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95–499 PDF 2015

S. HRG. 114–41 

TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION: PATHWAYS TO SAFER 

ROADS IN INDIAN COUNTRY 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

APRIL 22, 2015 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Indian Affairs 

( 

(II) 

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS 

JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming, Chairman 

JON TESTER, Montana, Vice Chairman 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska 

JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota 

JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma 

STEVE DAINES, Montana 

MIKE CRAPO, Idaho 

JERRY MORAN, Kansas 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

TOM UDALL, New Mexico 

AL FRANKEN, Minnesota 

BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

T. MICHAEL ANDREWS, Majority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

ANTHONY WALTERS, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Hearing held on April 22, 2015 .............................................................................. 1 

Statement of Senator Barrasso ............................................................................... 1 

Statement of Senator Daines .................................................................................. 35 

Statement of Senator Franken ............................................................................... 4 

Statement of Senator Tester ................................................................................... 2 

WITNESSES

Black, Michael S., Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of 

the Interior ........................................................................................................... 4 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 5 

Chavarria, Hon. J. Michael, Governor, Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico ......... 8 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 10 

Kirn, Hon. Rick, Tribal Executive Board Member, Fort Peck Assiniboine 

and Sioux Tribes .................................................................................................. 14 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 16 

McOmie, Delbert, Chief Engineer, Wyoming Department of Transportation .... 19 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 20 

Smith, John, Director of Transportation, Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Tribes, Wind River Indian Reservation ................................................... 23 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 24 

APPENDIX

Archambault II, Hon. Dave, Chairman, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, prepared 

statement .............................................................................................................. 41 

Chickaloon Village Traditional Council, resolution .............................................. 46 

Self-Governance Tribes, prepared statement ........................................................ 44 

Vallo, Sr., Hon. Fred S., Governor, Pueblo of Acoma, prepared statement ........ 42 

(1) 

TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION: PATHWAYS TO 

SAFER ROADS IN INDIAN COUNTRY 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015 

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:39 p.m. in room 

628, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. John Barrasso, 

Chairman of the Committee, presiding. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN BARRASSO, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM WYOMING 

The CHAIRMAN. Next we will go to the oversight hearing. We are 

in order for that, too. I call this hearing to order. 

I appreciate the attendance. We are in the middle of six roll call 

votes, but a number of folks have traveled great distances to be 

here and we want to make sure that everyone has their voices 

heard in this important hearing. Moving forward, some of us will 

be moving in and out of the Committee during the discussions, so 

that we can vote and not have to disrupt the activity here. 

Before we get started, I want to welcome John Smith from the 

Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, who is better known to all of 

us in Wyoming as Big John. And to Del McOmie, from the Wyoming Department of Transportation. Both of these men will be testifying today. Together they have worked hard to improve road 

safety on the Wind River Reservation. 

In fact, Big John’s work was recognized by the President in May 

of 2014, when he was named a Champion of Change. The White 

House stated that John ‘‘has succeeded in improving the reservation’s transportation infrastructure, highways and bridges, has led 

the effort to dramatically cut alcohol-involved crashes and fatalities 

on the Wind River Reservation. He has worked with tribal leaders 

to toughen tribal laws to enhance seat belt compliance and has led 

the effort to use positive messaging to educate drivers of all ages 

about the dangers of drinking and driving.’’ So thank you, Mr. 

Smith, for being with us today. 

Big John is accompanied by his Deputy Director, Howard Brown, 

also from the Wind River Indian Reservation. 

As these men so well know, there are many roads and bridges 

on Indian Reservations in desperate need of improvement. In some 

places, heavy rain or snow can wash out a bridge or road, cutting 

off access to schools, jobs and essential services. There are many 

reservation roads which are quite hazardous to traverse. According 

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to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, only 17 percent of the roads are 

considered to be in acceptable condition. The remainder is considered to be in poor and unacceptable condition. 

According to the National Congress of American Indians, these 

roads ‘‘are among the most under-developed and unsafe road networks in the Nation, even though they are the primary means of 

access throughout these communities.’’ The Centers for Disease 

Control lists motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death for 

Native American children. Indian infants under the age of one year 

old are eight times more likely to die in a vehicle-related crash 

than other children. 

The Wind River Reservation in my State is no exception. Despite 

significant improvements achieved by the two tribes, The Eastern 

Shoshone and The Northern Arapaho and the State of Wyoming, 

more work needs to be done. According to the Wyoming Technology 

Transfer Center, the Wind River Reservation still has the highest 

percentage of critical crashes when compared to the State and local 

roads. The Wind River Reservation leads the State in motor vehicle 

crashes for people ages 24 to 34. 

Last year, the two tribes, along with the State, did complete construction on what is commonly called the 17 Mile Road. It was an 

extremely dangerous road. Crashes and deaths occurred on that 

road all too often. But thanks to the diligent efforts of the tribes 

and the State, those who are here with us today, the 17 Mile Road 

is now much safer. 

So we will hear from our witnesses today how successful planning and join efforts, such as what occurred in Wyoming, can save 

lives and improve whole communities. 

At this time, I would like to ask the Vice Chairman if he has any 

comments. 

STATEMENT OF HON. JON TESTER, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA 

Senator TESTER. I do, and thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you 

for holding this hearing on Pathways to Safer Roads in Indian 

Country. It is an issue that is critical to Indian Country. It touches 

my home State of Montana in a big, big way. The fact that we need 

safe roads in Indian Country is no exception. 

Coming from a State as large as Montana, we know a thing or 

two about windshield time. We also know how important these 

roads are to connect commerce, education, health, and the industry 

of our State. Safe and adequate roads and highways are critical to 

public safety, health and education. 

Yet throughout Indian Country, we see the maintenance and upkeep of these important highways often neglected or woefully underfunded. On some Indian reservations, children spend over two 

hours a day traveling to and from school on roads that are not adequate. And this is when there is actually transportation that is 

available. 

Far too often, we hear about pedestrians being struck while 

walking along reservation roads, which lack safe walkways, and 

are some of the most remote and deficient roads in this Country. 

The dire conditions of these roads also lead to delayed response 

times for law enforcement, for medical professionals. According to 

3 

the Federal Highway Administration, American Indians have the 

highest rates of pedestrian injury per capita, and this is deaths per 

capita, of any racial or ethnic group in the United States. Motor 

vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for American Indians 

and Alaska Natives age 1 to 44. And on average, they are responsible for killing two American Indians or Native Alaskans every 

day. 

The data shows it is only getting worse. Over the past 25 years, 

almost 6,000 fatal motor vehicle crashes occurred on Indian reservation roads, and over 7,000 lives were lost in these preventable 

tragedies. While the number of fatal crashes in the United States 

declined 2.2 percent during this time period, the number of fatal 

motor crashes per year in Indian Country raised 52.5 percent. 

These statistics are extremely troubling. 

To begin to reverse this trend, we need to start by passing a 

long-term Highway Bill. The tribes need funding that is predictable, that a long-term Highway Bill would provide, and would also 

give them opportunity to implement adequate safety plans. 

In addition, we need to make sure the tribal transportation programs are adequately funded. This means authorizing current 

funding levels plus inflation at the very least. 

So as we work toward reauthorizing the Highway Bill, MAP–21, 

which expires next month, we have the opportunity to not only address the safety challenges existing in Indian Country but also 

make critical investments to Indian tribal infrastructure. These investments can expand economic development opportunities and are 

crucial to improving the quality of life on tribal lands. Importantly, 

these investments are in line with the Federal Government’s treaty 

and trust responsibility to American Indians. 

I look forward to working with the members of this Committee 

as well as you, Mr. Chairman. I know you will have a say in MAP– 

21 in your position on EPW. 

But before we move to the witnesses, I want to recognize a couple of folks. First, I want to welcome Mr. Rick Kirn, who serves on 

the Tribal Executive Board at the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux 

Tribes in Montana. I want to thank you for making the trek out 

to Washington, D.C., Rick. I look forward to hearing from you and 

all the witnesses today. 

And I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that there was one 

Chris Lambert in the crowd. Chris used to work for the Honorable 

Max Baucus from the great State of Montana, and we appreciate 

him working for Indian Country at this point in time in his career. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator Tester. As you 

said, Congress is currently considering reauthorization of the 

Transportation Bill. As we debate this measure, we need solid recommendations that build upon tribal successes and provide a path 

for safer roads. 

So I am delighted to have all the witnesses here, but before turning to them, I would like to ask Senator Franken if he would like 

to make any comments. 

4 

STATEMENT OF HON. AL FRANKEN, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM MINNESOTA 

Senator FRANKEN. I would love to go to the testimony. I will say 

a little something at the beginning of my questioning. 

The CHAIRMAN. Great. With that, we will start with Mr. Michael 

Black, Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, United States Department of Interior, Washington, D.C. 

STATEMENT OF MICHAEL S. BLACK, DIRECTOR, BUREAU OF 

INDIAN AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Mr. BLACK. Good afternoon, Chairman Barrasso, Vice Chairman 

Tester, Senator Franken. Thank you for inviting the Department 

of Interior the opportunity to provide testimony at this oversight 

hearing on the topic of Tribal Transportation: Pathways to Safer 

Roads in Indian Country. 

The Department and BIA remain committed to improving and 

adequately maintaining transportation systems to provide increased public safety and economic development opportunities in 

Indian communities. The Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 

1982 established the Indian Reservation Roads Program, funded 

with the highway account of the Highway Trust Fund. Since the 

establishment of the IRR program and its successor as part of 

MAP–21, which is now called the Tribal Transportation, or TTP 

program, the total Federal counts for construction and authorization for tribal transportation has exceeded $8.5 billion. These investments have contributed greatly to the improvement of unsafe 

roads and replacement or rehabilitation of deficient bridges on or 

near reservations throughout Indian Country. 

Today the National Tribal Transportation Facility Inventory consists of over 160,000 miles of public roads with multiple owners, including Indian tribes, the BIA, States, counties, as well as other 

Federal agencies. There remains a great and continuing need to 

improve the transportation systems throughout Indian Country. 

The BIA Road Maintenance Program, funded through DOI appropriations, has traditionally been responsible for maintaining 

only roads owned by the BIA. Today, of the 148,000 miles of existing roads in the inventory, the BIA has responsibility for approximately 29,500 miles of roads designated as BIA system roads. The BIA receives approximately $25 million annually for the administration of the road maintenance program for those roads. The 

fiscal year 2014 deferred maintenance for BIA roads was estimated 

at $290 million. The Administration’s fiscal year 2016 budget reflects the President’s continued commitment to addressing the 

transportation needs of Indian and Alaska Native communities. 

This budget recognizes that supporting safe and reliable transportation on public roads, access to and within Indian Country, contributes to stronger tribal economies, communities and families. 

Highlights of the 2016 budget request for the Tribal Transportation Program include: program funding is increased from $450 

million to $507 million. The increased amount is targeted toward 

new and/or increased setasides. The tribal high priority projects 

program is integrated back into the core program as a 7 percent 

setaside. MAP–21 had authorized this as a separate program funded from the general fund. 

5 

Increased the tribal planning setaside from 2 percent to 3 percent to address additional data collection requirements. Increased 

the tribal bridge setaside from 2 percent to 4 percent to address the 

growing backlog of tribal bridge needs. The program structure and 

funding formula under MAP–21 are retained. The 2016 budget also includes $150 million for rehabilitation, 

construction or reconstruction of large nationally significant transportation infrastructure within or providing access to Federal or 

tribal lands. The Department is currently working with Congress 

on the transportation reauthorization legislation known as the 

Grow America Act. As Congress moves forward with transportation 

reauthorization, the Department continues to note the most significant impact to TTP under the current MAP–21 is implementation 

of the new formula established under MAP–21. 

MAP–21’s annual allocation for the TTP is equal to the amount 

for the last year of SAFETEA–LU. However, one significant difference is that the current formula makes more TTP funding available for distribution to tribal shares. This has allowed more funding to be directed toward tribal priorities. 

Although more funding is allocated to tribes for their priorities, 

certain programs have decreased shares under MAP–21. The 

Bridge program has decreased significantly from a separate program of $14 million a year to a setaside program of less than $9 

million a year. However, the bridge setaside proposed in the 2016 

budget would address this concern by providing approximately $20 

million to address critical bridge needs in Indian Country. 

The number of BIA bridges which were deficient or functionally 

obsolete and are eligible for replacement or rehabilitation is approximately 178 out of 930 total bridges, or 19.1 percent of the 

total. The estimate cost of replacing or rehabilitating these bridges 

is $53.2 million. 

In addition, the requirement to perform safety inspections on all 

930 tribally-owned bridges has not been adequately funded. The estimated cost for inspecting the tribally-owned bridges along with 

the BIA bridges is $3 million every other year, or approximately 

$1.5 million per year. 

The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department are committed 

to working with this Committee and others in Congress to address 

the transportation needs in Indian Country through our support for 

the tribal transportation program, road maintenance program and 

other Title 23 U.S.C. funding provided for transportation in Indian 

Country. 

Thank you for the opportunity to present testimony on an issue 

that is an important part of the employment, economic infrastructure and road safety for tribes. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have. 

[The prepared testimony of Mr. Black follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MICHAEL S. BLACK, DIRECTOR, BUREAU OF INDIAN

AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Good afternoon Chairman Barrasso, Vice Chairman Tester, and members of the 

Committee. Thank you for inviting the Department of the Interior (Department) to 

provide testimony at this oversight hearing on the topic of ‘‘Tribal Transportation: 

Pathways to Safer Roads in Indian Country.’’ My name is Mike Black, and I am 

the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) at the Department. 

6 

The Department and the BIA remain committed to improving and adequately 

maintaining transportation systems to provide increased public safety and economic 

development opportunities in Indian communities. Safe roads are important when 

transporting people in rural areas to and from schools, to local hospitals, and for 

delivering emergency services. In addition, transportation networks in American Indian and Alaska Native communities are critical for economic development in such 

communities because these transportation networks provide access to other economic markets. I appreciate this opportunity to share with the Committee some of 

our accomplishments and also our concerns for tribal transportation as we implement MAP–21 and look to reauthorization of this important law. 

Overview 

The BIA and the Federal Highway Administration within the Department of 

Transportation (FHWA) have been involved in the repair, construction and reconstruction of roads on Indian Reservations since the 1920s. From 1950 until 1983, 

Congress appropriated annual construction and maintenance funds to the BIA to 

maintain, repair and construct roads on Indian Reservations through the Department of the Interior. During this time, approximately $1.2 billion was provided for 

both construction and maintenance of reservation roads. 

Tribal Transportation Program 

The Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 established the Indian Reservation Roads (IRR) Program funded within the Highway Account of the Highway 

Trust Fund (HTF). Since the establishment of the IRR Program and its successor 

as part of MAP–21, which is now called the Tribal Transportation Program (TTP), 

the total Federal construction authorization for Tribal Transportation has exceeded 

$8.5 billion. The TTP is jointly administered by the BIA and the FHWA. These investments have contributed greatly to the improvement of unsafe roads and the replacement or rehabilitation of deficient bridges on or near reservations throughout 

Indian Country. 

Today, the National Tribal Transportation Facility Inventory (NTTFI) consists of 

over 160,000 miles of public roads with multiple owners, including Indian tribes, the 

BIA, states, and counties, as well as other Federal agencies. Of this amount, approximately 12,300 miles are planned or proposed roads of varying surface types 

and uses. There remains a great and continuing need to improve the transportation 

systems throughout Indian Country. We believe Congress has viewed this as a joint 

responsibility including not only Federal agencies, but state and local governments 

with transportation investments in or near American Indian and Alaska Native 

communities, as well. Coordination among all of these stakeholders is required in 

order to maximize available resources to address transportation needs. Tribes are 

continuing to invest in transportation projects that are the responsibility of other 

public authorities. This creates jobs and contributes to the economy of local businesses that provide services and materials. Strengthening existing partnerships will 

continue to support the local economy and bring improved infrastructure to communities on or near Indian reservations and lands. In March 2014, we reported that, 

tribes have planned transportation projects estimated to lead to approximately $270 

million worth of investment in non-BIA and non-Tribal roads and bridges over the 

next 3 years. An investment in tribal transportation is truly an investment in the 

local economy and safer roads and bridges. 

BIA Road Maintenance 

In partnership with the Department of Transportation, the BIA currently implements both the TTP program, funded within the Highway Account of the HTF, and 

the BIA Road Maintenance Program, funded by the Department of the Interior. The 

BIA Road Maintenance Program has traditionally been responsible for maintaining 

only roads owned by the BIA. Today, of the 148,000 miles of existing roads in the 

NTTFI, the BIA has responsibility for approximately 29,500 miles of roads designated as BIA system roads. The BIA receives approximately $25 million in Tribal 

Priority Allocation (TPA) funding annually for the administration of the road maintenance program for those roads. 

BIA supports self-determination and the empowerment of tribes by contracting 

out a significant portion of the program with tribes. Approximately 74 percent of 

tribes with BIA system roads within their reservation boundaries currently carry 

out the BIA Road Maintenance Program through P.L. 93–638 self-determination 

contracts or agreements in lieu of federal employees. Approximately 20,300 miles 

(70 percent) of the BIA system roads are not paved and are, thus, considered ‘‘inadequate’’ from the perspective of the level of service index used to assess roads and 

bridges in the BIA road system. The FY 2014 deferred maintenance for BIA roads 

was estimated at $290 million. 

7 

FY 2016 Budget Request for Tribal Transportation 

The Administration’s FY16 budget reflects the President’s continued commitment 

to addressing the transportation needs of Indians and Native Americans. This budget recognizes that supporting safe and reliable transportation and public road access 

to and within Indian Country contributes to stronger tribal economies, communities 

and families. Highlights of the FY 2016 budget for the Tribal Transportation Program include: 

• Program funding is increased from $450M to $507M. The increased amount is 

targeted toward new and/or increased set-asides. 

• The Tribal High Priority Projects Program is integrated back into the core program as a 7 percent set-aside. MAP–21 had authorized this as a separate program funded from the General Fund. 

• Increased the tribal planning set-aside from 2 percent to 3 percent to address 

additional data collection requirements. 

• Increased the tribal bridge set-aside from 2 percent to 4 percent to address the 

growing backlog of tribal bridge needs. 

The program structure and funding formula under MAP–21 are retained. The FY 

2016 budget also includes $150 million for rehabilitation, construction, or reconstruction of large, nationally-significant transportation infrastructure within or providing access to Federal or Tribal lands. 

Reauthorization of MAP–21 

In March 2014, before this Committee over a year ago, we discussed the need for 

jobs, infrastructure and safety of roads in Indian communities, and we noted our 

support for the reauthorization of MAP–21. The Department is now working with 

Congress on the transportation reauthorization legislation, now known as the 

GROW AMERICA Act. As Congress moves forward with transportation reauthorization, the Department continues to note the most significant impact to the TTP 

under the current MAP–21 is the implementation of the new formula established 

under MAP–21. MAP–21’s annual allocation for the TTP is equal to the amount for 

the last year of SAFETEA–LU. However, one significant difference is that the current MAP–21 formula makes more TTP funding available for distribution to tribal 

shares. The formula share of IRR program funds in FY 2011 and 2012 were, respectively, $336.7 million and $322.3 million. The formula share of TTP funds in FY 

2013 and FY 2014 were, respectively, $387.6 million and $384.3 million. This has 

allowed more funding to be directed to tribal priorities. The new formula also allows 

for a consistent estimate of allocations in advance for future projects and timely allocation to tribes because a major portion of the data is known prior to beginning 

of the fiscal year. 

Although more funding is allocated to tribes for their priorities, certain programs 

have decreased shares under MAP–21. The bridge program is decreased significantly from a separate program of $14 million per year to a set-aside program from 

within the total amount of less than $9 million per year. However, the bridge setaside proposed in the FY 2016 budget would address this concern by providing approximately $20 million to address critical bridge needs in Indian Country. 

In addition, the requirement of the Secretaries of Transportation and Interior to 

perform safety inspections on all 930 tribally-owned bridges has not been adequately 

funded. The number of bridges which are deficient or functionally obsolete and are 

eligible for replacement or rehabilitation for BIA bridges alone in the 2013 National 

Bridge Inventory is approximately 178 of 930 (or 19.1 percent of the total). The estimated cost of replacing and rehabilitating these bridges is $53.2 million. The estimated cost of inspecting the tribally-owned bridges along with the BIA is $3.0 million every other year. 

Update of 25 CFR 170 

The notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the update of Title 25 Code of Federal Regulations Part 170, Tribal Transportation Program, was published on December 19, 2014. In January and February of 2015, 6 consultation meetings were held 

with tribes on these revised regulations. The closing dates for comments for the 

NPRM, was March 20, 2015. Over 450 comments were received from interested 

tribes and the public. The BIA and FHWA are currently reviewing the comments 

that will lead to a Fall publication of the final rule. 

This proposed rule would update the Tribal Transportation Program regulations 

to comply with the current surface transportation authorization, MAP–21 (as extended), reflect changes in the delivery options for the program that have occurred 

8 

since the regulation was published in 2004, remove certain sections that were provided for informational purposes only, and make technical corrections. 

Conclusion 

The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department are committed to working with 

this Committee and others in Congress to address the transportation needs in Indian Country through our support for the Tribal Transportation Program, the Road 

Maintenance Program, and other Title 23 USC funding provided for transportation 

in Indian Country. 

Thank you for the opportunity to present testimony on an issue that is an important part of the employment, economic infrastructure and roads safety for tribes. I 

will be happy to answer any questions you may have. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mike, thank you for your testimony. Thank you 

for being here today. 

Next we have the Honorable J. Michael Chavarria. 

STATEMENT OF HON. J. MICHAEL CHAVARRIA, GOVERNOR, 

SANTA CLARA PUEBLO, NEW MEXICO 

Mr. CHAVARRIA. Good afternoon and thank you, Chairman 

Barrasso, Vice Chairman Tester, members of the Committee, for 

this opportunity to testify before you regarding Tribal Transportation: Pathways to Safer Roads in Indian Country. 

My name is J. Michael Chavarria. I serve as Governor for Santa 

Clara Pueblo in New Mexico. I also serve as Chairman of the Eight 

Northern Indian Pueblos Council, and I am a member of the All 

Pueblo Council of Governors in New Mexico. 

Santa Clara Pueblo has roughly 181 miles of road, of which 80 

percent of that is BIA. It consists mostly of unpaved dirt roads, 14 

percent State, 2 percent urban and 3 percent county. Santa Clara 

Pueblo experienced a loss of 50 miles of roads in the past couple 

of years, stemming from the 2011 Las Conchas fire and post-fire 

impacts from flooding, which was an enormous loss to the Pueblo’s 

tribal transportation infrastructure. 

Notably, the main road, State Road 30, is one of the two access 

roads to Los Alamos National Laboratory, our neighbor immediately to the south. This road, which has national security importance, passes through the heart of our reservation. With a traffic 

count of 14,000 vehicles a day volume on State Road 30 is a driving 

force behind Santa Clara’s roads and safety plans. As our Pueblo 

grows, with a new housing development on the south side of the 

road, in addition to a new fire station, an increasing number of 

Santa Clara people must cross the road or attempt to merge into 

that road. During peak traffic flows, it is extremely difficult for vehicles to safely enter the traffic stream from the intersecting 

streets. Drivers often do not obey signage, such as speed limits, and 

pedestrians cannot even pass safely at the crosswalk. There are no 

sidewalks or traffic lights on State Road 30. 

Our transportation plans include construction of a frontage road 

and protected crossings, but our attempts to engage the State of 

New Mexico to improve the safety of these roads have fallen on 

deaf ears. Our frustrations about working with the State are not 

unusual within Indian Country, as I have heard from many other 

tribes about their States paying less attention to the State roads 

serving Native American communities. Notably, one of the agreements granted by the BIA to States or other jurisdictions for roads 

over Indian lands requires that the facilities on them remain mainVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:15 Sep 22, 2015 Jkt 095499 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\95499.TXT JACK
9 

tained and often contain language granting the BIA to revoke the 

right of way if maintenance is not adequate. 

Congress could improve oversight and maintenance and safety of 

roads serving Indian communities by creating a process whereby 

tribes themselves could initiate a review to determine if action to 

induce proper maintenance is required. There are many other 

things that can be done at the Congressional level to support greater public safety on Indian Country roads, including authorizing 

tribes to directly receive DOT funds, rather than having those 

funds pass through the State. Support legislation that would create 

a DOT, a tribal self-governance program, like at the BIA and IHS 

levels. This simplifies grant initiating requirements and significantly streamline tribal efforts to obtain and administer tribal 

funds or transportation funds. Establish a 2 percent tribal setaside 

in MAP–21 for the Highway Safety Improvement Program. And for 

the TIGER program, to enable tribes to better compete in these 

comparative grant programs. 

This change is cost-neutral, but would open up an important 

stream of funding for tribal safety. Section 1317 of MAP–21 contains a categorical exclusion from environmental review for any 

transportation project receiving less than $5 million in Federal 

funds. The BIA has asserted that this provision only applies to the 

Department of Transportation, which we think is both an unfair 

reading of Section 1317 and a willful disregard of Congressional intent. It should apply to BIA as well. 

Move the tribal bridge program back into the Highway Trust 

Fund, as it was under SAFETEA–LU, rather than a tribal transportation program. This would ensure better funding. Ensure that 

tribal governments are eligible to apply for all grant programs 

under the DOT, under the same criteria as other governments. 

Streamline the process for applying for emergency relief for federally-owned roads. Funding for roads repair when disaster occurs by 

allowing tribes to go directly to the Federal Highway Administration, such as the Stafford Act Amendments, to allow tribes to seek 

direct disaster funding from the President of the United States. 

Again, I would like to thank you, on behalf of the Pueblo of 

Santa Clara, for allowing me this opportunity to testify before this 

Committee. I have also submitted a written testimony for the 

record. Again, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Vice Chairman and the rest of 

the Committee, [phrase in native tongue.] 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Chavarria follows:] 

10 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. J. MICHAEL CHAVARRIA, GOVERNOR, SANTA CLARA

PUEBLO, NEW MEXICO


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Senator TESTER. [Presiding] Thank you, Governor. 

Next we have from the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribe, 

Rick Kirn. Rick? 

STATEMENT OF HON. RICK KIRN, TRIBAL EXECUTIVE BOARD 

MEMBER, FORT PECK ASSINIBOINE AND SIOUX TRIBES 

Mr. KIRN. Thank you, Vice Chairman Tester. I would like to 

thank the Committee members who are not here right now. Thank 

you for inviting the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes to present testimony concerning Tribal Transportation: Pathways to Safer Roads 

in Indian Country. 

My name is Rick Kirn, and I serve as a member of the Fort Peck 

Tribal Executive Board. 

Today’s hearing sheds light on the conditions of roads in Indian 

Country. Transportation infrastructure in Indian Country is unsafe, especially on large, rural reservations like the Fort Peck Reservation. We have hundreds of miles of roads, few first responders 

and limited trauma centers in the event of a serious motor vehicle 

crash. These factors contribute to the fact that motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of injury and death among Native Americans. 

If I had to identify the biggest problem facing the Fort Peck 

Tribe regarding road safety, it would be lack of resources, funding 

for needed road safety improvements and funding for education. 


422a5.eps
15 

Education is critical if we are to raise the next generation of drivers to always buckle up, to properly secure children in child safety 

seats and not drink and drive. We are doing our share by establishing and implementing a safety management plan working with 

the Montana Department of Transportation to implement a Safe 

On All Roads, SOAR, program, and make road improvements to 

save lives. 

We live in a 2.1 million acre reservation in northeastern Montana, just north and west of the Bakken and Three Forks formations. We saw increased truck traffic across Highway 2 and our 

BIA-owned and tribally-owned roads. These heavy trucks damaged 

the road beds, and they are in need of repair and construction. We 

lack the resources to undertake routine road maintenance on our 

roads. Poor maintenance shortens the useful life of all roads on our 

reservation, regardless of which jurisdiction owns them 

Poor roads and behavioral issues contribute to the deadly statistics that this Committee and every member of Congress should be 

alarmed by. According to the Centers for Disease Control, two Native Americans are killed every day in motor vehicle crashes. Native American infants have the highest mortality rate. The States 

with the highest fatality figures are Wyoming, Montana, the Dakotas and Arizona. 

This Committee understands the importance of infrastructure in 

Indian Country. That is why this Committee has championed the 

reauthorization of NAHASDA and promoted irrigation projects and 

the completion of rural water systems. This Committee understands the importance of infrastructure as the foundation for economic development and healthier communities. Transportation infrastructure is also a prerequisite for investment, and it is at its 

heart a job-creating catalyst for our community, which suffers from 

high unemployment and poverty. 

That is why the Fort Peck Tribes endorse the Tribal Transportation Unity Act Amendments to MAP–21 and ask this Committee 

to champion these tribal amendments in the next long-term Highway Bill. When Congress finds a bipartisan, bicameral solution to 

shore up the Highway Trust Fund, we ask that it also address tribal transportation needs in the next Highway Bill. Congress can improve road safety in Indian Country in the next six-year reauthorization bill by establishing parity between Indian tribes and the 

States. 

Our infrastructure is in poor and fair shape. Congress can improve road safety in Indian Country through the following measures, some of which are no-cost amendments to current law. First, 

make Indian tribes directly eligible for every USDOT discretionary 

and competitive grant. Second, establish a 2 percent setaside for 

tribes in the Highway Safety Improvement Program. Third, increase the national highway traffic safety program setaside from 2 

percent to 3.5 percent. 

Finally, create a 3 percent setaside for tribes in the Transportation Alternative Program. This program has benefited the Fort 

Peck Tribes by funding pedestrian and bicycle paths that separate 

pedestrians from roads, projects it could not otherwise afford. The 

Transportation Alternatives Program saves lives in Indian Country 

and promotes walking and biking for healthier communities. 

16 

Thank you for the opportunity to present this testimony on behalf of the Fort Peck Tribes. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Kirn follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. RICK KIRN, TRIBAL EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER, 

FORT PECK ASSINIBOINE AND SIOUX TRIBES

I. Indian Country Roads Are Not Safe Roads 

Chairman Barrasso, Vice Chairman Tester and members of the Committee, thank 

you for affording the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation the 

opportunity to present testimony concerning ‘‘Tribal Transportation: Pathways to 

Safer Roads in Indian Country.’’ My name is Rick Kirn and I serve as a member 

of the Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board. Chairman A.T. Stafne and my fellow Tribal 

Executive Board members send their warm regards. 

Roads in Indian country are inherently unsafe. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of 

unintentional injury and death for American Indians/Alaska Natives ages 1–44. 

Among infants less than one year of age, American Indians/Alaska Natives have 

eight times the rate of motor-vehicle traffic deaths than that of non-hispanic whites. 

Among our teenage youth, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death. We 

must do better. 

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 

2012, there were 33,000 roadway fatalities in the United States. Rural areas accounted for 54 percent of the fatalities although only 19 percent of the U.S. population lived in rural areas. Indian country is fairing even worse. 

According to the CDC, two Native Americans are killed every day in motor vehicle 

crashes. From 2004–2010, the five states with the highest motor vehicle-related 

death rate among Native Americans were Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, North 

Dakota and Arizona. The death rate in these states ranged from three to five times 

above the national average. 

According to MDT, Native Americans make up roughly 6 percent of Montana’s one 

million citizens, yet in 2009 Native Americans accounted for 15.4 percent of the 

State’s fatalities. From 2000 to 2009, Native Americans comprised from 11.8 to 20.1 

percent of the State’s motor vehicle fatalities. MDT further found that nearly twothirds of these fatalities were alcohol-related. From 2005–2010, safety belt use for 

Indian occupant fatalities was less than 10 percent. Additional resources for safety 

improvements and education can reduce these statistics. 

We have roughly 1,500 miles of roads on the Fort Peck Reservation, of which 375 

miles are BIA system and Tribally-owned roads. Of our 211 miles of BIA-owned 

roads, over half are gravel and dirt routes. Thus, the majority of our transportation 

infrastructure is outdated and in need of upgrade (paving) while the rest of the infrastructure is owned and maintained by the State and county governments which 

often do not maintain and reconstruct their roads on the Reservation with the same 

diligence as they do elsewhere in the State. When overstressed and under-maintained, our infrastructure gives way, creating safety hazards for our members, residents and visitors. 

The Fort Peck Reservation lies within the western part of the Williston Basin, 

which includes many oil producing formations, including the Bakken and Three 

Forks. Fracking has brought about unprecedented oil development in the Bakken 

and Three Forks immediately adjacent to our Reservation in western North Dakota 

and eastern Montana. Rail, truck and motor vehicle traffic increased dramatically 

across the Reservation as oil, frac sand and pipe, together with people move in and 

out of the Bakken. 

While oil prices have slumped and oil exploration has slowed somewhat, as the 

closest neighbor to this development, our substandard infrastructure—particularly 

our roads-have come under significant stress, without any accompanying income 

from this development or increased appropriations from Congress to maintain roads 

in a good state of repair. 

Well designed and well maintained roads should be the norm, but this is not so 

in Indian country. Throughout Indian country and on our reservation, transportation barriers continue to exist. These barriers separate native communities from 

the rest of society, from jobs, health facilities, retail outlets, colleges and community 

centers. When we lack all-season routes, as we do on our reservation, law enforcement and other first responders struggle to reach people in need. Children cannot 

get to school and parents cannot get to work. This is especially true during our 

harsh winters when ice and snow accumulate on the roads making them unsafe. 

17 

Communities are shut off from one another. This is a safety issue which persists 

each year, largely due to lack of funds. 

In short, road safety is a massive problem at Fort Peck and throughout Indian 

country. We cannot tackle this problem without additional federal resources. The 

United States has a unique trust responsibility to protect Indian tribes and their 

members. These persistent and grim statistics reveal that the United States has not 

lived up to its responsibility to the Indian nations and our members when it comes 

to transportation infrastructure and roadway safety. 

II. Indian Tribes Can Make a Positive Difference to Improveroad Safety 

When Provided the Resources 

We are committed to reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries and improving the overall safety of the Reservation’s transportation system. The Fort Peck 

Tribes have had a Safety Management Plan in place since 2008. We worked with 

the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) to develop a Safe On All Roads 

(SOAR) program, provided Tribal law enforcement officers with a Cisco electronic 

crash records system to enter all crash reports in a standardized way for better reporting of crashes, established a DUI and Injury Prevention Committee that meets 

on a monthly basis, entered into a cross-deputization agreement with the State of 

Montana, and initiated safety checkpoints staffed by Tribal Police, City Police and 

County Sheriffs Offices. We have enacted ordinances to make not wearing a seat 

belt a primary offense and to ban domestic animals on highway rights of way. 

Through MDT’s Comprehensive Highway Safety Program (CHSP), an annual 

Tribal Transportation Safety Summit was established in Montana to provide tribal 

officials an opportunity to share success stories as well as identify safety issues and 

hurdles. Engineering/planning and education were identified by tribes as the highest area of need. This is consistent with MDT’s finding that the issues of unbelted 

drivers and impaired driving among Native Americans remain a problem. According 

to MDT, between 2007 and 2011, in approximately 76 percent (120 of 157) of vehicle-related crashes, the victim was unbelted. On Fort Peck, we also identified overweight and oversized trucks as an emerging safety issue tied to the Bakken and 

Three Forks development. With more law enforcement funding, we could patrol our 

roads more consistently and keep them safer for all users. 

We have used our ‘‘Tribal shares’’ of Tribal Transportation funds to reconstruct 

existing routes, complete overlay-chip seal projects, milled, leveled and overlayed 

community streets, and undertake the phased construction of the 30 mile Wolf 

Point-Wiota project to improve road conditions and safety on the Reservation. Well 

lit signage, guard rails, rumble strips, wider shoulders and striping are cost-effective 

measures to improve road safety. 

We are also fortunate to have received 2 percent Tribal Transportation Program 

Safety grants over the last few years to make needed safety improvements on our 

reservation that we would not otherwise be able to undertake. In 2013, we used 

safety grant funding to restripe 26 miles of BIA routes, made road improvements 

from Box Elder to Blair, issued Public Service Announcements (PSAs) and updated 

our Tribal Highway Safety Plan. This year, we will use TTP Safety funds to pave 

the Poplar Airport Access Road for emergency vehicles, purchase a radar speed display trailer, purchase intoximeters for the Tribal Law and Justice Program and undertake an education promotion ‘‘Arrive Alive Tour.’’ 

As a competitive grant program, however, the $8.5 million available in FY 2014 

for Tribal Safety Grants is simply inadequate and covers only a tiny fraction of the 

transportation safety needs of the Nation’s 566 federally-recognized Indian tribes. 

Fort Peck alone could utilize the entire safety grant program and still need more 

funding. 

While we are making road safety a high priority, we simply lack the resources 

to address the problem comprehensively. The situations I mentioned earlier demonstrate that more needs to be done. 

III. Tribes Require Parity With States in the Next Long-Term highway Reauthorization Bill and We Call on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee 

to Advocate for Tribes 

Tribes require parity with State Departments of Transportation if we are to 

addressserious safety issues on our reservations. The reduction in federal appropriations to the Tribal Transportation Program and the loss of discretionary grant programs, such as the Public Lands Highway Discretionary Grant Program under 

MAP–21, hinder the ability of Indian tribes to address ongoing transportation safety 

concerns. 

The primary sources of funding to undertake safety improvements as well as 

maintain and repair our reservation routes to improve safety are the funds we reVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:15 Sep 22, 2015 Jkt 095499 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\95499.TXT JACK
18 

ceive from the Tribal Transportation Program, under the Federal Lands Highways 

Program, and the BIA Road Maintenance Program funds. These programs have not 

received required funding increases nor kept pace with inflation and thereby have 

undermined our ability to properly maintain our existing transportation inventory. 

To rectify the economic and physical barriers that hinder so many aspects of reservation life, we urge the Indian Affairs Committee to introduce an Indian highway 

bill to provide financial predictability and certainty for Indian transportation and 

safety programs need. We ask the Committee to advocate for tribal parity with the 

States in the area of transportation, transit, road maintenance and highway safety. 

Tribal transportation infrastructure needs must be addressed in the next long-term, 

bipartisan and bicameral highway reauthorization bill. 

To empower tribes and promote tribal self-determination in the area of transportation infrastructure, transit and highway safety, Congress should adopt the recommendations of the Tribal Transportation Unity Caucus (TTUC), a broad coalition 

of Indian tribes from across the country. The TTUC proposed a legislative package 

of amendments to MAP–21 that provide equitable funding increases and program 

improvements to address the safety and engineering deficiencies that are present 

throughout Indian country. 

We strongly endorse the Tribal Transportation Unity Act (TTUA) amendments as 

have scores of other tribes as well as tribal organizations such as the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the Intertribal Transportation Association (ITA) 

and the Affiliated Tribes of the Northwest Region (ATNI). We ask that the Tribal 

Transportation Provisions Proposed for Inclusion in the Highway Reauthorization 

legislation by the TTUC be made part of this hearings record. 

Transportation safety is one of many elements which Congress should address in 

a comprehensive, long-term highway reauthorization of MAP–21. This Committee 

has long understood that infrastructure, including roads, water and wastewater systems, utilities, telecommunications, law enforcement, schools and health facilities 

are the building blocks for community stability and economic development. 

We ask this Committee to provide Indian tribes with greater access to existing 

highway safety programs to reduce needless deaths among the Nation’s First Americans. As noted in the Tribal Transportation Unity Act amendments, Congress can 

do so by: 

1. establishing a 2 percent set-aside for tribes in the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP); 

2. increasing NHTSA’s Tribal Safety Program set-aside to 3.5 percent (from 2 

percent); 

3. create a 3 percent set-aside for tribes in the Transportation Alternatives (TA) 

Program; and 

4. make tribes direct eligible recipients for all USDOT discretionary grants. 

Many motor vehicle crashes and motor vehicle injuries to Native Americans on 

reservations simply go unreported. Tribes need more funding to standardize data 

gathering and reporting of motor vehicle crashes which can be shared with State 

and Federal agencies. Only through better crash data can tribes receive additional 

federal and State highway safety funds. 

With recurring and increased Tribal Transportation Program and safety funding, we can: 

• increase child safety seat use among Native American youth, 

• increase seat belt use among adults and teen drivers, 

• address alcohol-impaired driving through greater traffic enforcement, 

sobrietycheckpoints, 

• implement multi-faceted community-based approaches to alcohol misuse and 

DUIprevention, and 

• undertake engineered road improvements that make our transportation 

systemssafer. 

IV. Conclusion 

We appreciate the Committee’s concern regarding road safety in Indian country 

and welook forward to working with you to see that proper investments are made 

in transportation infrastructure to make our communities safer. It will take time 

and resources to remedy the poor state of roads in Indian country and improve highway safety for Native Americans, but Indian tribes are in the best position to partner with local, State and Federal agencies to reverse the appalling situation we now 

endure and make reservation transportation systems safer so that our members can 

lead healthier lives and our communities can prosper. Greater access to existing 

19 

funding sources and increased appropriations overall will help tribes build better relationships with State DOTs, metropolitan and rural planning organizations, local 

governments and federal agencies. 

Transportation infrastructure costs money to build and, equally important, to 

maintain. It is a price Congress must be willing to pay. We are gratified to see legislation from this Committee that recognizes the importance of investing in tribal infrastructure, whether it concerns irrigation systems, housing, or rural water 

projects. We ask that you do the same for transportation infrastructure. 

I thank the Committee for the opportunity to present this testimony. 

The CHAIRMAN. [Presiding.] Thank you very much, Mr. Kirn. I 

appreciate your being here. 

And now Mr. Delbert McOmie, with whom I worked closely when 

I was on the Wyoming State Senate on the transportation committee. He is the Chief Engineer of the Wyoming Department of 

Transportation. At your convenience, please share your thoughts. 

STATEMENT OF DELBERT MCOMIE, CHIEF ENGINEER, 

WYOMING DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Mr. MCOMIE. Thank you, Chairman Barrasso, Vice Chairman 

Tester and members of the Committee. I am Del McOmie, with the 

Wyoming Department of Transportation. I thank you for the opportunity to offer WYDOT’s perspective on the vital transportation 

matter of transportation safety on the Wind River Reservation. 

At the outset, let me emphasize that States and political subdivisions such as counties can and do have jurisdiction over some roads 

within the reservation boundaries. So improving the transportation 

system on and near the tribal reservation depends on effective 

planning and participation amongst the State, tribe and political 

subdivisions, as well as citizens and stakeholders. 

Also, to improve the State and tribal transportation safety, one 

should not focus solely on projects funded from the safety category. 

Safety is part of virtually everything that we do at WYDOT. For 

example, a road resurfacing and widening project provides safety 

benefits by eliminating potholes and improving shoulders. It could 

also include installing guardrail and rumble strips. But the project 

might be funded from the Surface Transportation Program under 

Title 23. A project that does not include any elements other than 

adding a safety feature would likely be funded out of the Highway 

Safety Improvement Program and would be referred to as a safety 

project. 

My written statement describes a few projects and actions 

WYDOT has undertaken, working closely with the tribal stakeholders, to improve transportation and transportation safety. For 

example, I will highlight just a few. First, we are pleased to advise 

that under MAP–21, the proportion of WYDOT funding for construction that is invested on routes serving the Wind River Reservation exceeds the ratio of enrolled tribal members to Wyoming’s 

overall population. 

Second, Mr. Chairman, as you know, the most notable tribal 

transportation achievement in Wyoming in recent years has been 

the completion of the 17 Mile Road project on the Wind River Reservation. That $45 million project was undertaken with tribal 

funds, State funds, Federal appropriations to WYDOT, Fremont 

County funds and a TIGER discretionary grant from the USDOT 

to the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes. It has been 

20 

a 20-year effort. That road has been transformed from a narrow, 

sharp-cornered road with irrigation structures near the roadway 

into a modern, two-lane highway with wide shoulders. 

Safety was critically important in deciding what to do with the 

project. In addition to adding eight-foot shoulders and eliminating 

hairpin corners, roadway lighting was added at major intersections 

and irrigation systems were moved from open ditches to buried 

pipes. Rumble strips are currently being added to further improve 

safety. 

Third, WYDOT has used funds under NHTSA programs for 

transportation safety education in the tribal community. Safety 

summits, the advertising, using posters, billboards and radio spots 

have stressed wearing seatbelts, using child restraints and not 

driving while impaired. Over the last decade, we have seen reduced 

fatal crashes, fatalities and injuries. For example, in 2005 there 

were 8 driver fatalities in Fremont County involving a positive alcohol or drug test. In 2014, there were none. 

The combination of efforts of road and behavioral investments 

are paying off. On the eastern section of the 17 Mile Road, in the 

three-year period preceding reconstruction and behavioral messaging, there were 65 total crashes with 63 injuries and 4 fatalities. 

In the three years following the reconstruction and the commencement of the behavioral program, total crashes fell to 18 with 10 injuries and 1 fatality. This is a drop of 70 percent or more for crashes, injuries and for fatalities from the pre-construction, to the premessaging period. 

Fourth, transit investment has also served to improve safety as 

well as address jobs, medical treatment and other vital functions. 

These improvements have taken pedestrians off the roadway and 

helped to reduce vehicle pedestrian accidents. 

Before closing, let me offer a few thoughts on a framework that 

can help State DOTs and tribal nations continue to achieve positive 

results. Enacting a multi-year surface transportation bill will help. 

Planning for projects on or near the reservation takes time and can 

best be undertaken in the context of a multi-year legislation. 

Also, Congress and Federal agencies should provide flexibility to 

the States and to the tribes, and also look for opportunities to 

streamline and simplify programs and project delivery. If we can 

reduce the expense of the program administration, more funds can 

be applied to the actual project and programs. 

In conclusion, States are available to work with the tribal governments to deliver transportation improvements, including safety. 

That concludes my statement, Mr. Chairman, and I look forward 

to any questions the Committee may have. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. McOmie follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DELBERT MCOMIE, CHIEF ENGINEER, WYOMING

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Chairman Barrasso, Ranking Member Tester, and Members of the Committee: 

I am Del McOmie, Chief Engineer of the Wyoming Department of Transportation 

(WYDOT). Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the Committee and offer 

WYDOT’s perspective on the vital matter of tribal transportation safety. 

In my statement today, I will share with the Committee information about how 

the efforts of our state, under the federal surface transportation programs, can be 

coordinated effectively with the transportation plans and programs of the tribes to 

21 

bring about improved transportation and transportation safety for tribal members, 

both on and near reservations. 

At the outset, let me emphasize that states and political subdivisions, such as 

counties, can and do have jurisdiction over and responsibility for some roads within 

the boundaries of a reservation. So, improving the transportation system in and 

near a tribal reservation depends on effective communication, planning, and participation among the state, the tribe, and political subdivisions, as well as citizens and 

stakeholders. 

This common sense imperative for communication among the interested parties 

is reinforced by various provisions of the federal surface transportation program. 

The basic federal transportation planning statutes for states, 23 U.S.C. 135 and 49 

U.S.C. 5304, include a number of provisions requiring a state to consult with tribes 

in undertaking transportation planning, especially with respect to plans for areas 

of the state under jurisdiction of a tribal government. Further, pursuant to 23 

U.S.C. 148, the state’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan must be developed in consultation with tribal stakeholders. 

Before turning to some examples of how we at WYDOT have been working with 

the Northern Arapahoe and Eastern Shoshone tribes to improve transportation and 

transportation safety on the Wind River Reservation, I think it is important to point 

out that safety is an integral part of virtually everything we do at WYDOT. Every 

road project makes a contribution to safety, even if for programmatic purposes, it 

is not classified as a ‘‘safety project.’’ For example, a road resurfacing and widening 

project provides safety benefits by eliminating potholes, and it could also include installation of guard rails and rumble strips, but the project might be funded from 

the ‘‘surface transportation program’’ category in Title 23. A project that does not 

include any elements other than adding guard rails likely would be funded out of 

the ‘‘highway safety improvement program’’ category and would be generally referred to as a ‘‘safety project.’’ In short, when thinking about ways to improve transportation safety, one should not focus solely on projects funded from a ‘‘safety’’ category. 

Recent WYDOT Investments Have Complemented Tribal Efforts and 

Improved Transportation Safety in Wyoming’s Tribal Areas 

Now, let me briefly describe a few of the efforts WYDOT has made, working closely with tribal stakeholders, to improve transportation and transportation safety. The 

Department is working diligently to improve transportation on the Wind River Reservation. Under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, MAP–21, 

the proportion of WYDOT funding for construction that is invested on routes serving 

the Reservation exceeds the ratio of enrolled tribal members to Wyoming’s overall 

population. 

17 Mile Road. As you know, Mr. Chairman, the most notable tribal transportation 

achievement in Wyoming in recent years has been the completion of the 17 Mile 

Road project. That $45 million project was undertaken with tribal funds, state 

funds, federal apportionments to WYDOT, Fremont County funds, and a TIGER discretionary grant from USDOT to the Northern Arapahoe and Eastern Shoshone 

tribes. It was a 20-year effort to design and complete this project. But that road, 

which is on and serves the Wind River Reservation, has been transformed from a 

narrow, sharp-angle road with irrigation structures near the roadway into a modern 

two-lane highway with ample shoulders. The reconstruction of 17 Mile Road has 

been a long-term cooperative effort with financial and personnel resources from the 

tribes, Fremont County, WYDOT, and the Central Federal Lands Division of the 

Federal Highway Administration. The project is viewed across the country as a 

model for government and community partnerships. 

Safety was a critically important factor in the detailed planning for and delivery 

of the 17 Mile Road project. In addition to adding 8-foot shoulders and eliminating 

hairpin corners, roadway lighting was added at major intersections and irrigation 

systems were moved from open ditches to buried pipes. Rumble strips are currently 

being added to improve safety further. 

WYDOT has continued to partner with the Wind River tribes on maintenance as 

well. The Department has provided transportation training funds for classes for the 

tribes to help them better maintain their roads. District personnel have also trained 

tribal members to perform chip sealing, which the tribes will now also undertake. 

The tribes purchased a Department striper, which WYDOT district personnel have 

taught tribal workers to use to maintain striping. The tribes have also bought used 

dump trucks and snowplowing equipment from the Department at nominal cost. 

22 

Additional Highway Investments 

Other WYDOT projects are planned or underway to improve roads serving the 

Reservation. In 2014, a project on Wyoming Highway 132 north of Ethete overlaid 

some 8 miles of the highway. Work on 3.3 miles of Wyoming Highway 789 south 

of Riverton is underway to widen the road. Another project on Wyoming Highway 

132 south of Ethete is currently being designed. This project will straighten hairpin 

turns and widen shoulders. As part of the work, a separated bicycle and pedestrian 

path will also be built. 

Additional initiatives to improve transportation on the Reservation and make it 

safer are also underway. A highway safety study of 13 state routes on the Wind 

River Reservation, for instance, is currently being done. This study, involving both 

WYDOT and University of Wyoming Civil Engineering Department personnel, will 

take an integrated approach involving in-depth review of crash data, speed limit 

studies, and capacity analysis. Benefit-cost analysis will then be applied to the findings, and recommendations for programming improvements will be made. These will 

then be programmed as funding allows. A High Risk Rural Roads project to install 

signs on the Reservation is also set for this year. 

Transit. Transit investments have also served to improve safety as well as access 

to jobs, medical treatment, and other vital functions. WYDOT has invested rural 

transit operating and other funds to improve transit within the Reservation and to 

connect the Reservation and nearby cities and towns. Medical trips for kidney dialysis are the current focus, with some route service occurring. These activities will expand depending upon funding and user needs. 

Highway Safety Behavioral Program Investments. WYDOT has used federal funds 

under NHTSA programs for education in Fremont County, including the tribal community, as well as in other rural counties. Safety summits and advertising using 

posters, billboards, and radio spots have been used to stress such important safety 

practices as wearing seat belts, using child restraints, and not driving while impaired. Tribal laws have also been changed. The Reservation has a new DUI law, 

a new mandatory seat belt law, and enforcement efforts have been enhanced. Over 

the last decade or so, we have seen reductions in fatal crashes, fatalities, and incapacitating injuries. In fact, there has been a dramatic reduction in all injuries. In 

2005 there were 8 driver fatalities in Fremont County involving a positive alcohol 

or drug test. In 2014 there were zero fatalities, and there were only 4 total in the 

4 years from 2011 to 2014. Fatalities overall have fallen from 24 in 2006 to 4 in 

2013. Fatal crashes in which seatbelts were not used fell from 17 in 2008 to 3 in 

2013. 

We have consulted with tribal officials in structuring the delivery of programs 

supported with NHTSA funds from the Highway Trust Fund. While we are always 

working to improve safety further, we are encouraged to see real progress. 

The combined efforts of road improvements and behavioral investments are paying off. On the eastern section of 17 Mile Road, in the three-year period preceding 

reconstruction and behavioral messaging, there were 65 total crashes with 63 injuries and 4 fatalities. After reconstruction and commencement of the behavioral program, for the three years from 2009 to 2012, total crashes fell to 18 with 10 injuries 

and 1 fatality. These figures represent a drop of 70 percent or more for crashes, injuries, and fatalities from the pre-construction, pre-message period. 

Further Improvement 

Looking ahead, we at WYDOT are eager to achieve further improvement in transportation and transportation safety, including by working with our tribal colleagues. 

I am not here as an expert on the tribal transportation program itself, but, before 

closing, I will offer a few thoughts on a framework that can continue helping state 

DOTs and tribal nations achieve positive results. 

Enacting a multi-year surface transportation bill will help in this area as well as 

in other aspects of surface transportation. Planning for projects on and near a reservation takes time. We think WYDOT and our tribal and local government colleagues in Wyoming do it well and efficiently, but planning for investments takes 

years to reach fruition and can best be undertaken in the context of multi-year legislation. 

Also, I would encourage Congress and the federal agencies to provide increased 

flexibility for states and tribes and to also look for opportunities to streamline and 

simplify programs and project delivery. If we can keep down the expenses of program administration, a higher portion of available funds, whether tribal program 

funds or funds apportioned to states, can be applied to actual projects and programs. 

In summary, my main point today is that the current federal surface transportation programs do enable a state to work with tribal governments to deliver transportation improvements, including safety improvements. As the Congress works to 

23 

improve federal surface transportation programs, including the program of apportionments to states and the program for tribes, it should build on, and not detract 

from, the good that is in the current framework. 

That concludes my statement. Thanks again for the opportunity to appear before 

the Committee. I’ll be happy to respond to questions the Committee may have. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thanks, Mr. McOmie. 

Next is John Smith, who is the Director, Transportation Department, Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes of the Wind 

River Indian Reservation, Fort Washakie, Wyoming. 

Again, congratulations on being recognized by President Obama 

at the White House last year and being named a Champion of 

Change. With that, I invite you to please give your testimony. 

STATEMENT OF JOHN SMITH, DIRECTOR OF 

TRANSPORTATION, NORTHERN ARAPAHO AND EASTERN 

SHOSHONE TRIBES, WIND RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Vice Chairman Tester 

and the rest of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, for listening to our presentation along with the other presenters who presented before me. We all convene on several different issues, but 

we realize that safety is one of the major projects and one of the 

focuses that we endear together. 

I will now have my colleagues put up a chart that shows some 

of the improvement from 2008 to 2009, and ask them to, we have 

an error that might be a little confusing, and that should be 

100,000 population. The actual figure for the total is around 20,000 

instead of 19,000. The chart is misleading. I apologize for that. 

But the other chart I also have is the ones that talk about the 

motor crash and vehicle deaths in Indian Country as stated by 

Council Member Kirn, that two Indian people die in one day, every 

day in America. Why is this? Simply put, bad roads and more often 

than not, unpaved roads. We do have narrow roads, we have sharp 

curves, no median, no shoulders and we are asking for trouble in 

the design phase. Only 7 percent of the roads owned by tribes are 

paved, and the remaining 93 percent are gravel, earth or primitive. 

Only 26 percent of the BIA roads are paved. 

My testimony describes a terrible situation on Cheyenne River 

Sioux Indian Reservation, where a school bus has to go through 

two hills, narrow roads and the bus driver has the children exit the 

road, he drives up to the top of the road and they get on one hill, 

and they go a little ways, they have to climb another hill. And 

when the weather is in a critical condition, they dump the supplies 

for the school off in a near town called Faith. And the school has 

to go bring their own supplies up to the school children to eat. 

I do that in favor of my brothers from Cheyenne River, and I met 

with them in Pine Ridge recently. We have had a little discussion 

about what we wanted to do. Also, Mr. Chairman, as mentioned by 

Del McOmie,, that the transit operation has given us the opportunity to buy medical rights to our people on dialysis on Wind 

River, the Shoshone Tribe has a dialysis center. We transport 74 

individuals daily or weekly, every other day, for medical treatment, 

which maintains their lives. 

There are a number of other things in our maintenance charts 

we can show, if they could put that up, please, that indicates how 

24 

we look at our maintenance funding, BIA and tribal roads. In authorizing MAP–21, previously in 1982 we had $45 million for roads. 

In SAFETEA–LU, prior to that, after they cut, the OMB and BIA 

looked at combining the road maintenance and taking 25 percent 

off of our construction costs, which prevents us from providing 

more construction dollars, backlogging the maintenance costs that 

are direly needed for improvement. So that limits our ability to improve safety. 

In our construction projects we fix potholes, we have what is 

called deferred maintenance, where we chip-seal roads, we try to 

prolong our roads and do chip-seal projects, protecting our pavement. But as we begin talking about what is a remedy that would 

happen, I think with the issue at hand, you can see we all need 

funding. We all need more funding. We have a proposal called by 

the TTUC Act that the tribes fully endorse putting that into a bill 

to come out of the Committee here to be presented to the EPW 

committee as they consider legislation. We definitely want to improve that. 

But finally, Mr. Chairman, I ask you to convene a meeting with 

the leadership of Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, the Department of Interior and OMB to address this crisis and give it the 

gravity it deserves to improve the course of the maintenance program. It is an extremely small amount of money, relative to the 

tens of billions of dollars in increases of defense or other programs 

that the Senate and the House are dealing with today. So I don’t 

want you to declare war on Indian Country, but I would like to receive some of those funds attributed to our needs. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Smith follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF JOHN SMITH, DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION, NORTHERN

ARAPAHO AND EASTERN SHOSHONE TRIBES, WIND RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION

Chairman Barrasso, Vice Chairman Tester and Honorable Members of the Senate 

Committee on Indian Affairs. My name is John Smith and I have the honor of being 

the Transportation Director for the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Tribes 

of the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. I wear a few different hats, as 

I am also the Executive Director of Intertribal Transportation Association and have 

served on many task forces and panels dealing with transportation in Indian country. Although I am not authorized to speak on behalf of them, based on my recent 

meetings with tribes in Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, I believe my 

thoughts are consistent with what I have heard from many others. I do want to express my appreciation to this committee and particularly to the Chairman and Vice 

Chairman for convening this hearing and inviting my testimony. 

As you have heard over the years, Indian people are injured and killed in automobile accidents at rates far higher than any other group in the United States. 

There is much empirical data to this effect from various studies including a number 

by the Centers for Disease Control. We do have a problem with traffic safety on Indian reservations and you are to be commended for holding a hearing that focuses 

on this problem. 

I have some charts that Mr. Waters and Mr. Lambert are now displaying that 

paint a disturbing picture. The data in this first chart is a little dated as it comes 

from 2009 but it shows Pedestrian Deaths on Public Roads by race. While there was 

some improvement from 2008 to 2009, you can see that even in the better year of 

2009 that Indian pedestrians die at a rate that is nearly 80 percent higher than 

do non-Indians. Mr. Chairman, I have spent my life on Indian reservations and I 

can tell you why this rate is so much higher for our people. I can’t remember the 

last reservation I was on that had sidewalks, but even more alarming are the numbers of roads in Indian country without adequate shoulders or perhaps any shoulders at all. The roads in Indian country are also often lacking in guardrails, crossVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:15 Sep 22, 2015 Jkt 095499 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\95499.TXT JACK
25 

walks and overpasses. Why is that? Let me answer that question in a moment but 

first I would ask my friends to put up the next chart. 

Whereas the first chart focused on pedestrians, this chart is a comparison of all 

manner of Motor Vehicle Deaths and what it shows is even worse. When it comes 

to motor vehicle deaths, Indian people die at more than double the rate than nonIndians do. In the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions, the data, is much 

worse, particularly among our Indian youth under the age of 19. There deaths are 

three and a half to four times the national average for motor vehicle deaths, and 

four and a half to five times the national rate for pedestrian fatalities. The Wind 

River Reservation has the dubious distinction of having the highest rate of pedestrian deaths in the U.S. Nationally, two Indian people die every day in motor vehicle accidents and American Indian infants die at a rate that is eight time the national average for non-Indians. 

Pedestrian deaths on the roadways of Indian country and death and injury of occupants of cars and trucks on those same roads have one thing in common: bad 

roads and, more often than not, unpaved roads. When you have narrow roads, with 

sharp curves, no medians and no shoulders, you are asking for trouble. Only 7 percent of the roads owned by Indian tribes are paved, the remaining 93 percent are 

gravel, earth or primitive roads and only 26 percent of the roads owned by the Bureau of Indian Affairs are paved, the remaining 74 percent are gravel, earth or 

primitive. 

Mr. Chairman on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota, 

there is a road known simply as BIA Route 11. It leads to the Takini School, which 

houses Kindergarten through 12th grade students. Route 11 is hilly and has so 

many problems that during inclement weather, the bus driver stops at the bottom 

of steeper stretches of Route 11 and unloads the children. He then guns the bus 

to the top of the hill. The children walk up the hill and get back on the bus again 

and he repeats this same routine at the next hill. He doesn’t do this because the 

bus lacks the power, he does it because he is fearful the bus will slide off the side 

of the road, a road with almost no shoulder and drop offs on either side. His theory 

is that if the bus slides off the road and flips over, it is better that he be the only 

passenger. In inclement weather, vendors often refuse to deliver their products—including food for lunches—to this school because they are fearful of driving on the 

road. On those days, they will leave their product in the town of Howes, which is 

32 miles away, or the town of Faith, which is 40 miles away. School employees will 

then have to undertake a 64 or 80 mile round trip to retrieve vendors’ products. So 

not only do the bad roads lead to death and injury among our Indian people, but 

they disrupt education, on bad days they make getting to work impossible, they 

greatly delay or prohibit emergency response vehicles from responding in a timely 

basis; they serve as a major disincentive to economic development and make it impossible to entice businesses to locate on such lands We already are lacking in nearby hospitals or clinics throughout much of Indian country but when ambulances endeavoring to retrieve and deliver a person injured in an auto accident have to traverse roads like Route 11—which in the best of circumstances greatly slows them 

down and in the worst circumstances makes access nearly impossible—you can 

imagine what effect that has on the ability to save a badly injured resident. Engineering estimates are that it will cost just under $10 million to rebuild Route 11 

to safe conditions. That is many time what the Tribe’s total road budget is for the 

entire reservation. They have asked my advice and alii can recommend is to submit 

to DOT for a TIGER grant and pray that it gets funded. The odds are great that 

it won’t be. 

Indian tribal governments could also play a key role in reducing the death rates 

among passengers in motor vehicles by establishing codes and enforcing seat belt 

and child safety restraint use laws and regulations as the larger non-Indian community has. This is now happening more and more in recent years but tribes absolutely 

have some catching up to do in this regard. We also need education campaigns 

about the dangers of riding in the backs of pickup trucks, driving while under the 

influence of alcohol and distracted driving. I am glad to see that the Federal Highway Administration has been convening Tribal Safety Summits which are teaching 

tribal transportation planners such as me the latest on successful education campaigns that we can implement on our homelands. 

Another problem that tribes face is that so many of our reservations were allotted 

during the ill-conceived Allotment Era and the land is checker-boarded with various 

governments having varying laws and regulations applicable on the same reservation. In those instances it is important for tribes, state and counties to coordinate 

on seat belt laws for instance. I for one am glad the Tribes on the Wind River Reservation are now coordinating much more with the state than we did just a few 

years ago and I am delighted to see my friend and colleague Del McOmie, the Chief 

26 

Engineer of the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT), here today and 

on this panel. 

Not only can tribes coordinate better on safety enforcement but on road construction as well. WYDOT and my department jointly undertook a major construction 

product when we rebuilt what is known as 17 Mile Road on the Wind River Reservation. This had been one of the most dangerous roads in the country with many 

accidents and fatalities. It was a road that carried about 3,000 people a day including over 1,000 students. Not only did the construction of the road result in the creation of 130 jobs for tribal workers but we widened much of the road from 22 feet 

to 40 feet, we put up 28 miles of fence and installed cattle guards and replaced irrigation pipe running alongside the road. Since we opened it up in October 2013, we 

have only had an 84 percent reduction in injuries and only one major accident and 

unlike the pre-construction days, the car involved didn’t roll over in the ditch next 

to the road as the ditch no longer exists. We have also instituted culturally geared 

traffic safety messaging that is in English as well as the Arapaho and Shoshone languages and we coordinated with the University of Wyoming to prepare a reservation-wide Traffic Safety Plan and are coordinating these initiatives with the state 

of Wyoming. Attached is a write up about our program including some of the safety 

messaging ads and billboards we are using. 

Mr. Chairman, I must say that while driver education and safety orientation campaigns will definitely help and must receive more funding, the main problem we 

have is that both the Congress and the Administration (regardless of party affiliation) are so profoundly underfunding the road system in Indian country that we 

will never have safe roads unless they are properly built and maintained. If your 

roads are icy and full of dangerous curves and gigantic potholes because you don’t 

have the money to maintain them and if you don’t have proper signage and wide 

shoulders, you can educate people until the cows come home. You won’t have safe 

roads. 

Let’s first examine the Bureau of Indian Affairs Road Maintenance Program. In 1992 the BIA Roads program was funded at $41 million a year. That level of funding was, by all accounts profoundly less than was necessary for the maintenance 

that was needed on our roads. So what is the BIA’s road maintenance budget this 

year, 23 years later? Mr. Chairman it is $26 million! That is $15 million LESS that 

we had two decades ago and of course that does not take inflation into account. If 

the appropriations in the BIA’s road maintenance budget in the early 1990s had 

simply been allowed to grow at a normal rate and reflect need the budget for that 

program would be over $110 million today. Instead it is $26 million. You need not 

look any further than that one statistic alone to get a good idea why we have the 

problems we do on our roads. If you ask the BIA how they could possibly justify 

reducing the BIA Road Maintenance budget they will undoubtedly tell you that they 

did so when the TEA–21 highway bill became law which included a decent increase 

in funding for reservation roads. The problem with that argument is that the Congress specifically told the BIA, time and time again, that the increase in the DOT 

budget was for road construction and renovation and that the BIA was still the primary entity responsible for maintaining those roads. The Congress told the BIA not 

to reduce the maintenance budget in lieu of the increased funds being made available for construction and renovation. The BIA, undoubtedly pushed to do so by 

OBM, flatly ignored that directive and we have seen the results, a huge reduction 

in maintenance funds and the corresponding deterioration of roads on reservations, 

and the unnecessary deaths and injuries of untold numbers Indian people. 

Mr. Chairman, there are 566 Indian tribes and 56 million acres of trust land. 

There are 31,400 miles of BIA roads and 26,000 miles of Tribal roads on those lands 

for a combined total of 57,400 miles of roads. These roads only get funds from the 

federal government for maintenance; they get no help from counties or states. $26 

million divided by 57,400 miles equates to $452 per mile for maintenance. The BIA 

is more directly responsible for their roads than they are for tribal roads so the figure may be closer to $600 per mile but whether it is $400 or $600, it should be compared to what state and counties spend per miles for road maintenance. This figure 

varies widely depending on what data is used and what study you rely on. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) says that over $46 billion was spent on road 

maintenance by all units of government in 2010, and there are approximately 4 million miles of road in the U.S. As this chart shows, that breaks down to about 

$11,000 per mile. A study prepared by the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs and 

Agricultural Economics Department at the University of Wisconsin indicated that 

counties are spending over $16,000 and metropolitan counties are spending almost 

$30,000 per mile. For the sake of argument, let’s accept the lower $11,000 figure. 

How can the BIA expect tribes to protect the lives of their citizens when it provides 

less than 5 percent of what the counties are spending on road maintenance? Mr. 

27 

Chairman this is gross negligence and Indian people are paying for it with their 

lives. The chart being displayed now shows this disparity. You know it occurred to 

me that when tribes sued the BIA and IHS for non-payment of contract support 

costs they prevailed and now we are seeing realistic requests from the Administration for that program. When tribal trust lands were grossly mismanaged a number 

of tribes sued under what is known as the Salazar cases and received a multi-billion 

settlement. It is a sad commentary that apparently the only way the BIA and OMB 

will step up to the plate and request what is needed for road maintenance, is for 

the estates of Indian people killed or maimed on bad roads to sue them and get a 

court order or an out of court settlement requiring the agency to respond to this 

very serious problem. By the BIA’s own admission, 83 percent of BIA system roads 

are deemed to be in an ‘‘unacceptable condition’’ yet their request to Congress for 

the past 19 years has stayed flat varying between $24 to $26 million. I find that 

incredible. 

Because the BIA has been so negligent in maintaining the roads in Indian country 

the Congress and the FHWA reluctantly agreed that up to 25 percent of the Highway Trust Fund money that is supposed to be used for construction and renovation 

of Indian reservation roads, can be used for maintenance. This of course means 

there is that much less money available for new construction, improvement or reconstruction of roads. Among other things this means that dangerous and windy gravel 

roads will be less likely to be replaced with better designed, safer paved roads. In 

addition to the previously referenced 57,4OO miles of BIA and Tribal roads there 

are also 101,000 miles of State and County roads that are part of the National Tribal Transportation Facility Inventory and that must be factored into the allocation 

system. 

When Congress enacted MAP–21, they did make improvements to the allocation 

formula for distributing Highway Trust Fund dollars to Indian country, shifting the 

focus more toward on-reservation BIA and Tribal roads and away from county 

roads, proposed roads and access roads but they left the funding amount flat at 

$450 million. This actually represents a decrease because SAFETEA–LU had funded 

the Indian Reservation Bridge program separately from 2008–2012 in the amount 

of $14 million and MAP–21 simply told tribes to take the bridge money away from 

what is now called the Tribal Transportation Program (TTP) so the $450 million actually represents a $14 million loss. There are over 4,000 bridges in Indian country 

identified in the TTP and 25 percent of them have been rated structurally deficient 

or functionally obsolete. The cost to replace or rehabilitate those bridges is more 

than $600 million so eliminating the separately funded bridge program in MAP–21 

was a bit bewildering. 

There are also a number of so called ‘‘take downs’’ that take money away from the $450 million before it ever gets distributed to Tribes. In 2014 those takedowns 

were as follows: minus $22.9 million (5.1 percent) for Obligation Limitation; minus 

$9 million (2 percent) for Safety Program; minus $9 million (2 percent) for Planning; 

minus $9 million (2 percent) for Bridges and minus $27 million (6 percent) for BIA 

and DOT Administration. These take-downs total $76.9 million taken from the TPP 

before it is distributed through the formula. All of them should be funded separately 

and not taken out of the formula pot and we ask this committee to support the proposal to exempt the TPP from the Obligation Limitation. That $23 million has a profound impact on the overall TPP but is such a small amount of the overall $40.2 

billion Federal Aid Program that it wouldn’t even be missed. This would restore 

things to how they were before TEA–21 was enacted as that was the first time the 

Obligation Limitation was applied to the Indian Reservation Road Program (now 

TTP). MAP–21 also requires bridge inspections but it provides no funding we can 

use to undertake these expensive inspections. It is an unfunded mandate that needs 

to be addressed in a MAP–21 reauthorization. 

There are a number of concrete and achievable things the Congress could do generally as outlined in the proposed Tribal Transportation Unity Coalition’s recommendations for reauthorizing MAP–21, most importantly to increase the TTP to 

a level that will allow Indian country to address the multi-billion backlog of necessary road construction projects. The Tribal Transportation Unity Caucus (TTUC) 

recommends funding at the TPP at $800 million in the first year of reauthorization. 

If that is not possible, a funding level of $700 million would represent an amount 

that would allow us to address the backlog. The Indian Country Bridge program 

needs to be funded at a level of at least $75 million independent of the TPP. We 

ask the members of this committee to introduce the draft legislation that has been 

provided by the TIUC as a means of laying down markers that we hope would influence the Senate EPW Committee as it works to reauthorize MAP–21. Among its 

other provisions, the draft legislation proposes to establish a 2 percent set-aside for 

tribes in the Highway Safety Improvement Program and increases NHTSA’s Tribal 

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Safety Program from 2 percent to 3.5 percent. With those funds, Indian tribes could 

undertake many initiatives that would increase traffic and pedestrian safety on Indian reservations. 

Finally, Chairman Barrasso and Vice Chairman Tester, I ask you convene a meeting with the leadership of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, the Department of the Interior and OMB to address this crisis with the gravity that it deserves 

and determine a method so that over the course of the next two to three years that 

the BIA Maintenance budget be put on a glide path to $150 million a year in funding. That is an extremely small amount of money relative to the tens of billions of 

dollars in increases for Defense and other programs that I understand are being discussed here in Congress this week but would absolutely save lives in Indian country. 

Thank you again for inviting me and for your consideration of my views. 

Attachments 


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The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Mr. Smith. 

Let me just start with a couple of questions while we wait for 

some of our other colleagues to get back from voting. I think what 

you and Del have accomplished and achieved together on 17 Mile 

Road is really a great accomplishment. It is a model that could be 

followed all throughout Indian Country. 

With the large inventory of roads, certainly in the Wind River 

Reservation, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. That 

means that we have to find the most efficient uses for every dollar. 

In addition, as you said, to more dollars, we need to make sure that 

the dollars that are available are being used well and specifically, 

every dollar in the tribal transportation program. 


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So I am just wondering how you think things like the overhead 

and the administrative costs for this program could be best used 

to actually promote road safety, if it could be made more effective, 

more efficient and more accountable. 

Mr. SMITH. As Mr. McOmie also alluded to, some of the paperwork that is involved in putting these projects together, I have 

heard you use some of my quotations from when we were here testifying earlier, prior to the 17 Mile Road. 

The CHAIRMAN. I quote you all around Wyoming, because it is so 

smart, yes. 

Mr. SMITH. It felt like we were producing a mile of paperwork 

for every dollar we got to increase that road, with all the permits 

and those added things. Also, by the requirements of the Bureau 

of Indian Affairs in regard to right-of-way, which is being addressed right now in a rules and regulations process. We have commented on that to improve those things. 

Then the permits, we hire our own permittees, but they still have 

to go back through the Bureau channel to get those fully authorized. So it is like getting a double authorization on a project. Particularly when you are talking about bridges, when you talk about 

bridges you are talking about an enormous amount of paperwork 

that has to go in. And if it is readily there, you can construct the 

bridge. 

But bridges really need to be improved. Prior to SAFETEA–LU, we were at, within SAFETEA–LU we had $14 million. In today’s 

market, we are at $9 million in MAP–21, which either means more 

money or a setaside program for bridges taken out of the program 

to operate. Those same levels as it was stated by Mr. Black, we 

have like 450 bridges that are obsolete. With the new rules in 

MAP–21, we are required to number and inspect tribal bridges that 

are within the tribal system that were not done prior. So we have 

a lot of work to do in regard to our bridges. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

Mr. McOmie, if I could ask you, your written testimony highlighted the good work that you and Big John have accomplished to 

make roads safer on the Wind River Reservation. In particular, the 

construction of 17 Mile Road has led to a 70 percent reduction in 

crashes and injuries, fatalities on that road. 

You also noted the need to increase flexibility for States and for 

tribes on road safety projects. Could you explain for the Committee 

some of the bureaucratic barriers that the State and tribe had experienced in constructing the 17 Mile Road? Do you think we could 

do things for other States so they could be incentivized to partner 

with tribes like you have done to improve road safety? 

Mr. MCOMIE. Mr. Chairman, when we began the process of working through to improve 17 Mile Road with the tribal transportation 

directors and members of the business council, quite frankly, 

WYDOT wasn’t prepared to, we weren’t familiar with the BIA rules 

and regulations that we would have to deal with. We have done 

that for years. But you kind of just work through the process. 

There had to be a better way to try and do that. 

So working with John’s office and the BIA members on the reservation, we began a learning curve. It has really taken years, but 

I think we are to the point we kind of understand the process. 

34 

What I see with some of the other States, what I have heard 

from some of the testimony today, is that I think perhaps the Federal Highway Administration, working with the BIA, there may be 

the opportunity to provide some best practices or maybe the opportunity to do some sharing of information, so that other States don’t 

go through the many years of process that we went through in Wyoming to try and figure out just how to work the various systems, 

the difference between what we do currently with FHWA and how 

the BIA operates. 

As Mr. Smith indicated, working the right-of-way issues, we do 

that day to day on all of our other jobs in the State of Wyoming. 

But it is different with the rules and regulations and the number 

of people involved in a parcel of land on the reservation. Utilities 

are another respect. 

Then just how do you work with the various functions within the 

BIA, such as when we were installing or getting rid of the irrigation canals and working through that type of an issue. Different 

process than I think most State DOTs are used to. I think that 

sharing of information from State to State would benefit all the 

tribes and all the States in the Country. 

Senator TESTER. [Presiding] Thank you. 

Director Black, there are 900 tribally-owned bridges, about. 

Could you tell me what condition they are in? 

Mr. BLACK. As I stated in my oral testimony, we have about 19 

percent of our bridges, or around 170, 180 total bridges, that right 

now are deficient. We have been able to show and see some improvement over that. If you measure against nationwide against all 

bridges in the Country, were at about 24 percent are deficient. We 

have been able to reduce our deficiency from 25 percent in 2005 

down to the 19 percent today. 

Senator TESTER. Governor Chavarria, what impact would increasing bike paths and sidewalks have on the overall level of 

transportation in your neck of the woods? 

Mr. CHAVARRIA. Basically, on State Road 30, we did work with 

the State to try to incorporate sidewalks and crosswalks, to safely 

allow people to cross from one side of the street to the next. So 

without these important discussions with the State, again, it falls 

on deaf ears. So again, the State or the municipality has a permanent or perpetual right-of-way agreement. And with that perpetual 

right-of-way agreement, it is up to the State to go ahead and provide safety mechanisms for my community members. 

For instance, I had a young man get hit last year at the safety 

walk. Those cars don’t even stop, and we have 14,000 vehicles a 

day on that road. So again, we proposed an overpass. They said 

that we didn’t have enough data to support that. So again that 

goes into our safety plans, and working together. That is very important in order to provide a safety mechanism to our tribal members within Santa Clara Pueblo. 

Senator TESTER. Good, Rick, you mentioned the impact of the 

Bakken and wear and tear on reservation roads. What have you 

done to try and help fix that problem of the wear and tear due to 

the heavy traffic, heavy truck traffic? 

Mr. KIRN. Vice Chairman Tester, we have done quite a bit with 

our roads programs to rebuild the roads. We have a secondary tribVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:15 Sep 22, 2015 Jkt 095499 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\95499.TXT JACK
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al road on our reservation that most of us use in lieu of Highway 

2. But it is still in very, very poor condition because of the weather 

conditions that we have, the freezing and thawing. You obviously 

know that, in our country, with the different weather conditions. 

So maintenance has really been very poor. We can’t really help out 

as much. The counties are in very poor condition to be able to help, 

either. 

We don’t really receive as much of the royalties from the oil and 

gas production that some of the far eastern part of our county, 

close to North Dakota, has used. So we need more funds to be able 

to do road maintenance and to repair our roads. 

Senator TESTER. So you are basically getting hammered by the 

heavy trucks and there is not much you can do about it, because 

you just don’t have the funds? 

Mr. KIRN. Absolutely. 

Senator TESTER. Okay. You mentioned signage, guardrails, rumble strips and other elements of road design that work to increase 

the safety of a given road. Do you know what the costs associated 

with adding these features are as far as the average costs undertaken by transportation? Is this a big ticket item or pretty small 

in the overall scheme of things? 

Mr. KIRN. I couldn’t tell you, Vice Chairman Tester, on what the 

exact costs would be. But it would be significant. With more highway safety funding, roads and reservations are often poorly maintained because of the shortfall of road maintenance and funding. 

Additional safety funding could be used effectively to improve signage, striping, guardrails, flatten sharp curves, repair pavements, 

correct safety deficiencies on roads or bridges throughout the reservation. I think it would be significant. 

Senator TESTER. Thank you all for your testimony. Because of 

the votes, it has been kind of hectic. I will turn it over to Senator 

Franken. 

Senator FRANKEN. Thanks, Senator Tester, and to the Chairman. 

You know what, I am thinking that maybe by rules you go to Senator Daines. We have to go back and forth. 

Senator TESTER. You are exactly right. I did not see Senator 

Daines here. 

STATEMENT OF HON. STEVE DAINES, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA 

Senator DAINES. I had your six. Thanks, Jon. 

I want to thank Chairman Barrasso and Ranking Member Tester, proudly from Montana, for holding this important hearing 

today. Highway safety is a critical issue in Montana. And we have 

some of the very worst highway fatality rates in the Country. 

Mr. Kirn, it was great talking to you yesterday. Thanks for making the journey from northeast Montana. We appreciate it. 

Mr. KIRN. It was our pleasure. 

Senator DAINES. I know you also have some other council members, we have some folks from the Dry Prairie Rural Water Authority and it was a very productive time. Thank you. 

I have made that trip across Highway 2 many times, going from 

the Fort Peck Reservation. One thing that strikes me when I make 

that trip is that there are just too many white crosses along the 

36 

highway. In fact, we have too many white crosses across the highways in our entire State. We have the highest per capita highway 

fatality rate in the Country. In fact, one of those white crosses is 

my uncle Tommy Daines. We lost him back in the mid-1960s. I remember driving south from Columbus down to Absarokee, there is 

a white cross, every time we drove by it when I was a kid, my 

grandpa lost his son, it was always a moment of silence for Tommy 

Daines. You never get over that. 

But even more striking are the numbers in Indian Country. Mr. 

Kirn, you started your written testimony by stating that Indian 

Country roads are not safe roads. You mentioned as well that while 

Native Americans make up 6.5 percent of our population of Montana, they comprise 15.4 percent of highway fatalities going back 

to 2009. 

I would like to get your thoughts around what are the factors 

driving this discrepancy between Indian Country and the rest of 

the State. And has the new electronic crash record system improved the data that is available for us to look for solutions to this 

problem? 

Mr. KIRN. Thank you for the question, Senator Daines. You are 

right, my father was one of those white crosses when he was 20 

years old. So I understand what you are talking about. 

But I think the discrepancy in the fatalities in Montana is probably due to the poor road conditions and also because of the lack 

of first responders that we have for the ambulances that would respond to a crash, and the lack of trauma centers in rural reservations. We have to take our people as far as Billings, Montana or 

Great Falls, Montana. It just takes too much time. If there is any 

possibility of any kind of survival, it would really be lessened because of the distance to the trauma center from our reservations 

and I think most of the reservations in Montana. 

Senator DAINES. You also mentioned that Fort Peck has enacted 

ordinances to make not wearing a seat belt a primary offense, and 

to ban domestic animals on highway rights-of-way. Have these led 

to a noticeable improvement in highway safety? 

Mr. KIRN. Absolutely, Senator. Montana doesn’t even have the 

primary seat belt law. We just thought that because of the highway 

fatalities and the possibility of them, we as a tribal council member, and part of our tribal council, we implemented a primary safety seat belt law. We also introduced a primary law to ban cell 

phone or any kind of use of phones while they are driving. It has 

been doing quite good. We have had good results. I couldn’t give 

you the figures, because it has only been about a year since we 

have done that. 

Also, the Fort Peck Tribe does not have an open range law for 

animals. We try to ban that from happening. Traditionally, Native 

Americans have livestock and their horses, in winter time, they 

usually turn them out. Because the farmers don’t really have too 

much damage in the winter time, they tolerate them. But we try 

to educate the people on the hazards of livestock roaming on the 

open roads and also the people who are driving to watch out for 

them. So education is really important. With the funding that we 

could get from this program, we could educate people on those hazards. 

37 

Senator DAINES. Great. Thanks, Mr. Kirn. 

I would like to yield my additional time that I have for the graciousness of the Senator from Minnesota, Senator Franken. 

Senator FRANKEN. [Presiding.] Thank you, Senator. I am now, I 

guess, the chairman. So I would like to thank the Chair for this 

very important meeting on this important topic. I am stunned by 

the testimony of exactly what the Senator from Montana just 

raised, which is the outsize number of fatalities that we see in Indian Country, by percentage of population. I commend you for the 

work that you have done. 

I personally think that we need to invest in our infrastructure 

all over the Country. I believe that Indian Country, given my experience here, doesn’t always get first priority. Unless we really do 

something about our entire national infrastructure, you are not 

going to be getting the funds that you need. So this is an absolutely 

essential thing that we need to do. We can’t keep doing these shortterm patches on MAP–21, et cetera. 

I was up at Leech Lake Reservation, went to the Bug-O–Nay-GeShig School, which is a school that they have been trying to get replaced. The physical plant is a disgrace. Not only that, but some 

of the kids have a 100-mile round trip to the school every day. On 

top of everything else, it snows a lot in Minnesota, as you might 

know. I know it does in Montana. The roads, when it snows, the 

amount of plowing that is done compared to everywhere else, all 

of that then takes time out of the kids’ school day as if they needed 

that. 

So there is a deficit in infrastructure in Indian Country. Congress has to work to fix that. 

Mr. Smith, can you talk to me more about how you end up making transportation funding decisions when you simply don’t have 

enough resources in the first place? How do you make those decisions? 

Mr. SMITH. On Wind River, we have hearings ourselves on what 

is called a transportation improvement program. Then the councils 

set the priorities. Then for the priorities, you are able to meet with 

your financial funds at hand are the priorities you try to complete. 

But much like my associate Delbert, we have roads in Wyoming 

that suffer the same dilemma in the State process. When they can’t 

get a road funded, they have to reschedule that part of the road, 

if it is going to be a chip-seal, if it going to be a maintenance patch, 

however you can afford to do it is how we operate on getting our 

roads in a priority. 

It is usually done by school bus routes, our priority. Then also 

roads for people who have to get into medical clinics daily or very 

often, once a week or twice a week need to have their priorities. 

We run our snow plow in the winter time, we will begin operating 

them at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning over a certain level of snowfall so our snow plows can be effective. And then we run those 

daily with the county and the State and process whatever road it 

is, plow gets dropped on it. And we do that cooperatively amongst 

each other to improve our road conditions in the winter time. 

Senator FRANKEN. So you use triage, essentially, and do the best 

you can with what you have. 

Mr. SMITH. Correct. 

38 

Senator FRANKEN. Most important first. 

While funding is a huge issue and a crucial issue, so is addressing transportation safety through education. The White Earth 

Band of the Ojibwe has partnered with the University of Minnesota 

to develop a safety curriculum for Native American youth. I think 

it is important that safety education starts early. Councilman Kirn, 

can you talk about the role of education in improving seat belt use, 

I know you made it a law, and just transportation safety more generally? 

Mr. KIRN. Absolutely, Senator Franken. Education is key to increasing effectiveness of increased seat belt and child constraint 

usage. In some cases, child restraints are not readily available for 

young families and education on proper use is unavailable. Seat 

belt use is significantly lower among Native Americans and on Indian reservations. The target age group is like 16 to 35 years old. 

Public service announcement campaigns have also shown an increased awareness for this age group. Funding for safety education 

on reservations has always been extremely limited and increased 

funding would reach a greater number of the targeted age groups. 

Alcohol and drugs contribute to the vehicle accidents on reservations and are often not considered as major factors to the accident 

rate. 

So educational campaigns are very important to us. 

Senator FRANKEN. Thank you. 

Unfortunately, I have to go vote. The Committee will stand in recess while the chairman makes his way back from the vote. I want 

to thank you all for your testimony, and also for the great work 

that you are doing. Thank you. 

[Recess.] 

The CHAIRMAN. [Presiding.] I want to thank you all for your patience as we have gone back and forth between the votes. 

Mr. Kirn, I wanted to ask you if I could, in your written testimony you cite the Centers for Disease Control, how they found that 

from 2004 to 2010, Wyoming and Montana were among the top five 

States with the highest motor vehicle-related death rates among 

Native Americans. In Wyoming, a good partnership between the 

State and the tribes helps to find ways to improve road safety. This 

partnership, I believe, has significantly reduced motor vehicle-related fatalities on the Wind River Reservation. We have heard testimony to that effect today. 

How do you think other States could be incentivized to partner 

with tribes to improve road safety? 

Mr. KIRN. I think in good data collection systems, Senator 

Barrasso. I would like to also thank you for this opportunity to testify. As a former resident of Campbell County, Wyoming, I appreciate this opportunity. 

The CHAIRMAN. We are having the crawfish boil this Friday. So 

you know how big of a deal that is. If you can get back, we would 

love to have you. 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. KIRN. Numerous studies have confirmed that motor vehicle 

accidents are significantly under-reported in Native American and 

Indian reservations. One study showed that Native American 

crashes and deaths were three times higher than the general popuVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:15 Sep 22, 2015 Jkt 095499 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\95499.TXT JACK
39 

lation. Good data collection on vehicle accidents is poorly collected, 

and a good data system has not been developed or implemented 

across Indian Country. 

As a member of the Montana Board of Crime Control for the last 

12 years, we have been trying to work with reservations to collect 

more data. Data really drives funding. We need to do that to get 

more funds to be able to handle these problems. We are working 

on that with tribes in Montana also right now. I think that once 

we get that data collection system up, I think we will probably 

have better results on all these types of funding and also for helping resolve some of these problems with crashes. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Black, the BIA manages thousands and 

thousands of miles of roads, almost 1,000 bridges. According to the 

Department of Interior’s budget justification for fiscal year 2016, 

only about 17 percent of these roads, 63 percent of the bridges, are 

listed as acceptable, in acceptable condition. So addressing the poor 

conditions of these roads is going to require more than just money. 

Strategic planning and efficient administration are also critical. 

Can you describe the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ strategy and plan 

of action to ensure that the agency can actually effectively manage 

this program and improve road safety? 

Mr. BLACK. I would be happy to get back to you with more specifics, Senator. But I think the answer to that, a lot of it is the collaboration between the tribes, the States, the counties and the Bureau of Indian Affairs and our other Federal partners to really 

come together and put our heads together. We know in the situation we are in, I think Senator Franken said it best, the States and 

everybody are facing crises in infrastructure right now. We are 

going to have to work together and pull together to see how we can 

best handle and manage the transportation program throughout 

Indian Country. 

The CHAIRMAN. The National Tribal Transportation Facility Inventory consists of about 160,000 miles of public roads with multiple owners, including, as you said, as Senator Franken said, tribal governments, Federal Government, State government, local government. And when there is an accident on a roadway, damages 

can occur to government property, including bridges, guard rails, 

signs, curbs, sidewalks, all the things that are related. 

Typically, insurance payments are collected of the damages that 

motorists have caused to public infrastructure. Are there different 

options that tribes can pursue to recover damages to the property 

caused by motorists? 

Mr. BLACK. At this time, I am not sure. I am not aware of any 

mechanism that is out there that would allow either the Bureau of 

Indian Affairs or tribes to collect funding for damages to roads. 

Currently that is not something we track. I would be happy to go 

back and see if there are some options that we can present. 

The CHAIRMAN. It does seem as a result of some of these accidents that there are unrecovered damages to Federal, tribal property in Indian Country. I don’t know if anyone else has any 

thoughts on that or any suggestions or anything that you have 

done individually. Mr. McOmie? 

Mr. MCOMIE. Mr. Chairman, the Wyoming Department of Transportation, we do track accidents that damage our property. We acVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:15 Sep 22, 2015 Jkt 095499 PO 00000 Frm 00043 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\95499.TXT JACK
40 

tually go and bill the individuals. Generally it is the insurance 

companies that pay for that. We have recently had a couple of 

bridge strikes, for example, that were well in excess of a million 

dollars. So we are recouping that money from the insurance companies. 

So I think that is an option. Again, you need a good tracking 

mechanism for damage repairs. But I believe most State DOTs operate in a similar fashion. 

The CHAIRMAN. Okay, thank you. 

Anything else any of you would like to add as a result of the 

hearings today? Yes, sir. 

Mr. CHAVARRIA. Yes, Mr. Chairman. Just reducing transportation fatalities and serious injuries with any sustained success requires all four elements of highway safety to be addressed: engineering, enforcement, education and emergency services. A tribal 

safety program, whether large or small, should work to address the 

four Es. 

And its foundation, which is data. Data collection and analysis 

provides technical staff and decision makers the ability to identify 

and prioritize safety issues. This goes back to crash data and roadway data and citation information, provides a basis for developing 

a safety plan, proposing strategies and developing needed education programs on tribal lands. The strategies that follow in this 

safety plan will support Santa Clara’s tribal government as they 

manage the safety program, working with the BIA, Department of 

Transportation and the State and local government, the counties. 

That is very important, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. For anyone who didn’t have their pen out when 

you started on the four Es, can you go over those four Es again? 

Mr. CHAVARRIA. That is engineering, enforcement, education and 

emergency services. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you so much. I appreciate everyone’s testimony today. Thank you so much for being with us. 

If there are no more questions, and there don’t appear to be, 

members may also submit follow-up written questions. They can do 

that for the record, so the hearing record will be open for two more 

weeks. I want to thank all of you for being here today and for 

working with us as we have tried to go through a number of votes 

on the Senate Floor. I thank you for your time and for your testimony today. 

This hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 3:44 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.] 

(41) 

A P P E N D I X 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. DAVE ARCHAMBAULT II, CHAIRMAN, STANDING ROCK

SIOUX TRIBE

As this Congress works to find a robust, bipartisan, and bicameral solution to ensure solvency for the Highway Trust fund and pass a long-term reauthorization to 

the current highway legislation, we ask that Indian tribes be fully included. We are 

not now. 

The current state of transportation infrastructure in Indian Country is unacceptable. Longstanding funding shortfalls and bureaucratic inefficiencies have resulted 

in road systems that are unsafe—motor vehicle-related death rates for Native Americans are 1.5 times as high as that of white and African Americans, and Native 

American infants are 8 times as likely to die in a motor-vehicle related incident as 

non-hispanic whites and hinder much-needed economic development and jobs. Our 

Tribal government is working hard to build our communities and strengthen our 

economy, but it takes modern transportation infrastructure to safely move people 

and goods through and within our communities arid territory. The next highway bill 

must break down transportation barriers that now exist in Indian Country. 

With MAP–21 expiring May 31st, Congress has an opportunity to significantly improve this situation. The Tribal Transportation Unity Caucus (TTUC), a broad coalition of diverse Indian tribes from across the country, has proposed a legislative 

package that includes fair and equitable funding increases and common-sense program improvements to address Indian Country’s backlog of crumbling or nonexistent transportation infrastructure, promote Tribal economic development, and 

reduce the tragic and unacceptably high rate of motor vehicle fatalities and pedestrian deaths among Native Americans. 

We join the TTUC, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the Intertribal Transportation Association (ITA), and many other Tribes and Tribal organizations across the country in supporting these proposals. We ask that you do so as 

well. 

In the next highway bill, we ask that you more than restore MAP–21’s $14 million 

funding reduction to the Tribal Transportation Program (TTP) and recognize how 

much more we could do if the TTP were funded along the lines of the TTUA proposals. We ask that Congress restore the obligation limitation deduction exemption 

(the deduction has removed $320 million from the IRR and Tribal Transportation 

Programs since FY2005), fund the Tribal High Priority Projects (HPP) Program authorized, but not funded, in MAP–21, and open it to every Indian tribe regardless 

of size to help us supplement our ‘‘tribal shares’’ under the TTP funding formula. 

We ask that Congress increase highway safety funds so that we may reduce alcoholinvolved crashes and enhance seat belt and child safety seat compliance. 

We further ask that Congress enact common sense streamlining provisions, such 

as making tribes eligible direct recipients of all U.S. Department of Transportation 

discretionary and competitive grants, extend the highly successful tribal self-governance policy to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), and expand the use 

of existing Tribal Transportation Program agreements so that tribes may receive 

other USDOT transportation funds (e.g., Federal Transit Administration and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration funds). 

Many of these proposed legislative provisions would come at no additional cost, 

but would instead provide easier access to funding sources technically available but 

costly for Tribes to access. These recommendations will make a world of difference 

if Congress enacts them. 

When given the chance, Tribal governments have proven time and again that we 

can make productive use of our limited resources to improve the lives of our Tribal 

members and others using our roadways. We can do so much more with your help 

and partnership. Please support the TTUC’s common-sense proposals. The federal 

trust responsibility demands no less. 

42 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. FRED S. VALLO, SR., GOVERNOR, PUEBLO OF ACOMA

Introduction. This testimony is intended to supplement the testimony provided 

by the Honorable J. Michael Chavarria, Governor of the Santa Clara Pueblo before 

the Committee in the above titled hearing. In his testimony, Governor Chavarria 

noted: 

‘‘Santa Clara does not have a railroad passing through our lands, but many 

other tribes do. We have been advised that railroad crossings in Indian Country 

pose a significant hazard. For example, the Pueblo of Acoma has its community 

housing and public safety facilities on the south-side of the BNSF tracks, while 

the hospital, the interstate (with 200,000 cars passing a day) and two major 

transcontinental pipelines lie on the north-side. With over 85 trains a day, each 

about two miles long, Acoma has sought Transportation Investment Generating 

Economic Recovery (TIGER) funding for a bridge to prevent delays for public 

safety services and to reduce the risk of accidents. There is no set-aside in 

TIGER for tribes, but there should be. Tribes seem to be getting a very small 

share of these funds despite the substantial need.’’ 

This supplemental testimony briefly describes the issues that Acoma has been 

dealing with and then provides more detail on the specific example of the railroad 

crossing. 

Mesa Hill Bridge and Road Extension Project—Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico 

Issues 

• Issue 1—The Pueblo of Application submitted U.S. Department of Transportation TIGER I to TIGER VI construction funding applications every year and 

were denied. National competition is very competitive. 

• Issue 2—The U.S. Department of Transportation TIGER Program attempts to 

fund many projects nationally thereby reducing Pueblo of Acoma’s full amount 

for the bridge and road construction project. This disqualifies Acoma Pueblo and 

other rural Indian tribes from the beginning of application eligibility criteria. 

• Issue 3—The U.S. Department of Transportation should set-aside TIGER grant 

funds for rural, Indian tribes. 

• Issue 4—The U.S. Department of Transportation TIGER Program should not 

penalize Indian tribes from receiving a TIGER award if matching funds are not 

possible. 

Project Description 

The Mesa Hill Bridge and Road Extension Project is to construct a 1,160-foot span 

bridge superstructure and increase 0.718 miles of roadway from SP 36 to SP 30 including a turning lane on SP 30. The project site is 1.0 mile south of Interstate 40 

at Exit 100. The road and bridge will go over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe 

(BNSF) Railway’s two-main lines which will reserve room for a possible third track, 

the Rio San Jose, two traditional irrigation systems, Kinder Morgan (natural gas) 

utility service lines and traditional farming lands. The project is construction ready. 

Safety Factors 

The bridge design over the BNSF Railway accomplishes long term public safety 

needs that complement economic growth. First, the overpass design will allow BNSF 

Railway to proceed with its intense transportation schedule through rural federal 

reservation tribal lands. The multimodal movement on the railway and roadway 

provides a safe, connected and accessible system for the delivery of goods and people. Vehicle traffic will be minimized at nearby rail at-grade crossings. This will 

minimize or even eliminate the potential of vehicle-train collisions. 

According to the Office of Safety Analysis, Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. 

Department of Transportation website, the BNSF Railway highway-rail and trespassing incidents account for a significant number of all incidents: 

Nation-Wide 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

Total Accidents/Incidents 1614 1670 1530 1318 1312 

Total fatalities 123 123 106 79 115 

Highway-Rail and Trespassing Incidents 257 297 289 286 312 

Total Fatalities 115 118 100 75 112 

Percentage of all fatalities 94% 96% 94% 95% 97% 

43 

The Office of Safety Analysis defines total accidents and incidents as the sum of 

train accidents, highway-rail and other incidents. Highway-rail and trespassing incidents are impacts between a rail and a highway user at a crossing site, regardless 

of severity; this includes motor vehicles and other highway/roadway/sidewalk users 

at both public and private at-grade crossings. 

In the State of New Mexico, the percentage of total fatalities is 100 percent atgrade crossings and sidewalks: 

New Mexico 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

Total Accidents/Incidents 56 52 38 38 45 

Total fatalities 11 8 6 1 7 

Highway-Rail & Trespassing Incidents 6 3 2 3 7 

Total Fatalities 9 8 6 1 7 

Percentage of all fatalities 82% 100% 100% 100% 100% 

In a no-build situation, the result would be that the fatality rates at at-grade 

crossings and pedestrians crossing at railroad tracks will continue to remain the 

same or increase. This would be devastating. Currently, it takes 4 minutes for a 

train to pass on one track. At times, there is another train passing on the second 

track increasing the wait time to 8 minutes. If a third track is installed, the wait 

time will be increased to 12 minutes. Four minutes alone is crucial in a life and 

death situation. 

Second, in a build situation, the bridge design will eliminate delays when emergency responders must stop at at-grade crossings to allow trains to travel. According 

to Acoma police reports for 2013, when responding to emergency calls the following 

train delays were recorded: 

January at 8 delays July at 7 delays 

February at 2 delays August at 4 delays 

March at 2 delays September at 4 delays 

April at 2 delays October at 4 delays 

May at 4 delays November 0 delays 

June at 3 delays December 0 delays 

There is an average of 3.33 delays per month for the past year. 

Between January 2007 to December 2012, the Acoma Pueblo Public Safety Department responded to 301 vehicle accidents or an average of 40.5 vehicle accidents 

per year. Vehicle accidents occurred on the following major roads: 

Pueblo Road, SP 30 74 

Sky City Casino area, Exit 102 off I–40 67 

Interstate 40 51 

Pinsbaari Road, SP 32 27 

Haaku Road, SP 38 24 

TOTAL 243 

Nearly half of vehicle accidents listed above are on Interstate 40 and at Interstate 

40 Exit 102 area. The Acoma Pueblo Police Department must cross the railroad 

tracks to these high vehicle traffic and population areas. It is important to note that 

from Interstate 40, tourists and visitors travel on Pueblo Road and cross the railroad tracks to Pinsbaari Road and Haaku Road which leads to the national historic 

site of ‘‘Sky City.’’ 

For the past 3 years, the Acoma Pueblo Fire Department responded to an average 

of 930 emergency calls per year: 

Structure Fires 6 6 7 

Vehicle Fires 12 11 16 

Vegetation Fires 51 46 39 

EMS Incidents 412 547 621 

Rescue Incidents 71 95 115 

Hazmat Incidents 12 16 25 

Service Incidents 54 61 74 

Public Assistance 47 52 65 

False Alarms 39 64 73 

Other 42 53 59 

44 

TOTAL 746 951 1094 

There is excellent collaboration with other off-reservation public safety agencies. 

The nearby community of Cubero has a volunteer fire department and has assisted 

with several calls on Acoma Pueblo lands. The Acoma Pueblo fire department and 

police department are assisted with county and state public safety agencies in a 

number of incidents such as bomb threats, natural disasters, hazardous spills and 

interstate traffic accidents. 

The two major at-grade crossings on Acoma Pueblo lands are 6.7 miles apart. 

When one at-grade crossing is closed due to railway traffic stoppage or railway incident, our emergency responders must travel an additional 13 miles or greater which 

increases response time to 28 minutes or greater—this is unacceptable! The construction of the proposed bridge is needed because it will be located in a centralized 

location between the two major at-grade crossings thereby reducing significant time 

to respond to emergencies. 

Third, worker traffic is over 810 people per day coming to work at Acoma Pueblo 

tribal government, schools, hospital and businesses. There are several hundreds of 

workers that drive to off-reservation work sites. For example, workers travel to Albuquerque, Laguna Pueblo, Cubero, Grants, Gallup and areas in between. School 

children are bused to nearby off-reservation towns at Grants, Laguna Pueblo, San 

Fidel and Cubero. Community residents also travel to post-secondary schools at Albuquerque and Grants. Emergency responders will reach accidents in less time with 

no train delays. Visitors, tourists and all travelers will be reached in an efficient 

manner when accidents occur on or near tribal lands including access to the local 

hospital. 

In 2013, Acoma Pueblo submitted our written comments and recommendations to 

the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) in regards to the New 

Mexico Railway Plan. Our comments focused on railway safety concerns including 

the need for the Mesa Hill Bridge and Road Extension Project. Additional comments 

included establishing quiet zones, railway right-of-way maintenance and fencing, 

and eliminating vibration damage to historical buildings. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF: 

Hon. W. Ron Allen, Chairman, Self-Governance Communication and Education 

Tribal Consortium 

Hon. Melanie Bahnke, President, Kawerak, Inc. 

Hon. Michael Baines, Tribal Chairman, Sitka Tribe of Alaska 

Hon. Linda Capps, Vice Chairman, Citizen Potawatomi Nation 

Hon. Bill Follis, Chief, Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma 

Hon. Norman Hildebrand, Jr., Second Chief, Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma 

Hon. George Thurman, Principal Chief, Sac and Fox Nation 

The Self-Governance Tribes listed above want to thank you for holding the important Senate Committee on Indian Affairs’ hearing, ‘‘Tribal Transportation: Pathways 

to Safer Roads in Indian Country,’’ and to share our comments for the Committee 

hearing record. We are tribes who have assumed responsibility to administer and 

deliver federal programs and services to our members under the Self-Governance titles of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA). 

We strongly agree with your opening statements and the witness testimony from 

the April 22, 2015, hearing that emphasized that safe and adequate roads and highways are critical to public safety, health, education, and commerce. On a daily basis, 

our tribal members and our communities experience the unacceptable road conditions that have made vehicle crashes the leading cause of death for Native American 

children and youth. We urge your leadership in working with us to make our roads 

a safer and more reliable component of the infrastructure network that will enable 

our communities to thrive. 

We also express our strong support for the testimony of Santa Clara Pueblo Governor Michael Chavarria who urged Congress to fully extend the ISDEAA to the 

United States Department of Transportation (DOT). Our experiences demonstrate 

the effectiveness of the ISDEAA in promoting tribal self-determination and show 

that federal dollars have the greatest impact and efficiency when administered at 

the local level by the Tribes themselves. Accordingly, we fully support Governor 

Chavarria’s request that the Committee and its members introduce and pass companion legislation to the Tribal Transportation Self-Governance Act of 2015, sponsored by Representatives DeFazio and Young in the House as H.R. 1068. 

The language in H.R. 1068 has been endorsed by the National Congress of American Indians and the Intertribal Transportation Association. Its terms are also incorVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:15 Sep 22, 2015 Jkt 095499 PO 00000 Frm 00048 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\95499.TXT JACK
45 

porated as a component of the tribal reauthorization proposal known as the ‘‘Tribal 

Transportation Unity Act.’’ The terms of H.R. 1068 have also enjoyed bipartisan 

support in the Congress. In 2012, the identical provisions were included as Section 

1506 of H.R. 7, which was passed out of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (but which was not acted upon by the full Congress). 

Passage of the Tribal Transportation Self-Governance Act of 2015 would create in 

DOT a Tribal Self-Governance Program approximating Title V of ISDEAA, which 

applies to the Department of Health and Human Services. This would mean that 

tribes would be able to obtain all of their transportation funds (including not only 

their Tribal Transportation Program (TTP) funds, but also transit, Federal-aid and 

other DOT funds) under a DOT self-governance agreement. By authorizing Tribes 

to elect to use these ISDEAA funding agreements for all their transportation funds 

(and requiring DOT to respect that election), Congress would enable tribes to 

streamline administrative procedures associated with the various DOT programs 

and would facilitate a faster project delivery timeline. Getting safe and reliable 

transportation infrastructure on the ground and into operation faster and more cost 

effectively are objectives we all support. 

Our experience with Self-Governance stands as strong testament to the expectation that by extending Self-Governance to DOT and placing more authority at the 

local tribal level, tribes will be best positioned to meet the safety and transportation 

infrastructure needs of our communities, our commerce and of the traveling public. 

Thank you for your consideration. 

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