II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1211 

To provide for improvements to Tribal transportation facilities and Tribal 

transportation safety, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 11, 2019 

Mr. HOEVEN (for himself, Mr. CRAMER, and Ms. MCSALLY) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for improvements to Tribal transportation facilities and Tribal transportation 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Addressing Under5 developed and Tribally Operated Streets Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 

7 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec8 retary of the Interior. 


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1 SEC. 3. APPLICATION OF CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS TO 

2 CERTAIN TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION FACILI3 TIES. 

4 (a) DEFINITION OF TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION SAFE5 TY PROJECT.— 

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

7 ‘‘tribal transportation safety project’’ means a 

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

9 funding under section 202 of title 23, United States 

10 Code, and that— 

11 (A) corrects or improves a hazardous road 

12 location or feature; or 

13 (B) addresses a highway safety problem. 

14 (2) PROJECTS DESCRIBED.—A project de15 scribed in this paragraph is a project for 1 or more 

16 of the following: 

17 (A) An intersection safety improvement. 

18 (B) Pavement and shoulder widening (in19 cluding the addition of a passing lane to remedy 

20 an unsafe condition). 

21 (C) Installation of rumble strips or another 

22 warning device, if the rumble strips or other 

23 warning devices do not adversely affect the 

24 safety or mobility of bicyclists and pedestrians, 

25 including persons with disabilities. 


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1 (D) Installation of a skid-resistant surface 

2 at an intersection or other location with a high 

3 frequency of crashes. 

4 (E) An improvement for pedestrian or bi5 cyclist safety or the safety of persons with dis6 abilities. 

7 (F) Construction and improvement of a 

8 railway-highway grade crossing safety feature, 

9 including the installation of protective devices. 

10 (G) The conduct of a model traffic enforce11 ment activity at a railway-highway crossing. 

12 (H) Construction of a traffic calming fea13 ture. 

14 (I) Elimination of a roadside hazard. 

15 (J) Installation, replacement, and other 

16 improvements of highway signage and pavement 

17 markings or a project to maintain minimum 

18 levels of retroreflectivity that addresses a high19 way safety problem consistent with a State 

20 strategic highway safety plan. 

21 (K) Installation of a priority control sys22 tem for emergency vehicles at signalized inter23 sections. 


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1 (L) Installation of a traffic control or other 

2 warning device at a location with high crash po3 tential. 

4 (M) Transportation safety planning. 

5 (N) Collection, analysis, and improvement 

6 of safety data. 

7 (O) Planning integrated interoperable 

8 emergency communications equipment, oper9 ational activities, or traffic enforcement activi10 ties (including police assistance) relating to 

11 work zone safety. 

12 (P) Installation of guardrails, barriers (in13 cluding barriers between construction work 

14 zones and traffic lanes for the safety of road 

15 users and workers), and crash attenuators. 

16 (Q) The addition or retrofitting of struc17 tures or other measures to eliminate or reduce 

18 crashes involving vehicles and wildlife. 

19 (R) Installation of yellow-green signs and 

20 signals at pedestrian and bicycle crossings and 

21 in school zones. 

22 (S) Construction and operational improve23 ments on a high risk rural road (as defined in 

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


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1 (T) Geometric improvements to a road for 

2 the purposes of safety improvement. 

3 (U) A road safety audit. 

4 (V) Roadway safety infrastructure im5 provements consistent with the recommenda6 tions included in the publication of the Federal 

7 Highway Administration entitled ‘‘Handbook 

8 for Designing Roadways for the Aging Popu9 lation’’ (FHWA–SA–14–015), dated June 2014 

10 (or a revised or updated publication). 

11 (W) Truck parking facilities eligible for 

12 funding under section 1401 of MAP–21 (23 

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

14 (X) Systemic safety improvements. 

15 (Y) Installation of vehicle-to-infrastructure 

16 communication equipment. 

17 (Z) Pedestrian hybrid beacons. 

18 (AA) Roadway improvements that provide 

19 separation between pedestrians and motor vehi20 cles, including medians and pedestrian crossing 

21 islands. 

22 (BB) A physical infrastructure safety 

23 project not described in subparagraphs (A) 

24 through (AA). 

25 (b) NEW CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS.— 


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1 (1) REVIEW OF EXISTING TRIBAL CATEGORICAL

2 EXCLUSIONS.—The Secretary shall review the cat3 egorical exclusions under section 771.117 of title 23, 

4 Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regula5 tions), to determine which, if any, are applicable for 

6 use by the Secretary in review of projects eligible for 

7 assistance under section 202 of title 23, United 

8 States Code. 

9 (2) REVIEW OF TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION

10 SAFETY PROJECTS.—The Secretary shall identify 

11 types of tribal transportation safety projects that 

12 meet the requirements for categorical exclusions 

13 under sections 1507.3 and 1508.4 of title 40, Code 

14 of Federal Regulations. 

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

16 proposed rule, in accordance with sections 1507.3 

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

18 to propose any categorical exclusions identified 

19 under paragraphs (1) and (2). 

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

21 the date of enactment of this Act, and after consid22 ering any comments on the proposed rule issued 

23 under paragraph (3), the Secretary shall promulgate 

24 a final rule for the categorical exclusions, in accordVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Apr 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1211.IS S1211

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1 ance with sections 1507.3 and 1508.4 of title 40, 

2 Code of Federal Regulations. 

3 (5) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 

4 Transportation shall provide technical assistance to 

5 the Secretary in carrying out this subsection. 

6 (c) REVIEWS OF TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY

7 PROJECTS.— 

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

9 another Federal agency responsible for a decision re10 lated to a tribal transportation safety project shall 

11 complete any approval or decision for the review of 

12 the tribal transportation safety project required 

13 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

14 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or any other applica15 ble Federal law on an expeditious basis using the 

16 shortest existing applicable process. 

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

18 45 days after the date of receipt of a complete appli19 cation by an Indian tribe for approval of a tribal 

20 transportation safety project, the Secretary shall— 

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

22 (B) provide the Indian tribe a schedule for 

23 completion of the review described in paragraph 

24 (1), including the identification of any other 


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1 Federal agency that has jurisdiction with re2 spect to the project. 

3 (3) DECISIONS UNDER OTHER FEDERAL

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

5 other Federal law relating to a tribal transportation 

6 safety project (including the issuance or denial of a 

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

8 after the Secretary has made all decisions of the 

9 lead agency under the National Environmental Pol10 icy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with re11 spect to the project, the head of the Federal agency 

12 responsible for the decision shall— 

13 (A) make the applicable decision; or 

14 (B) provide the Indian tribe a schedule for 

15 making the decision. 

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

17 of an applicable Federal agency may extend the pe18 riod under paragraph (2) or (3), as applicable, by an 

19 additional 30 days by providing the Indian tribe no20 tice of the extension, including a statement of the 

21 need for the extension. 

22 (5) NOTIFICATION AND EXPLANATION.—In any 

23 case in which a required action is not completed by 

24 the deadline under paragraph (2), (3), or (4), as apVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Apr 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1211.IS S1211

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1 plicable, the Secretary or the head of a Federal 

2 agency, as applicable, shall— 

3 (A) notify the Committee on Indian Affairs 

4 and the Committee on Environment and Public 

5 Works of the Senate and the Committee on 

6 Natural Resources of the House of Representa7 tives of the failure to comply with the deadline; 

8 and 

9 (B) provide to the Committees described in 

10 subparagraph (A) a detailed explanation of the 

11 reasons for the failure to comply with the dead12 line. 

13 SEC. 4. PROGRAMMATIC AGREEMENTS FOR TRIBAL CAT14 EGORICAL EXCLUSIONS. 

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

16 programmatic agreements with Indian tribes that estab17 lish efficient administrative procedures for carrying out 

18 environmental reviews for projects eligible for assistance 

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

20 (b) INCLUSIONS.—A programmatic agreement under 

21 subsection (a)— 

22 (1) may include an agreement that allows an 

23 Indian tribe to determine, on behalf of the Sec24 retary, whether a project is categorically excluded 

25 from the preparation of an environmental assessVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Apr 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1211.IS S1211

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1 ment or environmental impact statement under the 

2 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

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

4 (2) shall— 

5 (A) require that the Indian tribe maintain 

6 adequate capability in terms of personnel and 

7 other resources to carry out applicable agency 

8 responsibilities pursuant to section 1507.2 of 

9 title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or suc10 cessor regulations); 

11 (B) set forth the responsibilities of the In12 dian tribe for making categorical exclusion de13 terminations, documenting the determinations, 

14 and achieving acceptable quality control and 

15 quality assurance; 

16 (C) allow— 

17 (i) the Secretary to monitor compli18 ance of the Indian tribe with the terms of 

19 the agreement; and 

20 (ii) the Indian tribe to execute any 

21 needed corrective action; 

22 (D) contain stipulations for amendments, 

23 termination, and public availability of the agree24 ment once the agreement has been executed; 

25 and 


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

2 with an option for renewal based on a review by 

3 the Secretary of the performance of the Indian 

4 tribe. 

5 SEC. 5. USE OF CERTAIN TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION FUNDS. 

6 Section 202(d) of title 23, United States Code, is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds made available to 

11 carry out this subsection shall be used— 

12 ‘‘(A) to carry out any planning, design, en13 gineering, preconstruction, construction, and in14 spection of new or replacement tribal transpor15 tation facility bridges; 

16 ‘‘(B) to replace, rehabilitate, seismically 

17 retrofit, paint, apply calcium magnesium ace18 tate, sodium acetate/formate, or other environ19 mentally acceptable, minimally corrosive anti20 icing and deicing composition; or 

21 ‘‘(C) to implement any countermeasure for 

22 deficient tribal transportation facility bridges, 

23 including multiple-pipe culverts.’’; and 

24 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(5) FUNDING.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any 

2 other funds made available to carry out this 

3 section, there are authorized to be appropriated 

4 out of the Highway Trust Fund (other than the 

5 Mass Transit Account) to carry out this sub6 section— 

7 ‘‘(i) $16,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

8 ‘‘(ii) $18,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

9 ‘‘(iii) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 

10 2023; 

11 ‘‘(iv) $22,000,000 for fiscal year 

12 2024; and 

13 ‘‘(v) $24,000,000 for fiscal year 2025. 

14 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT.—For purposes of sec15 tion 201, funds made available under subpara16 graph (A) shall be considered to be part of the 

17 tribal transportation program.’’. 

18 SEC. 6. BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS ROAD MAINTENANCE 

19 PROGRAM. 

20 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Direc21 tor of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to carry out the road 

22 maintenance program of the Bureau— 

23 (1) $46,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

24 (2) $48,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

25 (3) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 


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1 (4) $52,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; and 

2 (5) $54,000,000 for fiscal year 2025. 

3 SEC. 7. STUDY OF ROAD MAINTENANCE ON INDIAN LAND. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘‘Indian land’’ 

6 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian lands’’ in 

7 section 3 of the Native American Business Develop8 ment, Trade Promotion, and Tourism Act of 2000 

9 (25 U.S.C. 4302). 

10 (2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

11 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

12 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

13 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

14 (3) ROAD.—The term ‘‘road’’ means a road 

15 managed in whole or in part by the Bureau of In16 dian Affairs. 

17 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary, acting through the Assistant Sec19 retary for Indian Affairs. 

20 (b) STUDY.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

21 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation 

22 with the Secretary of Transportation, shall carry out a 

23 study to evaluate— 

24 (1) the long-term viability and useful life of ex25 isting roads on Indian land; 


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1 (2) any steps necessary to achieve the goal of 

2 addressing the deferred maintenance backlog of ex3 isting roads on Indian land; 

4 (3) programmatic reforms and performance en5 hancements necessary to achieve the goal of restruc6 turing and streamlining road maintenance programs 

7 on existing or future roads located on Indian land; 

8 and 

9 (4) recommendations on how to implement ef10 forts to coordinate with States, counties, municipali11 ties, and other units of local government to maintain 

12 roads on Indian land. 

13 (c) TRIBAL CONSULTATION AND INPUT.—Before be14 ginning the study under subsection (b), the Secretary 

15 shall— 

16 (1) consult with any Indian tribes that have ju17 risdiction over roads eligible for funding under the 

18 road maintenance program of the Bureau of Indian 

19 Affairs; and 

20 (2) solicit and consider the input, comments, 

21 and recommendations of the Indian tribes described 

22 in paragraph (1). 

23 (d) REPORT.—On completion of the study under sub24 section (b), the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec25 retary of Transportation, shall submit to the Committees 


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1 on Indian Affairs and Environment and Public Works of 

2 the Senate and the Committees on Natural Resources and 

3 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep4 resentatives a report on the results and findings of the 

5 study. 

6 (e) STATUS REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after 

7 the date of enactment of this Act, and not less frequently 

8 than every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary, in consulta9 tion with the Secretary of Transportation, shall submit to 

10 the Committees on Indian Affairs and Environment and 

11 Public Works of the Senate and the Committees on Nat12 ural Resources and Transportation and Infrastructure of 

13 the House of Representatives a report that includes a de14 scription of— 

15 (1) the progress made toward addressing the 

16 deferred maintenance needs of the roads on Indian 

17 land, including a list of projects funded during the 

18 fiscal period covered by the report; 

19 (2) the outstanding needs of the roads that 

20 have been provided funding to address the deferred 

21 maintenance needs; 

22 (3) the remaining needs of any of the projects 

23 referred to in paragraph (1); 

24 (4) how the goals described in subsection (b) 

25 have been met, including— 


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1 (A) an identification and assessment of 

2 any deficiencies or shortfalls in meeting the 

3 goals; and 

4 (B) a plan to address the deficiencies or 

5 shortfalls in meeting the goals; and 

6 (5) any other issues or recommendations pro7 vided by an Indian tribe under the consultation and 

8 input process under subsection (c) that the Sec9 retary determines to be appropriate. 

10 SEC. 8. MAINTENANCE OF CERTAIN INDIAN RESERVATION 

11 ROADS. 

12 The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Pro13 tection may transfer funds to the Director of the Bureau 

14 of Indian Affairs to maintain or repair roads under the 

15 jurisdiction of the Director, subject to the condition that 

16 the Commissioner and the Director shall mutually agree 

17 that the primary user of the subject road is U.S. Customs 

18 and Border Protection. 

19 SEC. 9. TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY NEEDS. 

20 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) ALASKA NATIVE.—The term ‘‘Alaska Na22 tive’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘Native’’ in 

23 section 3 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 

24 Act (43 U.S.C. 1602). 


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1 (2) ALASKA NATIVE VILLAGE.—The term 

2 ‘‘Alaska Native village’’ has the meaning given the 

3 term ‘‘Native village’’ in section 3 of the Alaska Na4 tive Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602). 

5 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

6 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

7 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

8 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

9 (b) BEST PRACTICES, STANDARDIZED CRASH RE10 PORT FORM.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

13 Transportation, in consultation with the Secretary, 

14 Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages, and State de15 partments of transportation shall develop— 

16 (A) best practices for the compiling, anal17 ysis, and sharing of motor vehicle crash data 

18 for crashes occurring on Indian reservations 

19 and in Alaska Native communities; and 

20 (B) a standardized form for use by Indian 

21 tribes and Alaska Native communities to carry 

22 out those best practices. 

23 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the best prac24 tices and standardized form developed under para25 graph (1) shall be to improve the quality and quanVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Apr 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1211.IS S1211

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1 tity of crash data available to and used by the Fed2 eral Highway Administration, State departments of 

3 transportation, Indian tribes, and Alaska Native vil4 lages. 

5 (3) REPORT.—On completion of the develop6 ment of the best practices and standardized form 

7 under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Transpor8 tation shall submit to the Committee on Indian Af9 fairs of the Senate and the Committee on Natural 

10 Resources of the House of Representatives a report 

11 describing the best practices and standardized form. 

12 (c) USE OF IMARS.—The Director of the Bureau of 

13 Indian Affairs shall require all law enforcement offices of 

14 the Bureau, for the purpose of reporting motor vehicle 

15 crash data for crashes occurring on Indian reservations 

16 and in Alaska Native communities— 

17 (1) to use the crash report form of the applica18 ble State; and 

19 (2) to upload the information on that form to 

20 the Incident Management Analysis and Reporting 

21 System (IMARS) of the Department of the Interior. 

22 (d) TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM SAFETY

23 FUNDING.—Section 202(e)(1) of title 23, United States 


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1 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘2 percent’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘4 percent’’. 

Æ 


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