II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1091

To amend title 23, United States Code, to provide for maintenance of public

roads used by school buses serving certain Indian reservations.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 30, 1997

Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself and Mr. DOMENICI) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and

Public Works

A BILL

To amend title 23, United States Code, to provide for maintenance of public roads used by school buses serving

certain Indian reservations.

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

3 SECTION 1. INDIAN RESERVATION SCHOOL ROADS.

4 (a) FUNDING.—Section 1003(a)(6) of the Intermodal

5 Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (Public

6 Law 102–240; 105 Stat. 1919) is amended by adding at

7 the end the following:

8 ‘‘(D) INDIAN RESERVATION SCHOOL

9 ROADS.—For maintenance of Indian reservation
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1 school roads $10,000,000 for each of fiscal

2 years 1998 through 2003.’’.

3 (b) DEFINITION OF INDIAN RESERVATION SCHOOL

4 ROAD.—Section 101 of title 23, United States Code, is

5 amended by inserting after the undesignated paragraph

6 defining ‘‘Indian reservation roads’’ the following:

7 ‘‘The term ‘Indian reservation school road’ means a

8 public road that—

9 ‘‘(A) is within, is adjacent to, or provides access

10 to an Indian reservation (including associated trust

11 land and restricted Indian land) having a land area

12 of 10,000,000 acres or more; and

13 ‘‘(B) is used by a school bus to transport chil14 dren to or from a school or Headstart program.’’.

15 (c) MAINTENANCE UNDER THE FEDERAL LANDS

16 HIGHWAYS PROGRAM.—Section 204 of title 23, United

17 States Code, is amended—

18 (1) in the first sentence of subsection (a), by

19 striking ‘‘and Indian reservation roads’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘Indian reservation roads, and Indian reserva21 tion school roads’’;

22 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting after the sec23 ond sentence the following: ‘‘Funds available for In24 dian reservation school roads shall be used by the

25 Secretary to pay for the cost of maintenance of In-
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1 dian reservation school roads in accordance with

2 subsection (k).’’;

3 (3) in the last sentence of subsection (c), by

4 striking ‘‘The Bureau’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to

5 subsection (k), the Bureau’’; and

6 (4) by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(k) INDIAN RESERVATION SCHOOL ROADS.—

8 ‘‘(1) FUNDING.—A State or county with an In9 dian reservation school road on its maintenance sys10 tem may apply for funding from the Secretary for

11 maintenance of the Indian reservation school road,

12 which the Secretary may grant if the Secretary de13 termines that funding for maintenance of the road

14 from other sources is not sufficient to provide main15 tenance that ensures the safety and welfare of chil16 dren being transported in a school bus to and from

17 a school or Headstart program.

18 ‘‘(2) METHOD OF CONTRACTING.— All mainte19 nance work funded under this subsection shall be

20 performed—

21 ‘‘(A) by contract awarded by competitive

22 bidding; or

23 ‘‘(B) by a State or county that the Sec24 retary has determined has the ability to admin-
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1 ister efficiently funds granted for the mainte2 nance of Indian reservation school roads.

3 ‘‘(3) SUPPLEMENTARY FUNDING.—The Sec4 retary shall ensure that funding made available

5 under this subsection for maintenance of Indian res6 ervation school roads for each fiscal year is supple7 mentary to and not in lieu of any obligation of funds

8 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for road mainte9 nance programs on Indian reservations.’’.

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