Special Hotel Rate for "Challenging Myths" Forum Expires February 8 
Time is running short to reserve your hotel room at the Omni Austin Downtown at the special AAMVA rate of $85 per night. Make your reservations now and be sure to register for "Challenging Myths and Opening Minds: Aging and the Medically At-Risk Driver," March 4-6 in Austin, Texas. We have exceeded our room block on Monday, March 6. An additional block of rooms for that night is being held at the Hilton Austin. Instructions for reserving rooms at the Hilton are on the Challenging Myths Hotel and Travel Web page. This forum can be your jurisdiction's ticket to making your driver fitness/older driver policies and programs the best they can be!
Report Estimates Future of Highway Funding
A U.S. Chamber of Commerce-issued report estimates that the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund will be depleted by 2009 unless action is taken to generate revenue. The Chamber recommends Congress index the current federal fuel tax to generate new revenue. In addition, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) says there are several ways to address the shortfall in funding. Executive Director John Horsley said the association may support indexing the fuel tax--which it previously supported in reauthorization deliberations--if Congress considers it again.
Maryland Holds Grant Application Seminar
The Maryland Highway Safety Office (MHSO) will be holding its Grant Applicant Seminar for Potential (new) Grantees (GAS-P) on Thursday, March 16, 2006 from 9 am to 2:30 pm at Michael’s Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie, Maryland. Any agency wishing to apply for FFY 2007 (10/1/06 – 9/30/07) federal highway safety funding from the MHSO MUST attend this one-day seminar. The MHSO requires that one person from each agency attend; in most cases, it is the proposed Project Coordinator, or the person in the agency responsible for administering the grant paperwork. However, we would be happy to include additional attendees from any agency. For those agencies already receiving funds from the MHSO, they will be holding a Grant Applicant Seminar for Existing Grantees (GAS-E) on Thursday, March 9, 2006 from 9 am to 3 pm for Maryland Highway Safety Offices. This meeting will be held at the Conference Center at the Maritime Institute in Linthicum, Maryland. Registrations are due on March 3, 2006.
NHTSA Announces Safety Belt Grant Program
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced a grant program for states that enact and enforce primary safety belt use laws or achieve and maintain a high safety belt use rate without primary laws. The program provides a one-time only grant with funding available during fiscal years 2006 through 2009. States eligible for funding must enact primary safety belt laws within certain time periods or achieve 85 percent or higher safety belt use for two consecutive years without a primary use law. Applications must be submitted on or before July 1 of the fiscal year for which a state seeks a grant. They should go to the appropriate Regional Administrator. For more information, contact one of the following: For program issues, John Oates, Chief, Implementation Division, Office of Injury Control Operations and Resources, NTI-200, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, telephone (202) 366-2121; For legal issues, Tina Mun Ro, Attorney-Advisor, Office of Chief Counsel, NCC-113, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, telephone (202) 366-1834.
Jurisdictions Need Your Input
Please share information with your fellow jurisdictions by responding to the following surveys. Contact Member and Conference Services if you need a user ID and password.
DHS Revises Privacy Impact Assessment
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has submitted notice that it intends to modify the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program (US-VISIT) to conduct the second phase of a live test of the technology needed to read biometrically enabled travel documents that comply with international standards. US-VISIT is revising its Privacy Impact Assessment to discuss the impact of Phase II of the live test on privacy. The
revised Assessment is available on the Privacy Office's Web site. Comments on the Assessment may be submitted and identified by Docket Number DHS-2005-0056 by one of the following methods: Federal eRulemaking Portal at
http://www.regulations.gov; Fax to (202) 298-5201 (not a toll-free number); E-mail to
usvisitprivacy@dhs.gov; or mail to Steve Yonkers, Privacy Officer, US-VISIT, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528.
FMCSA Approves the Commercial Skills Test Information Management System for Pilot
As part of its continuing efforts to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is working with AAMVA to reduce fraud through the use of the Commercial Skills Test Information Management System (CSTIMS). This Internet-based tool provides a consistent way to track the scheduling and entry of test results for commercial skills tests by jurisdiction and Third Party examiners. The functional requirements were developed during site visits and based on input from a Working Group composed of jurisdiction and Third Party Testing representatives. CSTIMS enforces jurisdiction-defined rules to manage CDL skills testing and will alert various parties when circumstances are encountered that may require investigation to determine if fraud may have occurred. Additionally, CSTIMS produces reports that can be reviewed for patterns of potential fraud. AAMVA presented a briefing to FMCSA personnel on Jan. 19, 2006 and FMCSA has since given its formal approval to pilot the application. CSTIMS is an Internet-based system – users require only access to the Internet (i.e., no special hardware or software) to use it. Jurisdictions interested in participating in the CSTIMS pilot should contact AAMVA’s Systems Analysis Department's Walt Jackson at (703) 908-2828 or Greg Sensiba at (703) 908-2822.