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Attachment A: General Program Overview

The Tribal Transportation Program (TTP), established in 2012 under the Moving Ahead for Progress in

the 21st Century Act (MAP‐21), provides funding for addressing the transportation needs of the 573

federally recognized Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages (Tribes).  The Tribes can use these funds for

eligible transportation activities such as planning, design, construction, and road and bridge

maintenance.  The program is jointly administered by the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA)

Office of Federal Lands Highway and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in accordance with a

memorandum of understanding.  Prior to MAP‐21, the TTP was known as the Indian Reservation Roads

(IRR) Program, established by the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982.

Under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, the TTP was authorized at a funded level

of $495 million in FY 2019.  Except for a 5‐percent set‐aside for the BIA and FHWA to carry out program

management and oversight, Tribes receive all other available TTP funding.  Funding is provided to Tribes

either as Tribal shares or as special set‐aside funding to address transportation planning or safety and

bridge projects and activities.  A statutory funding formula that can be found at Title 23, United States

Code (U.S.C.), Section 202(b) determines the Tribal shares.  The TTP is an important resource of a Tribe’s

overall infrastructure investment strategy.  Title 25 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 170 contains

the regulations for carrying out the TTP.  

The National Tribal Transportation Facility Inventory (NTTFI) includes facilities that provide access to or

are located within Tribal lands.  These roads, trails, bridges, and other facilities provide safe and

adequate transportation for public access to, within, and through Indian reservations and native

communities for Native Americans, visitors, recreational users, resource users, and others, while

contributing to the health and safety and economic development of Native American communities.

There are currently more than 164,000 miles of roads on the NTTFI.  Approximately 31,400 miles are

identified as BIA routes and another 28,000 miles as Tribal routes.  States, counties, townships,

boroughs, or other Federal agencies own the remaining mileage.  

The TTP funds can only be expended for projects and activities that are identified in an FHWA approved

Transportation Improvement Program per 23 U.S.C. 202(b)(4)(B).  If Tribes expend the funds on a

facility, that facility must be included in the NTTFI.  Eligible TTP activities are listed in Appendix A to

Subpart B of 25 CFR Part 170.

TTP Funding Formula

The FAST Act carried over the existing funding formula established in MAP‐21.  Found at 23 U.S.C.

202(b), the statute states that, after incorporating the set asides authorized under other subsections

and subparagraphs (identified below), the Secretary shall distribute the remaining TTP funding among

Indian Tribes as follows:

1. Twenty percent of the remaining funding using the FY 2011 total relative need distribution

factor (RNDF) and population adjustment factor (PAF) percentages (of the funding formula that

was in place at that time); and

2. The “balance” using the MAP‐21 TTP funding formula.  

The MAP‐21 TTP funding formula contains three factors:
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1. Eligible Road Mileage (27 percent of the “balance” identified above)  

For the purposes of this calculation, and per 23 U.S.C. 202(b)(3)(B), the eligible road mileage is

computed as the sum of the BIA or Tribally owned roads included in the FY 2012 NTTFI as well as any

other road that was included in the BIA system inventory prior to October 1, 2004.  A total of 60,446

miles were used for this factor.  Each Tribe’s ratio of total eligible road mileage as compared to the

total eligible road mileage of all Tribes is used in this Tribal share calculation.  The FHWA TTP

Website has a Tribe‐by‐Tribe breakdown of eligible mileage included in the table of Tribal shares for

FY 2019 at https://highways.dot.gov/federal‐lands/programs‐tribal/finance under the heading of

Tribal Shares and Planning Funds under the FAST Act.  

2. Tribal Population (39 percent of the “balance” identified above)

This calculation utilizes the most recent data on American Indian and Alaska Native population

within each Indian Tribe’s American Indian/Alaska Native Reservation or Statistical Area, as

computed under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self‐Determination Act of 1996 (25

U.S.C. 4101 et seq.).  For FY 2019, this totaled 1,629,950.  Each Tribe’s ratio of their total population

as compared to the total population of all American Indians and Alaskan Natives is used in this Tribal

share calculation.  

3. Historic Tribal Shares (34 percent of the “balance” identified above)

The Tribal share distribution for this factor is initially divided equally among each of the 12 BIA

Regions.  Then within each region, each Tribe’s share is determined by calculating the ratio that the

average total RNDF and PAF from fiscal years 2005 through 2011 calculated for that Tribe bears to

the average total of RNDF and PAF for fiscal years 2005 through 2011 calculated for all the Tribes

within that region.  

In FY 2019, $333,150,000 was authorized for the TTP funding formula.  Of this amount, $69,339,516 (20

percent) was distributed using the FY 2011 RNDF and PAF percentages described above, while

$263,810,484 was distributed using the MAP‐21 TTP funding formula.

The set asides that are incorporated into the TTP funding formula include:

Tribal supplemental funding – Under the statutory TTP funding formula, the dollar amount for this set

aside is equal to $82,500,000 plus 12.5 percent of the amount made available for the TTP in excess of

$275,000,000.  For FY 2019, this totaled $111,250,000 in authority.  The intent of this set aside is to

offset any negative impacts to each Tribe’s funding levels (from the MAP‐21 formula versus the

previously used IRR funding formula) by providing extra funding to assure that, if possible, each federally

recognized Tribe receives at least the same level of funding that it did in FY 2011.  The total funding for

this set aside is initially designated at the BIA regional level based on a ratio of their regional Tribes’ total

of Tribal shares as compared to the total nationwide Tribal shares for that year.  The funds are then

made available to the Tribes within each region that were negatively impacted by the new formula so

that their Tribal share total is at least the same as they received in FY 2011.  Any remaining funds are

then made available to all the Tribes within that region based on the size of their Tribal shares.  If the

supplemental funding made available to a region is not adequate to achieve this, then those Tribes that

were negatively impacted each receive an amount that equals the same percentage of their FY 2011

amount.
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Planning – Two percent of the funds made available under the FY 2019 TTP were set aside for Tribes to

carry out transportation planning activities, such as the development of a Long‐Range Transportation

Plan (LRTP) or to carry out other planning activities such as inventory updates or project specific

planning.  These funds were made available to each Tribe by adding 2 percent to their calculated Tribal

share.  In FY 2019, this set aside totaled $10,100,000 in authority.  

Tribal Transportation Facility Bridges ‐ Three percent of the funds made available under the FY 2019 TTP

were set aside for the purposes of carrying out this program.  Tribes applied for these funds in

accordance with 23 CFR part 661 to carry out any planning, design, engineering, preconstruction,

construction, and inspection of any bridge project located on a route included in the NTTFI.  In FY 2019,

this set aside totaled $15,150,000 in authority.

Safety – Two percent of the funds made available under the FY 2019 TTP were set aside for the purposes

of carrying out this program.  Eligible projects and activities were in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 148(a)(4).

Tribes applied for these funds based on a Notice of Funding Opportunity published by FHWA, and

awards were approved by the Secretary.  In FY 2019, this set aside totaled $10,100,000 in authority.  

However, due to delays, no safety funds were awarded to Tribes during FY 2019.

Administrative expenses – In accordance with 23 U.S.C. 202(a)(6), 5 percent of the funds made available

under the FY 2019 TTP were set aside for use by the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of the

Interior for program management and oversight and project‐related administrative expenses.  This is

often referred to as Program Management and Oversight (PM&O) funds.  In FY 2019, this set aside

totaled $25,250,000 in authority.  

FY 2019 TTP Fund Distribution

Because of the language of the statute, the TTP funding formula must initially be run and the Tribal

shares determined based on the authorized levels.  The Tribal shares are then adjusted to meet the

funds made available.  The FHWA TTP Website has the FY 2019 calculated Tribal shares as well as the

breakdown of the 2‐percent Planning funds for each of the 573 federally recognized Tribes at

https://highways.dot.gov/federal‐lands/programs‐tribal/finance under the heading of Tribal Shares and

Planning Funds under the FAST Act.

Contracting Mechanisms

The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA‐ LU)

Public Law (PL) 109‐59 (2005), for the first time allowed eligible Tribes the option of working directly

with the FHWA in the administration of their IRR Program.  This option has continued through

subsequent FHWA authorizations.  In FY 2019, 132 Tribes operated their TTP through Program

Agreements directly with FHWA.  Under these FHWA Program Agreements, the Tribes receive their

funding in advance directly from FHWA and are responsible for managing their TTP.  The FHWA is

responsible for the stewardship and oversight of the provided funds and ensures that the program is

carried out in accordance with statutory and regulatory requirements.  

Four additional options are available for Tribes which opt to work directly with the BIA.  For these

options, the TTP funds are initially transferred from FHWA to BIA for further distribution to the Tribes.

The options include:
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Direct Service Agreements – Under these agreements the BIA carries out the TTP on behalf of and in

consultation with a Tribe.  Therefore, the BIA is responsible for all aspects of the TTP including delivery,

stewardship, and oversight.  In FY 2019, 16 Tribes had Direct Service Agreements with the BIA for their

TTP;

Self‐Determination Contracts – These contracts are developed between the BIA and a Tribe in

accordance with the Indian Self‐Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA), PL 93‐638.

Generally, each contract is for a specific project or activity, so there could be several contracts

developed over a 1‐year period to account for the amount of TTP funding made available to the Tribe.  

The Tribe is provided TTP funding on a contract‐by‐contract basis from the BIA and is responsible for

carrying out the work identified.  The BIA is responsible for the stewardship and oversight of the

provided funds and ensures that the program is carried out in accordance with the contract and

statutory and regulatory requirements.  In FY 2019, 224 Tribes carried out their TTP under Self‐

Determination Contracts;  

Self‐Governance Compacts – Compacts are developed between the Tribe and the Department of the

Interior’s (DOI) Office of Self‐Governance.  Under a self‐governance compact, the Tribe receives its

funding in advance from DOI and manages its TTP similar to the FHWA Program Agreements.  However,

these compacts include certain protections and other options afforded them in accordance with the

ISDEAA. The DOI is responsible for the stewardship and oversight of the provided funds and ensures that

the program is carried out in accordance with the compact and statutory and regulatory requirements.  

In FY 2019, 30 Tribes carried out their TTP under Self‐Governance Compacts; and

BIA Government to Government (G2G) Agreements – These Agreements are “sister” agreements of

the FHWA Program Agreements.  First established in July 2011, a Tribe operating under these

Agreements receives its funding in advance from the BIA and is responsible for managing its TTP.  The

BIA is responsible for the stewardship and oversight of the provided funds and ensures that the program

is carried out in accordance with statutory and regulatory requirements.  In FY 2019, 192 Tribes carried

out their TTP under G2G Agreements.