II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 207 

To enhance tribal road safety, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 24, 2019 

Mr. BARRASSO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 

4 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec5 retary of the Interior. 

6 SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS TO 

7 CERTAIN TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION FACILI8 TIES. 

9 (a) DEFINITION OF TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION SAFE10 TY PROJECT.— 

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

12 ‘‘tribal transportation safety project’’ means a 


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

2 funding under section 202 of title 23, United States 

3 Code, and that— 

4 (A) corrects or improves a hazardous road 

5 location or feature; or 

6 (B) addresses a highway safety problem. 

7 (2) PROJECTS DESCRIBED.—A project de8 scribed in this paragraph is a project for one or 

9 more of the following: 

10 (A) An intersection safety improvement. 

11 (B) Pavement and shoulder widening (in12 cluding the addition of a passing lane to remedy 

13 an unsafe condition). 

14 (C) Installation of rumble strips or another 

15 warning device, if the rumble strips or other 

16 warning devices do not adversely affect the 

17 safety or mobility of bicyclists and pedestrians, 

18 including persons with disabilities. 

19 (D) Installation of a skid-resistant surface 

20 at an intersection or other location with a high 

21 frequency of crashes. 

22 (E) An improvement for pedestrian or bi23 cyclist safety or the safety of persons with dis24 abilities. 


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1 (F) Construction and improvement of a 

2 railway-highway grade crossing safety feature, 

3 including the installation of protective devices. 

4 (G) The conduct of a model traffic enforce5 ment activity at a railway-highway crossing. 

6 (H) Construction of a traffic calming fea7 ture. 

8 (I) Elimination of a roadside hazard. 

9 (J) Installation, replacement, and other 

10 improvements of highway signage and pavement 

11 markings or a project to maintain minimum 

12 levels of retroreflectivity that addresses a high13 way safety problem consistent with a State 

14 strategic highway safety plan. 

15 (K) Installation of a priority control sys16 tem for emergency vehicles at signalized inter17 sections. 

18 (L) Installation of a traffic control or other 

19 warning device at a location with high crash po20 tential. 

21 (M) Transportation safety planning. 

22 (N) Collection, analysis, and improvement 

23 of safety data. 

24 (O) Planning integrated interoperable 

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1 ational activities, or traffic enforcement activi2 ties (including police assistance) relating to 

3 work zone safety. 

4 (P) Installation of guardrails, barriers (in5 cluding barriers between construction work 

6 zones and traffic lanes for the safety of road 

7 users and workers), and crash attenuators. 

8 (Q) The addition or retrofitting of struc9 tures or other measures to eliminate or reduce 

10 crashes involving vehicles and wildlife. 

11 (R) Installation of yellow-green signs and 

12 signals at pedestrian and bicycle crossings and 

13 in school zones. 

14 (S) Construction and operational improve15 ments on a high risk rural road (as defined in 

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

17 (T) Geometric improvements to a road for 

18 the purposes of safety improvement. 

19 (U) A road safety audit. 

20 (V) Roadway safety infrastructure im21 provements consistent with the recommenda22 tions included in the publication of the Federal 

23 Highway Administration entitled ‘‘Handbook 

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1 lation’’ (FHWA–SA–14–015), dated June 2014 

2 (or a revised or updated publication). 

3 (W) Truck parking facilities eligible for 

4 funding under section 1401 of MAP–21 (23 

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

6 (X) Systemic safety improvements. 

7 (Y) Installation of vehicle-to-infrastructure 

8 communication equipment. 

9 (Z) Pedestrian hybrid beacons. 

10 (AA) Roadway improvements that provide 

11 separation between pedestrians and motor vehi12 cles, including medians and pedestrian crossing 

13 islands. 

14 (BB) A physical infrastructure safety 

15 project not described in subparagraphs (A) 

16 through (AA). 

17 (b) NEW CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS.— 

18 (1) REVIEW OF EXISTING CATEGORICAL EXCLU19 SIONS.—The Secretary shall review the categorical 

20 exclusions under section 771.117 of title 23, Code of 

21 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), to 

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

23 the Secretary in review of projects eligible for assist24 ance under section 202 of title 23, United States 

25 Code. 


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1 (2) REVIEW OF TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION

2 SAFETY PROJECTS.—The Secretary shall identify 

3 tribal transportation safety projects that meet the 

4 requirements for categorical exclusions under sec5 tions 1507.3 and 1508.4 of title 40, Code of Federal 

6 Regulations. 

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

8 proposed rule, in accordance with sections 1507.3 

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

10 to propose any categorical exclusions identified 

11 under paragraphs (1) and (2). 

12 (4) DEADLINE.—Not later than 180 days after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, and after consid14 ering any comments on the proposed rule issued 

15 under paragraph (3), the Secretary shall promulgate 

16 a final rule for the categorical exclusions, in accord17 ance with sections 1507.3 and 1508.4 of title 40, 

18 Code of Federal Regulations. 

19 (5) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 

20 Transportation shall provide technical assistance to 

21 the Secretary in carrying out this subsection. 

22 (c) REVIEWS OF TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY

23 PROJECTS.— 

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

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1 lated to a tribal transportation safety project shall 

2 complete any approval or decision for the review of 

3 the tribal transportation safety project required 

4 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

5 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or any other applica6 ble Federal law on an expeditious basis using the 

7 shortest existing applicable process. 

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

9 45 days after the date of receipt of a complete appli10 cation by an Indian tribe for approval of a tribal 

11 transportation safety project, the Secretary shall— 

12 (A) take final action on the application; or 

13 (B) provide the Indian tribe a schedule for 

14 completion of the review described in paragraph 

15 (1), including the identification of any other 

16 Federal agency that has jurisdiction with re17 spect to the project. 

18 (3) DECISIONS UNDER OTHER FEDERAL

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

20 other Federal law relating to a tribal transportation 

21 safety project (including the issuance or denial of a 

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

23 after the Secretary has made all decisions of the 

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1 spect to the project, the head of the Federal agency 

2 responsible for the decision shall— 

3 (A) make the applicable decision; or 

4 (B) provide the Indian tribe a schedule for 

5 making the decision. 

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

7 of an applicable Federal agency may extend the pe8 riod under paragraph (2) or (3), as applicable, by an 

9 additional 30 days by providing the Indian tribe no10 tice of the extension, including a statement of the 

11 need for the extension. 

12 (5) NOTIFICATION AND EXPLANATION.—In any 

13 case in which a required action is not completed by 

14 the deadline under paragraph (2), (3), or (4), as ap15 plicable, the Secretary or the head of a Federal 

16 agency, as applicable, shall— 

17 (A) notify the Committee on Indian Affairs 

18 of the Senate and the Committee on Natural 

19 Resources of the House of Representatives of 

20 the failure to comply with the deadline; and 

21 (B) provide to the Committees described in 

22 subparagraph (A) a detailed explanation of the 

23 reasons for the failure to comply with the dead24 line. 


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1 SEC. 3. PROGRAMMATIC AGREEMENTS FOR CATEGORICAL 

2 EXCLUSIONS. 

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

4 programmatic agreements with Indian tribes that estab5 lish efficient administrative procedures for carrying out 

6 environmental reviews for projects eligible for assistance 

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

8 (b) INCLUSIONS.—A programmatic agreement under 

9 subsection (a)— 

10 (1) may include an agreement that allows an 

11 Indian tribe to determine, on behalf of the Sec12 retary, whether a project is categorically excluded 

13 from the preparation of an environmental assess14 ment or environmental impact statement under the 

15 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

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

17 (2) shall— 

18 (A) require that the Indian tribe maintain 

19 adequate capacity in terms of personnel and 

20 other resources to carry out applicable agency 

21 responsibilities pursuant to section 1507.2 of 

22 title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or suc23 cessor regulations); 

24 (B) set forth the responsibilities of the In25 dian tribe for making categorical exclusion de26 terminations, documenting the determinations, 


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1 and achieving acceptable quality control and 

2 quality assurance; 

3 (C) allow— 

4 (i) the Secretary to monitor compli5 ance of the Indian tribe with the terms of 

6 the agreement; and 

7 (ii) the Indian tribe to execute any 

8 needed corrective action; 

9 (D) contain stipulations for amendments, 

10 termination, and public availability of the agree11 ment once the agreement has been executed; 

12 and 

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

14 with an option for renewal based on a review by 

15 the Secretary of the performance of the Indian 

16 tribe. 

Æ 


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