20 (or consortium) described in item 

21 (aa) shall be eligible to receive a 

22 grant under this subclause to 

23 plan and negotiate participation 

24 in a project described in that 

25 item.’’.
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1 SEC. 5. TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 4 of title 23, United 

3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘§ 412. Tribal Transportation Safety Program 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF INDIAN TRIBE.—In this section, 

7 the term ‘Indian tribe’ has the meaning given the term 

8 in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu9 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

10 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

12 out a program to provide to eligible Indian tribes (as 

13 determined by the Secretary) competitive grants for 

14 use in establishing tribal transportation safety pro15 grams on—

16 ‘‘(A) Indian reservations; and 

17 ‘‘(B) other land under the jurisdiction of 

18 an Indian tribe. 

19 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds from a grant pro20 vided under paragraph (1) may be used to carry out 

21 a project or activity—

22 ‘‘(A) to prevent the operation of motor ve23 hicles by intoxicated individuals; 

24 ‘‘(B) to promote increased seat belt use 

25 rates;
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1 ‘‘(C) to eliminate hazardous locations on, 

2 or hazardous sections or elements of—

3 ‘‘(i) a public road; 

4 ‘‘(ii) a public surface transportation 

5 facility; 

6 ‘‘(iii) a publicly-owned bicycle or pe7 destrian pathway or trail; or 

8 ‘‘(iv) a traffic calming measure; 

9 ‘‘(D) to eliminate hazards relating to rail10 way-highway crossings; or 

11 ‘‘(E) to increase transportation safety by 

12 any other means, as determined by the Sec13 retary. 

14 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the 

15 cost of carrying out the program under this section shall 

16 be 100 percent. 

17 ‘‘(d) FUNDING.—Notwithstanding any other provi18 sion of law, there are authorized to be appropriated from 

19 the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit 

20 Account) to carry out this section—

21 ‘‘(1) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 

22 and 2005; 

23 ‘‘(2) $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 

24 and 2007; and 
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1 ‘‘(3) $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 

2 and 2009.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

4 chapter 4 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by 

5 inserting after the item relating to section 411 the fol6 lowing:

‘‘412. Tribal Transportation Safety Program.’’.

7 SEC. 6. INDIAN RESERVATION RURAL TRANSIT PROGRAM. 

8 Section 5311 of title 49, United States Code, is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(k) INDIAN RESERVATION RURAL TRANSIT PRO11 GRAM.—

12 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF INDIAN TRIBE.—In this 

13 subsection, the term ‘Indian tribe’ has the meaning 

14 given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter15 mination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 

16 450b). 

17 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM.—

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

19 Transportation shall establish and carry out a 

20 program to provide competitive grants to Indian 

21 tribes to establish rural transit programs on 

22 reservations or other land under the jurisdiction 

23 of the Indian tribes. 

24 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—The amount 

25 of a grant provided to an Indian tribe under 
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1 subparagraph (A) shall be based on the need of 

2 the Indian tribe, as determined by the Sec3 retary of Transportation. 

4 ‘‘(3) FUNDING.—Notwithstanding any other 

5 provision of law, for each fiscal year, of the amount 

6 made available to carry out this section under sec7 tion 5338 for the fiscal year, the Secretary of Trans8 portation shall use $20,000,000 to carry out this 

9 subsection.’’. 

10 SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING INDIAN RES11 ERVATION ROADS. 

12 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

13 (1) the maintenance of roads on Indian reserva14 tions is a responsibility of the Bureau of Indian Af15 fairs; 

16 (2) amounts made available by the Federal 

17 Government as of the date of enactment of this Act 

18 for maintenance of roads on Indian reservations 

19 under section 204(c) of title 23, United States Code, 

20 comprise only 30 percent of the annual amount of 

21 funding needed for maintenance of roads on Indian 

22 reservations in the United States; and 

23 (3) any amounts made available for construc24 tion of roads on Indian reservations will be wasted 

25 if those roads are not properly maintained. 
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1 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con2 gress that Congress should annually provide to the Bureau 

3 of Indian Affairs such funding as is necessary to carry 

4 out all maintenance of roads on Indian reservations in the 

5 United States.

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