I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4531 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to modify the permitted uses of 

grant funds for certain grants, to allow States to reallocate certain 

funds provided for national priority safety programs, to direct the Secretary of Transportation to award grants to improve interoperability 

among State and national traffic data systems, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 

Mr. MOULTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to modify the permitted uses of grant funds for certain grants, to allow 

States to reallocate certain funds provided for national 

priority safety programs, to direct the Secretary of 

Transportation to award grants to improve interoperability among State and national traffic data systems, 

and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘State And Federal 

5 Electronic Data Records to Improve Vehicle-operator EliVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4531.IH H4531

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1 gibility Reporting Systems Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘SAFE 

2 DRIVERS Act’’. 

3 SEC. 2. NATIONAL PRIORITY SAFETY PROGRAMS. 

4 Section 405 of title 23, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)(8)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding’’ and in8 serting ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL—Notwithstanding’’; 

9 and 

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

11 ‘‘(B) REALLOCATION.—Notwithstanding 

12 paragraphs (1) through (7), a State may reallo13 cate, in not more than 1 fiscal year, not more 

14 than 10 percent of funds allocated for programs 

15 described in such paragraphs to carry out ac16 tivities described in subsection (c)(4)(D).’’; and 

17 (2) in subsection (c)(4)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘used for making’’ and in19 serting ‘‘used for— 

20 ‘‘(A) making’’; and 

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

22 ‘‘(B) developing or acquiring programs to 

23 identify, collect, and report data to State and 

24 local government agencies, and enter data, in25 cluding crash, citation or adjudication, driver, 


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1 emergency medical services or injury surveil2 lance system, roadway, and vehicle, into the 

3 core highway safety databases of a State; 

4 ‘‘(C) purchasing equipment to improve 

5 processes by which data is identified, collected, 

6 and reported to State and local government 

7 agencies; 

8 ‘‘(D) linking core highway safety databases 

9 of a State with such databases of other States 

10 or with other data systems within the State, in11 cluding systems that contain medical, roadway, 

12 and economic data; 

13 ‘‘(E) improving the compatibility and 

14 interoperability of the core highway safety data15 bases of the State with national data systems 

16 and data systems of other States; 

17 ‘‘(F) enhancing the ability of a State and 

18 the Secretary to observe and analyze local, 

19 State, and national trends in crash occurrences, 

20 rates, outcomes, and circumstances; 

21 ‘‘(G) supporting traffic records-related 

22 training and related expenditures for law en23 forcement, emergency medical, judicial, prosecu24 torial and traffic records professionals; 


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1 ‘‘(H) hiring traffic records professionals, 

2 including a Fatality Analysis Reporting System 

3 liaison for a State; and 

4 ‘‘(I) conducting research on State traffic 

5 safety information systems, including devel6 oping and evaluating programs to improve core 

7 highway safety databases of such State and 

8 processes by which data is identified, collected, 

9 reported to State and local government agencies 

10 and entered into such core safety databases.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO DEVELOP DATA SHARING CAPABILITIES 

12 AMONG STATE AND NATIONAL TRAFFIC DATA 

13 SYSTEMS. 

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Beginning on the date of en15 actment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall 

16 award not more than 10 interoperability grants in a fiscal 

17 year to eligible entities to improve interoperability among 

18 State and national traffic data systems. 

19 (b) INITIAL GRANTS.—Not later than 1 year after 

20 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

21 award 10 interoperability grants under subsection (a). 

22 (c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

23 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 

24 Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 


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1 and containing such information as the Secretary may re2 quire. 

3 (d) TOTAL GRANT AMOUNTS.—The total grant 

4 amounts awarded by the Secretary under subsection (a) 

5 may not exceed $50,000,000 in a fiscal year. 

6 (e) USE OF GRANTS.—An eligible entity that receives 

7 a grant under this section shall use such grant to improve 

8 interoperability among State and national traffic data sys9 tems through— 

10 (1) data notification and the exchange of driver 

11 history and safety information between State drivers 

12 license agencies, including information that may im13 pact the eligibility of a driver to obtain or maintain 

14 a motor vehicle operator’s license; and 

15 (2) other improvements to the interoperability 

16 among State and national traffic data systems as 

17 the Secretary determines appropriate. 

18 (f) EVALUATION OF GRANT APPLICATIONS.—In 

19 awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall 

20 evaluate applications from an eligible entity based on the 

21 following criteria: 

22 (1) The experience of the eligible entity in de23 veloping, implementing, or improving State traffic 

24 data systems. 


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1 (2) The experience of the eligible entity in im2 proving compatibility and interoperability among 

3 State and national traffic data systems. 

4 (3) The potential of the goals and outcomes 

5 stated in the application of an eligible entity to pro6 mote efficiency among, or to automate notifications 

7 between, the chief driver licensing officials of States 

8 when the drivers license eligibility of a driver may be 

9 impacted by an event in another State. 

10 (4) The potential for the proposed project of an 

11 eligible entity to be scaled or adopted nationally and 

12 by other States. 

13 (5) Any other factor that the Secretary deter14 mines appropriate. 

15 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) CHIEF DRIVER LICENSING OFFICIAL.—The 

17 term ‘‘chief driver licensing official’’ has the mean18 ing given the term in section 30301 of title 49, 

19 United States Code. 

20 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti21 ty’’ means— 

22 (A) a State driver licensing agency; 

23 (B) an organization that administers a 

24 State traffic data system; or 


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1 (C) a consortium of entities described in 

2 subparagraphs (A) and (B). 

3 (3) MOTOR VEHICLE OPERATOR’S LICENSE.— 

4 The term ‘‘motor vehicle operator’s license’’ has the 

5 meaning given the term in section 30301 of title 49, 

6 United States Code. 

7 (4) STATE DRIVERS LICENSE AGENCY.—The 

8 term ‘‘State drivers license agency’’ means the agen9 cy of a State responsible for issuing motor vehicle 

10 operator’s licenses. 

Æ 


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