114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1776 

AN ACT 

To enhance tribal road safety, and for other purposes. 

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tribal Infrastructure 

3 and Roads Enhancement and Safety Act’’ or the ‘‘TIRES 

4 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 

6 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec7 retary of the Interior. 

8 SEC. 3. APPLICATION OF CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS TO 

9 CERTAIN TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION FACILI10 TIES. 

11 (a) DEFINITION OF TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION SAFE12 TY PROJECT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 

14 ‘‘tribal transportation safety project’’ means a 

15 project described in paragraph (2) that is eligible for 

16 funding under section 202 of title 23, United States 

17 Code, and that— 

18 (A) corrects or improves a hazardous road 

19 location or feature; or 

20 (B) addresses a highway safety problem. 

21 (2) PROJECTS DESCRIBED.—A project de22 scribed in this paragraph is a project for 1 or more 

23 of the following: 

24 (A) An intersection safety improvement. 
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1 (B) Pavement and shoulder widening (in2 cluding the addition of a passing lane to remedy 

3 an unsafe condition). 

4 (C) Installation of rumble strips or another 

5 warning device, if the rumble strips or other 

6 warning devices do not adversely affect the 

7 safety or mobility of bicyclists and pedestrians, 

8 including persons with disabilities. 

9 (D) Installation of a skid-resistant surface 

10 at an intersection or other location with a high 

11 frequency of crashes. 

12 (E) An improvement for pedestrian or bi13 cyclist safety or the safety of persons with dis14 abilities. 

15 (F) Construction and improvement of a 

16 railway-highway grade crossing safety feature, 

17 including the installation of protective devices. 

18 (G) The conduct of a model traffic enforce19 ment activity at a railway-highway crossing. 

20 (H) Construction of a traffic calming fea21 ture. 

22 (I) Elimination of a roadside hazard. 

23 (J) Installation, replacement, and other 

24 improvements of highway signage and pavement 

25 markings or a project to maintain minimum 
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1 levels of retroreflectivity that addresses a high2 way safety problem consistent with a State 

3 strategic highway safety plan. 

4 (K) Installation of a priority control sys5 tem for emergency vehicles at signalized inter6 sections. 

7 (L) Installation of a traffic control or other 

8 warning device at a location with high crash po9 tential. 

10 (M) Transportation safety planning. 

11 (N) Collection, analysis, and improvement 

12 of safety data. 

13 (O) Planning integrated interoperable 

14 emergency communications equipment, oper15 ational activities, or traffic enforcement activi16 ties (including police assistance) relating to 

17 work zone safety. 

18 (P) Installation of guardrails, barriers (in19 cluding barriers between construction work 

20 zones and traffic lanes for the safety of road 

21 users and workers), and crash attenuators. 

22 (Q) The addition or retrofitting of struc23 tures or other measures to eliminate or reduce 

24 crashes involving vehicles and wildlife. 
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1 (R) Installation of yellow-green signs and 

2 signals at pedestrian and bicycle crossings and 

3 in school zones. 

4 (S) Construction and operational improve5 ments on a high risk rural road (as defined in 

6 section 148(a) of title 23, United States Code). 

7 (T) Geometric improvements to a road for 

8 the purposes of safety improvement. 

9 (U) A road safety audit. 

10 (V) Roadway safety infrastructure im11 provements consistent with the recommenda12 tions included in the publication of the Federal 

13 Highway Administration entitled ‘‘Handbook 

14 for Designing Roadways for the Aging Popu15 lation’’ (FHWA–SA–14–015), dated June 2014 

16 (or a revised or updated publication). 

17 (W) Truck parking facilities eligible for 

18 funding under section 1401 of MAP–21 (23 

19 U.S.C. 137 note; Public Law 112–141). 

20 (X) Systemic safety improvements. 

21 (Y) Installation of vehicle-to-infrastructure 

22 communication equipment. 

23 (Z) Pedestrian hybrid beacons. 

24 (AA) Roadway improvements that provide 

25 separation between pedestrians and motor vehi-
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1 cles, including medians and pedestrian crossing 

2 islands. 

3 (BB) A physical infrastructure safety 

4 project not described in subparagraphs (A) 

5 through (AA). 

6 (b) NEW CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS.— 

7 (1) REVIEW OF EXISTING CATEGORICAL EXCLU8 SIONS.—The Secretary shall review the categorical 

9 exclusions under section 771.117 of title 23, Code of 

10 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), to 

11 determine which, if any, are applicable for use by 

12 the Secretary in review of projects eligible for assist13 ance under section 202 of title 23, United States 

14 Code. 

15 (2) REVIEW OF TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION

16 SAFETY PROJECTS.—The Secretary shall identify 

17 tribal transportation safety projects that meet the 

18 requirements for categorical exclusions under sec19 tions 1507.3 and 1508.4 of title 40, Code of Federal 

20 Regulations. 

21 (3) PROPOSAL.—The Secretary shall issue a 

22 proposed rule, in accordance with sections 1507.3 

23 and 1508.4 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, 

24 to propose any categorical exclusions identified 

25 under paragraphs (1) and (2). 
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1 (4) DEADLINE.—Not later than 180 days after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, and after consid3 ering any comments on the proposed rule issued 

4 under paragraph (3), the Secretary shall promulgate 

5 a final rule for the categorical exclusions, in accord6 ance with sections 1507.3 and 1508.4 of title 40, 

7 Code of Federal Regulations. 

8 (5) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 

9 Transportation shall provide technical assistance to 

10 the Secretary in carrying out this subsection. 

11 (c) REVIEWS OF TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY

12 PROJECTS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary or the head of 

14 another Federal agency responsible for a decision re15 lated to a tribal transportation safety project shall 

16 complete any approval or decision for the review of 

17 the tribal transportation safety project required 

18 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

19 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or any other applica20 ble Federal law on an expeditious basis using the 

21 shortest existing applicable process. 

22 (2) REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.—Not later than 

23 45 days after the date of receipt of a complete appli24 cation by an Indian tribe for approval of a tribal 

25 transportation safety project, the Secretary shall— 
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1 (A) take final action on the application; or 

2 (B) provide the Indian tribe a schedule for 

3 completion of the review described in paragraph 

4 (1), including the identification of any other 

5 Federal agency that has jurisdiction with re6 spect to the project. 

7 (3) DECISIONS UNDER OTHER FEDERAL

8 LAWS.—In any case in which a decision under any 

9 other Federal law relating to a tribal transportation 

10 safety project (including the issuance or denial of a 

11 permit or license) is required, not later than 45 days 

12 after the Secretary has made all decisions of the 

13 lead agency under the National Environmental Pol14 icy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with re15 spect to the project, the head of the Federal agency 

16 responsible for the decision shall— 

17 (A) make the applicable decision; or 

18 (B) provide the Indian tribe a schedule for 

19 making the decision. 

20 (4) EXTENSIONS.—The Secretary or the head 

21 of an applicable Federal agency may extend the pe22 riod under paragraph (2) or (3), as applicable, by an 

23 additional 30 days by providing the Indian tribe no24 tice of the extension, including a statement of the 

25 need for the extension. 
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1 (5) NOTIFICATION AND EXPLANATION.—In any 

2 case in which a required action is not completed by 

3 the deadline under paragraph (2), (3), or (4), as ap4 plicable, the Secretary or the head of a Federal 

5 agency, as applicable, shall— 

6 (A) notify the Committee on Indian Affairs 

7 of the Senate and the Committee on Natural 

8 Resources of the House of Representatives of 

9 the failure to comply with the deadline; and 

10 (B) provide to the Committees described in 

11 subparagraph (A) a detailed explanation of the 

12 reasons for the failure to comply with the dead13 line. 

14 SEC. 4. PROGRAMMATIC AGREEMENTS FOR CATEGORICAL 

15 EXCLUSIONS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enter into 

17 programmatic agreements with Indian tribes that estab18 lish efficient administrative procedures for carrying out 

19 environmental reviews for projects eligible for assistance 

20 under section 202 of title 23, United States Code. 

21 (b) INCLUSIONS.—A programmatic agreement under 

22 subsection (a)— 

23 (1) may include an agreement that allows an 

24 Indian tribe to determine, on behalf of the Sec25 retary, whether a project is categorically excluded 
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1 from the preparation of an environmental assess2 ment or environmental impact statement under the 

3 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

4 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); and 

5 (2) shall— 

6 (A) require that the Indian tribe maintain 

7 adequate capacity in terms of personnel and 

8 other resources to carry out applicable agency 

9 responsibilities pursuant to section 1507.2 of 

10 title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or suc11 cessor regulations); 

12 (B) set forth the responsibilities of the In13 dian tribe for making categorical exclusion de14 terminations, documenting the determinations, 

15 and achieving acceptable quality control and 

16 quality assurance; 

17 (C) allow— 

18 (i) the Secretary to monitor compli19 ance of the Indian tribe with the terms of 

20 the agreement; and 

21 (ii) the Indian tribe to execute any 

22 needed corrective action; 

23 (D) contain stipulations for amendments, 

24 termination, and public availability of the agree-
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1 ment once the agreement has been executed; 

2 and 

3 (E) have a term of not more than 5 years, 

4 with an option for renewal based on a review by 

5 the Secretary of the performance of the Indian 

6 tribe. 

Passed the Senate December 10 (legislative day, December 9), 2016. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1776 

AN ACT 

To enhance tribal road safety, and for other 

purposes.