I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2331
To amend the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century to provide 
from the Highway Trust Fund additional funding for Indian reservation 
roads, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 4, 2003
Mr. MATHESON (for himself, Mr. RENZI, and Mr. UDALL of New Mexico) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Cen-
tury to provide from the Highway Trust Fund additional 
funding for Indian reservation roads, and for other pur-
poses.
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 ‘‘Tribal Transportation 
Program Improvement Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) because many Indian tribes are located in 
remote areas, transportation is particularly impor-
tant to the basic quality of life and economic devel-
opment of Indian tribes; 
(2) safe roads are essential for—
(A) Indian children to travel to and from 
school; 
(B) sick and elderly individuals to receive 
basic health care and medical treatment; and 
(C) food and other necessities to be deliv-
ered to shops and consumers; 
(3) transportation is critical to the efforts of In-
dian tribes to—
(A) sustain robust economies; and 
(B) attract new jobs and businesses; 
(4) most Indian tribes lack the basic transpor-
tation systems that other people in the United 
States take for granted; 
(5) Indian communities continue to lag behind 
the rest of the United States in quality of life and 
economic vitality; 
(6) unemployment rates in Indian country fre-
quently exceed 50 percent, and poverty rates often 
exceed 40 percent;
(7) the limited availability of housing and jobs 
on Indian reservations forces people to commute 
long distances each day to travel to work or school, 
obtain health care, take advantage of basic govern-
ment services, go shopping, or even obtain drinking 
water; 
(8) the Indian reservation roads system estab-
lished under title 23, United States Code, comprises 
more than 50,000 miles of roads under the jurisdic-
tion of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and tribal, 
State, county, and local governments; 
(9) more than 2⁄3 of those roads are not paved, 
and many resemble roads in third-world countries; 
(10) as of the date of enactment of this Act, 
approximately 140 of the 753 bridges under the ju-
risdiction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs are rated 
as being deficient; 
(11) The Indian reservation roads system 
serves both Indians and the general public and is 
part of a unified national road network; 
(12) even though the Indian reservation roads 
system is perhaps the most rudimentary of any 
transportation network in the United States, more 
than 2,000,000,000 vehicle miles are traveled annu-
ally on the system;
(13) the poor quality of so many Indian res-
ervation roads has a serious impact on highway safe-
ty; 
(14) according to the Federal Highway Admin-
istration, the highway fatality rate on Indian res-
ervation roads is 4 times the national average high-
way fatality rate on all roads; 
(15) automobile accidents are the primary 
cause of death for young Indian individuals; and 
(16) the Federal Highway Administration esti-
mates the backlog of improvement needs for Indian 
reservation roads at approximately $6,800,000,000. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to reau-
thorize, expand, and streamline the Indian reservation 
roads program to improve transportation safety and better 
meet the needs of Indian individuals and other members 
of the traveling public. 
SEC. 3. INDIAN RESERVATION ROADS. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 
1101(a)(8)(A) of the Transportation Equity Act for the 
21st Century (112 Stat. 112) is amended by striking ‘‘of 
such title’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘of that 
title—
‘‘(i) $225,000,000 for fiscal year 
1998;
‘‘(ii) $275,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 1999 through 2003; 
‘‘(iii) $350,000,000 for fiscal year 
2004;
‘‘(iv) $425,000,000 for fiscal year 
2005; and 
‘‘(v) $500,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2006 through 2009.’’. 
(b) OBLIGATION CEILING.—Section 1102(c)(1) of the 
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (23 
U.S.C. 104 note; 112 Stat. 116) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘distribute obligation’’ and in-
serting the following: ‘‘distribute—
‘‘(A) obligation’’; 
(2) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at 
the end; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B) for any fiscal year after fiscal year 
2003, any amount of obligation authority made 
available for Indian reservation road bridges 
under section 202(d)(4), and for Indian res-
ervation roads under section 204, of title 23, 
United States Code;’’. 
(c) INDIAN RESERVATION ROAD BRIDGES.—Section 
202(d)(4) of title 23, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (B)—
(A) by striking ‘‘(B) RESERVATION.—Of 
the amounts’’ and all that follows through ‘‘to 
replace,’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(B) FUNDING.—
‘‘(i) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—Not-
withstanding any other provision of law, 
there is authorized to be appropriated from 
the Highway Trust Fund $15,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2004 through 2009 to 
carry out planning, design, engineering, 
construction, and inspection of projects to 
replace,’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(ii) 
AVAILABILITY.—Funds 
made 
available to carry out this subparagraph 
shall be available for obligation in the same 
manner as if the funds were apportioned 
under chapter 1.’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (D)—
(A) by striking ‘‘(D) APPROVAL REQUIRE-
MENT.—’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(D) APPROVAL
AND
NEED
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘only on approval of the 
plans, specifications, and estimates by the Sec-
retary.’’ and inserting ‘‘only—
‘‘(i) on approval by the Secretary of 
plans, specifications, and estimates relating 
to the projects; and 
‘‘(ii) in amounts directly proportional 
to the actual need of each Indian reserva-
tion, as determined by the Secretary based 
on the number of deficient bridges on each 
reservation and the projected cost of reha-
bilitation of those bridges.’’. 
(d) FAIR AND EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—Section 
202(d) of title 23, United States Code, is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) FAIR AND EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—To 
ensure that the distribution of funds to an Indian 
tribe under this subsection is fair, equitable, and 
based on valid transportation needs of the Indian 
tribe, the Secretary shall—
‘‘(A) verify the existence, as of the date of 
the distribution, of all roads that are part of 
the Indian reservation road system; and 
‘‘(B) distribute funds based only on those 
roads.’’.
(e) INDIAN RESERVATION ROAD PLANNING.—Sec-
tion 204(j) of title 23, United States Code, is amended 
in the first sentence by striking ‘‘2 percent’’ and inserting 
‘‘4 percent’’. 
SEC. 4. FEDERAL LANDS HIGHWAY PROGRAM DEMONSTRA-
TION PROJECT. 
Section 202(d)(3) of title 23, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) FEDERAL LANDS HIGHWAY PROGRAM 
DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.—
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
shall establish a demonstration project 
under which all funds made available 
under this title for Indian reservation 
roads and for highway bridges located on 
Indian reservation roads as provided for in 
subparagraph (A) shall be made available, 
on the request of an affected Indian tribal 
government, to the Indian tribal govern-
ment for use in carrying out, in accordance 
with the Indian Self-Determination and 
Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 
et seq.), contracts and agreements for the 
planning, research, engineering, and con-
struction described in that subparagraph.
‘‘(ii) EXCLUSION OF AGENCY PARTICI-
PATION.—In accordance with subpara-
graph (B), all funds for Indian reservation 
roads and for highway bridges located on 
Indian reservation roads to which clause 
(i) applies shall be paid without regard to 
the organizational level at which the Fed-
eral lands highway program has previously 
carried out the programs, functions, serv-
ices, or activities involved. 
‘‘(iii) SELECTION
OF
PARTICIPATING 
TRIBES.—
‘‘(I) PARTICIPANTS.—
‘‘(aa) 
IN
GENERAL.—For 
each fiscal year, the Secretary 
shall select 12 geographically di-
verse Indian tribes from the ap-
plicant pool described in sub-
clause (II) to participate in the 
demonstration project carried out 
under clause (i). 
‘‘(bb) CONSORTIA.—Two or 
more Indian tribes that are oth-
erwise eligible to participate in a 
program or activity to which this
title applies may form a consor-
tium to be considered as a single
tribe for the purpose of becoming 
part of the applicant pool under 
subclause (II). 
‘‘(cc) FUNDING.—An Indian 
tribe participating in the pilot 
program under this subpara-
graph shall receive funding in an 
amount equal to the sum of the 
funding that the Indian tribe 
would otherwise receive in ac-
cordance with the funding for-
mula established under the other 
provisions of this subsection, and 
an additional percentage of that 
amount equal to the percentage 
of funds withheld during the ap-
plicable fiscal year for the road 
program management costs of 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs 
under subsection (f)(1). 
‘‘(II) APPLICANT POOL.—The ap-
plicant pool described in this sub-
clause shall consist of each Indian 
tribe (or consortium) that—
‘‘(aa) has successfully com-
pleted the planning phase de-
scribed in subclause (III); 
‘‘(bb) has requested partici-
pation 
in 
the 
demonstration 
project under this subparagraph 
through the adoption of a resolu-
tion or other official action by 
the tribal governing body; and 
‘‘(cc) has demonstrated fi-
nancial stability and financial 
management capability in accord-
ance with subclause (III) during 
the 3-fiscal year period imme-
diately preceding the fiscal year 
for which participation under this 
subparagraph is being requested.
‘‘(III) CRITERIA
FOR
DETER-
MINING FINANCIAL STABILITY AND FI-
NANCIAL
MANAGEMENT
CAPACITY.—
For the purpose of subclause (II), evi-
dence that, during the 3-year period 
referred to in subclause (II)(cc), an
Indian tribe had no uncorrected sig-
nificant and material audit exceptions 
in the required annual audit of the In-
dian tribe’s self-determination con-
tracts 
or 
self-governance 
funding 
agreements with any Federal agency 
shall be conclusive evidence of the re-
quired stability and capability. 
‘‘(IV) PLANNING PHASE.—
‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—An In-
dian tribe (or consortium) re-
questing 
participation 
in 
the 
demonstration project under this 
subparagraph shall complete a 
planning phase that shall include 
legal and budgetary research and 
internal tribal government and 
organization preparation. 
‘‘(bb) ELIGIBILITY.—A tribe 
(or consortium) described in item 
(aa) shall be eligible to receive a 
grant under this subclause to 
plan and negotiate participation 
in a project described in that 
item.’’.
SEC. 5. TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 4 of title 23, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘§ 412. Tribal Transportation Safety Program 
‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF INDIAN TRIBE.—In this section, 
the term ‘Indian tribe’ has the meaning given the term 
in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu-
cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 
‘‘(b) PROGRAM.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 
out a program to provide to eligible Indian tribes (as 
determined by the Secretary) competitive grants for 
use in establishing tribal transportation safety pro-
grams on—
‘‘(A) Indian reservations; and 
‘‘(B) other land under the jurisdiction of 
an Indian tribe. 
‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds from a grant pro-
vided under paragraph (1) may be used to carry out 
a project or activity—
‘‘(A) to prevent the operation of motor ve-
hicles by intoxicated individuals; 
‘‘(B) to promote increased seat belt use 
rates;
‘‘(C) to eliminate hazardous locations on, 
or hazardous sections or elements of—
‘‘(i) a public road; 
‘‘(ii) a public surface transportation 
facility; 
‘‘(iii) a publicly-owned bicycle or pe-
destrian pathway or trail; or 
‘‘(iv) a traffic calming measure; 
‘‘(D) to eliminate hazards relating to rail-
way-highway crossings; or 
‘‘(E) to increase transportation safety by 
any other means, as determined by the Sec-
retary. 
‘‘(c) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the 
cost of carrying out the program under this section shall 
be 100 percent. 
‘‘(d) FUNDING.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, there are authorized to be appropriated from 
the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit 
Account) to carry out this section—
‘‘(1) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 
and 2005; 
‘‘(2) $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 
and 2007; and
‘‘(3) $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 
and 2009.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 
chapter 4 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 411 the fol-
lowing:
‘‘412. Tribal Transportation Safety Program.’’.
SEC. 6. INDIAN RESERVATION RURAL TRANSIT PROGRAM. 
Section 5311 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(k) INDIAN RESERVATION RURAL TRANSIT PRO-
GRAM.—
‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF INDIAN TRIBE.—In this 
subsection, the term ‘Indian tribe’ has the meaning 
given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter-
mination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 
450b). 
‘‘(2) PROGRAM.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of 
Transportation shall establish and carry out a 
program to provide competitive grants to Indian 
tribes to establish rural transit programs on 
reservations or other land under the jurisdiction 
of the Indian tribes. 
‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—The amount 
of a grant provided to an Indian tribe under
subparagraph (A) shall be based on the need of 
the Indian tribe, as determined by the Sec-
retary of Transportation. 
‘‘(3) FUNDING.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, for each fiscal year, of the amount 
made available to carry out this section under sec-
tion 5338 for the fiscal year, the Secretary of Trans-
portation shall use $20,000,000 to carry out this 
subsection.’’. 
SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING INDIAN RES-
ERVATION ROADS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) the maintenance of roads on Indian reserva-
tions is a responsibility of the Bureau of Indian Af-
fairs; 
(2) amounts made available by the Federal 
Government as of the date of enactment of this Act 
for maintenance of roads on Indian reservations 
under section 204(c) of title 23, United States Code, 
comprise only 30 percent of the annual amount of 
funding needed for maintenance of roads on Indian 
reservations in the United States; and 
(3) any amounts made available for construc-
tion of roads on Indian reservations will be wasted 
if those roads are not properly maintained.