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of any applicable privilege against disclosure under 
common law or as a basis for compelling disclosure 
under section 552 of title 5.’’. 
SEC. 32514. GRADE CROSSING SAFETY REGULATIONS. 
Section 112(2) of the Hazardous Materials Transpor-
tation Authorization Act of 1994 (Public Law 103–311) is 
amended by striking ‘‘315 of such title (relating to motor 
carrier safety)’’ and inserting ‘‘311 of such title (relating 
to commercial motor vehicle safety)’’. 
Subtitle F—Compliance, Safety, 
Accountability 
SEC. 32601. COMPLIANCE, SAFETY, ACCOUNTABILITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 31102 is amended— 
(1) by amending the section heading to read: 
‘‘§ 31102. 
Compliance, 
safety, 
and 
accountability 
grants’’; 
(2) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—Subject to this section, 
the Secretary of Transportation shall make and administer 
a compliance, safety, and accountability grant program to 
assist States, local governments, and other entities and per-
sons with motor carrier safety and enforcement on high-
ways and other public roads, new entrant safety audits, 
border enforcement, hazardous materials safety and secu-
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rity, consumer protection and household goods enforcement, 
and other programs and activities required to improve the 
safety of motor carriers as determined by the Secretary. The 
Secretary shall allocate funding in accordance with section 
31104 of this title.’’; 
(3) in subsection (b)— 
(A) by amending the heading to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(b) MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY ASSISTANCE PRO-
GRAM.—’’; 
(B) 
by 
redesignating 
paragraphs 
(1) 
through (3) as (2) through (4), respectively; 
(C) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 
redesignated, the following: 
‘‘(1) PROGRAM
GOAL.—The goal of the Motor 
Carrier Safety Assistance Program is to ensure that 
the Secretary, States, local government agencies, and 
other political jurisdictions work in partnership to es-
tablish programs to improve motor carrier, commer-
cial motor vehicle, and driver safety to support a safe 
and efficient surface transportation system by— 
‘‘(A) making targeted investments to pro-
mote safe commercial motor vehicle transpor-
tation, including transportation of passengers 
and hazardous materials;
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‘‘(B) investing in activities likely to gen-
erate maximum reductions in the number and 
severity of commercial motor vehicle crashes and 
fatalities resulting from such crashes; 
‘‘(C) adopting and enforcing effective motor 
carrier, commercial motor vehicle, and driver 
safety regulations and practices consistent with 
Federal requirements; and 
‘‘(D) assessing and improving statewide 
performance by setting program goals and meet-
ing performance standards, measures, and bench-
marks.’’; 
(D) in paragraph (2), as redesignated— 
(i) by striking ‘‘make a declaration of’’ 
in subparagraph (I) and inserting ‘‘dem-
onstrate’’; 
(ii) by amending subparagraph (M) to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(M) ensures participation in appropriate 
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 
systems and other information systems by all ap-
propriate jurisdictions receiving Motor Carrier 
Safety Assistance Program funding;’’;
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(iii) in subparagraph (Q), by inserting 
‘‘and dedicated sufficient resources to’’ be-
tween ‘‘established’’ and ‘‘a program’’; 
(iv) in subparagraph (W), by striking 
‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 
(v) by amending subparagraph (X) to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(X) except in the case of an imminent or 
obvious safety hazard, ensures that an inspection 
of a vehicle transporting passengers for a motor 
carrier of passengers is conducted at a station, 
terminal, border crossing, maintenance facility, 
destination, weigh station, rest stop, turnpike 
service area, or a location where adequate food, 
shelter, and sanitation facilities are available for 
passengers, and reasonable accommodation is 
available for passengers with disabilities; and’’; 
and 
(vi) by adding after subparagraph (X) 
the following: 
‘‘(Y) ensures that the State will transmit to 
its roadside inspectors the notice of each Federal 
exemption granted pursuant to section 31315(b) 
and provided to the State by the Secretary, in-
cluding the name of the person granted the ex-
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emption and any terms and conditions that 
apply to the exemption.’’; and 
(E) by amending paragraph (4), as redesig-
nated, to read as follows: 
‘‘(4) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A plan submitted by a 
State under paragraph (2) shall provide that the 
total expenditure of amounts of the lead State 
agency responsible for implementing the plan 
will be maintained at a level at least equal to the 
average level of that expenditure for fiscal years 
2004 and 2005. 
‘‘(B) AVERAGE LEVEL OF STATE EXPENDI-
TURES.—In estimating the average level of State 
expenditure under subparagraph (A), the Sec-
retary— 
‘‘(i) may allow the State to exclude 
State expenditures for Government-spon-
sored demonstration or pilot programs; and 
‘‘(ii) shall require the State to exclude 
State matching amounts used to receive 
Government financing under this sub-
section. 
‘‘(C) WAIVER.—Upon the request of a State, 
the Secretary may waive or modify the require-
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ments of this paragraph for 1 fiscal year, if the 
Secretary determines that a waiver is equitable 
due 
to 
exceptional 
or 
uncontrollable 
cir-
cumstances, such as a natural disaster or a seri-
ous decline in the financial resources of the State 
motor carrier safety assistance program agen-
cy.’’; 
(4) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection 
(h); and 
(5) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(e) NEW ENTRANT SAFETY ASSURANCE PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) PROGRAM GOAL.—The Secretary may make 
grants to States and local governments for pre-author-
ization safety audits and new entrant motor carrier 
audits as described in section 31144(g). 
‘‘(2) RECIPIENTS.—Grants made in support of 
this program may be provided to States and local 
governments. 
‘‘(3) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of a 
grant made under this program is 100 percent. 
‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE
ACTIVITIES.—Eligible activities 
will be in accordance with criteria developed by the 
Secretary and posted in the Federal Register in ad-
vance of the grant application period.