I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2665
To improve Indian reservation roads and related transportation services, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 9, 1997
Mr. PASTOR (for himself, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. TOWNS, Mr.
FROST, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Mr. HAYWORTH, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD,
and Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To improve Indian reservation roads and related
transportation services, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Indian
Transportation Improvement Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) the Federal Government has a responsibility
to promote the general welfare of the United States
by supporting interstate, national, and international
commerce through the use of Federal resources to
assist States, Indian tribes, and local governments in
the development and maintenance of physical infra-
structure, 
including 
roads, 
highways, 
byways,
bridges, and other transportation-related structures;
(2) there exists a unique legal and political rela-
tionship between the United States and tribal gov-
ernments and a unique Federal responsibility to
American Indians and Alaska Natives;
(3) under law and practice, the United States
has undertaken a trust responsibility to protect and
preserve Indian tribes, Indians, and tribal assets and
resources;
(4) this Federal responsibility includes working
with tribal governments and their members to im-
prove the condition of the physical infrastructure
used by tribes for their economic well-being;
(5) the demonstrated need for improvements to
physical infrastructure on Indian land is acute, and
the Federal Government should assist in making the
improvements and in developing tribal and private
mechanisms to achieve the goals of economic self-
sufficiency and political self-determination;
(6)(A) Indian tribes of the United States are
served by over 50,000 miles of roads nationwide;
(B) the road system of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs constitutes about 25,000 miles, or 50 per-
cent, of roads serving Indian tribes;
(C) State and county roads make up the largest
percentage, about 49 percent, of roads serving In-
dian tribes; and
(D) tribal roads account for approximately 5
percent, and private and Federal roads (other than
Bureau of Indian Affairs roads) make up the small
balance of approximately 4 percent, of roads serving
Indian tribes;
(7)(A) the Indian reservation roads program es-
tablished under the Intermodal Surface Transpor-
tation Efficiency Act of 1991 (Public Law 102–240)
is targeted at the Bureau of Indian Affairs road sys-
tem that constitutes less than 1⁄2 of the total mileage
of roads on Indian reservations in the United States;
(B) only 11 percent of the Bureau of Indian Af-
fairs roads are rated as being in good condition; and
(C) of the unpaved Bureau of Indian Affairs
roads, 90 percent are known to be in poor condition
and none of the unpaved roads are rated as being
in good condition;
(8)(A) annual funding of the Indian reservation
roads program, through the Highway Trust Fund,
as authorized by the Intermodal Surface Transpor-
tation Efficiency Act of 1991, has become the major
source of funding for new road construction on In-
dian land in the United States;
(B) the Bureau of Indian Affairs road construc-
tion budget has virtually vanished; and
(C) the Bureau of Indian Affairs continues to
provide minimal funding of about $25,000,000 per
fiscal year for road maintenance of its road system;
(9)(A) in the late 1950’s, Bureau of Indian Af-
fairs road construction and maintenance funding
reached a high of $10,000,000 per fiscal year for the
first time in history;
(B) by 1979, Bureau of Indian Affairs road
budgets for construction and maintenance reached
their peak of almost $80,000,000 per fiscal year,
and then declined rapidly;
(C) in the Surface Transportation Assistance
Act of 1982 (Public Law 97–424), the funding levels
for the Indian reservation roads program stabilized
at about $100,000,000 through the Highway Trust
Fund for each of fiscal years 1984 through 1986;
(D) the Surface Transportation and Uniform
Relocation Assistance Act of 1987 (Public Law 100–
17) reduced the annual Highway Trust Fund au-
thorization to $80,000,000 for each of fiscal years
1987 through 1991; and
(E) in almost every fiscal year since fiscal year
1992, the Indian reservation roads program has
been funded at $191,000,000 per fiscal year;
(10)(A) Indian reservation roads are needed to
support economic development activities, education,
health, and virtually every aspect of reservation life;
and
(B) some of the most scenic highways in the
United States are on Indian reservations;
(11)(A) at current and historic levels of fund-
ing, Indian road conditions continue to fall behind
national standards; and
(B) to help alleviate some of the poor transpor-
tation conditions on Indian reservations in the Unit-
ed States, there is a need to increase the level of
funding, from the Highway Trust Fund, for the In-
dian reservation roads program to $300,000,000 per
fiscal year, from the current level of $191,000,000
per fiscal year; and
(12) Federal assistance described in this section
should be provided in a manner that recognizes the
rights created under Federal laws and policies on In-
dian self-determination and self-governance in ac-
cordance with the Indian Self-Determination and
Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.)
and, to the maximum extent practicable, should be
provided directly to Indian tribal governments.
SEC. 3. INDIAN RESERVATION ROADS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1003(a)(6)(A) of the
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991
(Public Law 102–240; 105 Stat. 1919) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘1992 and’’ and inserting
‘‘1992,’’; and
(2) by inserting before the period at the end the
following: ‘‘, $250,000,000 for fiscal year 1998,
$275,000,000 
for 
fiscal 
year 
1999, 
and
$300,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2000 through
2003’’.
(b) MASS
TRANSPORTATION
SERVICES.—Section
1032(d) of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Effi-
ciency Act of 1991 (23 U.S.C. 202 note; 105 Stat. 1975)
is amended by inserting before the period at the end the
following: ‘‘and not more than 3 percent of the funds allo-
cated for Indian reservation roads in each fiscal year may
be transferred by the tribal government to mass transpor-
tation services’’.
(c) MAINTENANCE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 204(b) of title 23,
United States Code, is amended in the second sen-
tence by striking the period at the end and inserting
the following: ‘‘and, in the case of Indian reservation
roads, maintenance thereof’’.
(2) LIMITATION
ON
STATUTORY
CONSTRUC-
TION.—The amendment made by paragraph (1) may
not be construed to affect the responsibilities of the
Secretary of the Interior under section 204(c) of
title 23, United States Code.
SEC. 4. APPORTIONMENT ADJUSTMENTS.
Section 1015 of the Intermodal Surface Transpor-
tation Efficiency Act of 1991 (23 U.S.C. 104 note; 105
Stat. 1943) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘1997’’ each place it appears
and inserting ‘‘2003’’; and
(2) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting after
‘‘Federal lands highways program’’ the following:
‘‘(other than funds for a public land highway con-
structed on an Indian reservation)’’.
SEC. 5. SCENIC BYWAYS PROGRAM.
Section 1047 of the Intermodal Surface Transpor-
tation Efficiency Act of 1991 (23 U.S.C. 101 note; 105
Stat. 1996) is amended—
(1) in subsection (b)—
(A) by inserting ‘‘and Indian tribes’’ after
‘‘the States’’ each place it appears;
(B) by striking ‘‘term is’’ and inserting
‘‘terms are’’; and
(C) by inserting ‘‘or Indian tribe’’ after
‘‘State’’;
(2) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘or Indian
tribe’’ after ‘‘State’’; and
(3) in subsection (d)—
(A) in the first sentence—
(i) by striking ‘‘There’’ and inserting
the following:
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),
there’’; and
(ii) by striking ‘‘1995, 1996, and
1997’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘1995 
through
2003’’; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(2) INDIAN TRIBES.—Not less than 1 percent
of the funds made available to the Secretary for a
fiscal year under paragraph (1) shall be used by the
Secretary to make competitive grants to Indian
tribes for the planning, design, and development of
Indian tribe scenic byway programs.’’.
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
Section 101(a) of title 23, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after the undesignated paragraph
defining ‘‘Indian reservation roads’’ the following:
‘‘The term ‘Indian tribal transportation department’
means the department, commission, board, or member of
an Indian tribe that is charged by its laws with the respon-
sibility for highway construction.
‘‘The term ‘Indian tribe’ has the meaning given the
term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and
Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b).’’.
SEC. 7. CERTIFICATION ACCEPTANCE.
Section 117(a) of title 23, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘or Indian tribe’’ after ‘‘any
State’’ each place it appears;
(2) by inserting ‘‘or Indian tribal transportation
department’’ after ‘‘State highway department’’; and
(3) by inserting ‘‘or tribal’’ after ‘‘with State’’.
SEC. 8. TRANSPORTATION ENHANCEMENT ACTIVITIES.
Section 133(d)(2) of title 23, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘10 percent’’ and inserting the
following:
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), 10 percent’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(B) INDIAN
TRIBES.—Not less than 1
percent of the funds made available to a State
for a fiscal year under subparagraph (A) shall
be transferred to, and used by, the Secretary to
make competitive grants to Indian tribes for
transportation enhancement activities.’’.
SEC. 9. INDIAN RESERVATION BRIDGES.
Section 144(g) of title 23, United States Code, is
amended by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(4) INDIAN RESERVATION BRIDGES.—Notwith-
standing subsection (e), an amount equal to 1 per-
cent of the highway bridge replacement and rehabili-
tation program funds available to be apportioned to
States under this section shall be allocated to the
Secretary for projects to replace, rehabilitate, paint,
or apply calcium magnesium acetate to highway
bridges that are part of the Indian reservation road
system, with priority given to bridges with the high-
est level of deficiency (as determined in accordance
with the National Bridge Inspection Standards of
the Bureau of Indian Affairs).’’.
SEC. 10. HIGHWAY SAFETY PROGRAMS.
Section 402(i) of title 23, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and ‘political subdivision of a
State’ includes’’ and inserting ‘‘and’’; and
(2) in the first proviso, by striking ‘‘to the Sec-
retary of the Interior’’ and inserting ‘‘for Indian
tribes’’.
SEC. 11. MASS TRANSIT SET-ASIDE.
Section 5338(h) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the
end;
(2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ‘‘and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(4) not less than 1.0 percent is available for
transportation services to Indian tribes—
‘‘(A) under an allocation formula, which
shall be established by the Secretary of Trans-
portation through negotiations with Indian
tribes; and
‘‘(B) with respect to any fiscal year com-
mencing before the formula is established under
subparagraph (A), under an allocation formula
established by the Administrator of the Federal
Transit Administration of the Department of
Transportation.’’.
SEC. 12. INTERTRIBAL TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION.
(a) SET-ASIDE.—Out of amounts made available to
the Secretary of Transportation out of the Highway Trust
Fund, the Secretary shall set aside $500,000 per fiscal
year for fiscal years 1998 through 2003 to support the
development and administration of an Intertribal Trans-
portation Association.
(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds set aside under this sec-
tion shall be used to support government-to-government
dialog between Indian tribes, the Department of Trans-
portation, the Department of the Interior, other Federal
agencies, and State and local transportation agencies.
(c) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—
This section may not be construed to diminish the Federal
Government’s trust responsibility or government-to-gov-
ernment obligations with each federally recognized Indian
tribe.
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