Inside This Issue...

On July 20, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Transportation, Treasury, Judiciary, Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies spending bill for fiscal year 2007. The bill funds the Departments of Transportation, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development, as well as the Federal Judiciary and Supreme Court, Amtrak and the Federal Election Commission. The bill is within the Subcommittee's 302(b) allocation level of $69 billion. The bill funds various agencies in the Department of Transportation as follows: $39.1 billion to Federal Aid Highways, $811 million to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, $8.8 billion to the Federal Transit Administration, $517 million to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and $23.5 million to the Surface Transportation Board. The spending measure includes language that would delay the repeal of the Single State Registration System on Jan. 1, 2007 by 12 months and require the Government Accountability Office to report to Congress on the progress being made in establishing the Unified Carrier Registration System (UCR).
 

On July 19, the House Homeland Security Committee approved a $34.7 billion fiscal 2007 authorization bill. The bill (HR 5814) includes a provision requiring annual reports to Congress on a database of high-risk infrastructure sites maintained by the Homeland Security Department. The National Asset Database prioritizes critical infrastructure sites for many of the department’s state and local grant programs. In addition, the bill would authorize $1.2 billion for terrorism grants and $250 million for mass transit security. It also includes language on driver's licenses and personal identification cards, stating that they are acceptable personal identification documents needed to enter a sterile area of an airport in the United States: "The Assistant Secretary shall include on the list to be established under paragraph (1) drivers’ licenses and personal identification cards that meet the requirements of section 202 of the Real ID Act of 2005 (49 U.S.C. 30301 note)."

On July 20, a bill (HR 5848) was introduced into the House that would increase the number of types of documents able to satisfy the requirements of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, and ensure such documents are widely available and affordable. The bill was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations.

On July 19, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation unanimously approved the following nominations: Mark V. Rosenker to be Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board; R. Hunter Biden to be a Member of the Amtrak Reform Board; Donna R. McLean to be a Member of the Amtrak Reform Board; John H. Hill to be Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration; Andrew B. Steinberg to be Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs, Department of Transportation; Gary T. Blore to be Coast Guard Rear Admiral (upper half); John P. Currier to be Coast Guard Rear Admiral (upper half); Joel R. Whitehead to be Coast Guard Rear Admiral (upper half); and, 67 NOAA Promotions beginning with Philip A. Gruccio, and ending with Jamie S. Wasser.

On July 18, the House of Representatives passed a resolution (H Res 498) that supports the goals and ideals of School Bus Safety Week (SBSW). SBSW is celebrated in more than 40 states and sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). It was created in 1966 to remind all students of the best ways to get on and off the bus in an effort to enhance the safety of the nation’s children, and to recognize the dedication of school transportation personnel. It is celebrated the third week of October and promotes awareness through local and state poster and speech contests, lessons utilizing school bus safety community awareness kits, and other activities built around themes that raise awareness of school bus safety issues.

A group of former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials have said that border security cannot be achieved without a guest worker program. The Senate immigration bill (S 2611) includes such a program, while the House version (HR 4437) does not. The proponents of the program feel that immigration should not just be enforcement-only and that a guest worker program would allow illegal immigrants to take advantage of opportunities to legalize.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has modified its previous grant notice regarding cooperative agreements for the Advanced Crash Avoidance Technologies Program (ACAT). The modification changes the closing date for the grant opportunity from July 31, 2006 to Aug. 7, 2006. The estimated total program funding is $1,000,000 across three years not to exceed the ceiling amount of $1,000,000. For more information, see www.grants.gov.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has denied a petition for rulemaking and defect determinations to prevent the instillation of seat belts in large school buses. The petition, submitted by James E. Hofferberth, declared school buses equipped with seat belts to be safety defects. NHTSA has concluded that there is no basis to recall existing school buses installed with seat belts. It stands by its longstanding position that states may require seat belts at passenger seating positions in large school buses. For legal issues, contact Dorothy Nakama, Office of the Chief Counsel, at (202) 366-2992. For technical issues, contact Charles R. Hott, Office of Crashworthiness Standards, at (202) 366-0247.
 

The Department of Transportation has submitted an emergency processing public information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. OMB approval has been requested by Aug. 2, 2006. The study will gain a comprehensive understanding of the demographics, lifestyle traits and attitudes about drinking and driving among licensed drivers who are at high risk of driving while impaired. By having this information, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and its state partners can develop and implement more highly targeted and more effective communication campaigns to deter people from drinking and driving. The affected public is individual households and licensed drivers ages 18 to 44 who consume alcohol at a rate of at least four drinks per occasion if the respondent is male or three drinks per occasion if the respondent is female; and who consume alcohol at these rates two or more times per week. The estimated hours of burden are 266 and the estimated number of respondents is 800. Comments should be directed to the Office of Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725-17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503, Attention NHTSA Desk Officer.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has published a final rule that implements the Motorcyclist Safety grant program authorized under section 2010 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) for fiscal years 2006 through 2009. Eligibility for the section 2010 grants is based on six statutorily-specified grant criteria. To receive an initial section 2010 grant, a state must demonstrate compliance with at least one of the six grant criteria. To receive a grant in subsequent fiscal years, a state must demonstrate compliance with at least two of the six grant criteria. This final rule establishes the requirements a state must meet and the procedures it must follow to receive a section 2010 Motorcyclist Safety grant, beginning in fiscal year 2006. The rule became effective on July 19, 2006. For further information on program issues, contact Marti Miller, Regional Operations and Program Delivery, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, at (202) 366-2121.

Section 1301 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) established a program to provide grants to states for Projects of National and Regional Significance (PNRS) to improve the safe, secure, and efficient movement of people and goods throughout the United States and to improve the health and welfare of the national economy. Section 1301 requires the Secretary of Transportation to establish regulations on the manner in which the proposed projects will be evaluated and rated, in order to determine which projects shall receive grant funding. This proposed rule would establish the required evaluation and rating guidelines for proposed projects. If this rule were adopted, a proposed project would become eligible to be funded under this program only if the Secretary finds that the project meets the requirements of the rule. In making such findings, the Secretary will evaluate and rate each project as “highly recommended,” “recommended,” or “not recommended” based on the results of preliminary engineering, the project justification criteria, and the degree of non-federal financial commitment. Comments must be received on or before Sept. 22, 2006. They may be submitted to the Federal eRulemaking portal at http://www.regulations.gov. All comments should include Docket number FHWA-05-23393.
 

The Federal Highway Safety Administration (FHWA) has forwarded a request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve a revision of a currently approved information collection. FHWA published a Federal Register Notice with a 60-day public comment period on this information collection on May 4, 2006. Please submit comments by Aug. 17, 2006. All comments should include the Docket number FHWA-2006-25366. Internet users may access or submit comments by using the universal resource locator (URL) at http://dms.dot.gov. The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) amended Section 148 of Title 23 U.S.C. to establish a new “core” Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) that provides funds to state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) to improve conditions at hazardous highway locations and hazardous railway-highway grade crossings on all public roads, including those maintained by federal, state and local agencies. The existing provisions of Title 23 U.S.C. 130, Railway-Highway Crossings Program, and 152, Hazard Elimination Program, as well as implementing regulations in 23 CFR part 924, remain in effect. Included in these combined provisions are requirements for state DOTs to annually produce and submit to FHWA by August 31, three reports related to the conduct and effectiveness of their HSIPs. To be able to produce these reports, state DOTs must have crash data and analysis systems capable of identifying and determining the relative severity of hazardous highway locations on all public roads, and determining the “before” and “after” crash experiences at HSIP project locations. This information provides FHWA with a means for monitoring the effectiveness of these programs and may be used by Congress for determining the future HSIP program structure and funding levels. Per SAFETEA-LU, state DOTs have a great deal of flexibility in the methodology they use to rank the relative severity of their public road locations in terms of fatalities and serious injuries. The list of 5 percent of these locations exhibiting the most severe safety needs will result from the ranking methodology used, and may include roadway segments and/or intersections.
 

State governments should strongly consider using smart card technology, according to a new position paper entitled "Why Real ID Cards Should be Based on Smart Card Identification Technology." Published by the Smart Card Alliance Identity Council, the paper explains the advantages of using smart cards as the technology for driver's licenses issued to comply with the Real ID Act. The Act states that federal agencies cannot accept a driver's license or any other state-issued card for identification purposes after May 11, 2008, unless the state meets the requirements of the Act. These requirements include verification of supporting documentation for ID issuance, use of a common machine-readable technology in the IDs and use of physical security features designed to prevent tampering, counterfeiting or duplication for fraudulent purposes. The position paper is free of charge and may be accessed from the Smart Card Alliance Web site. The Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association working to stimulate the understanding, adoption, use and widespread application of smart card technology.
 

Sheila Prior has been selected as Vice President, AAMVA Region IV Operations. Prior will assume her new responsibilities on Aug. 28, 2006. Prior was previously AAMVA’s Associate Director, Driver Services where she was instrumental in facilitating several driver-related projects, committees, subcommittees and working groups and in the development of the fraudulent documentation training. Prior to AAMVA, Prior spent 10 years with the Missouri Driver's License Bureau. Most recently, she has been with ACS State & Local Solutions as the Director, Business Development. Prior's experience with Missouri, AAMVA and ACS will be of tremendous benefit to the Region IV members and we’re pleased to have her at AAMVA again. Prior will be attending the Annual International Conference in Burlington, Vermont where she will visit personally with members and staff and continue the contacts after she returns. We hope you will take a moment in Burlington to welcome Prior to the AAMVA community.

As part of the Commercial Driver's License Information System (CDLIS) Modernization, AAMVA intends to provide the capability to send a driver’s actual, complete name (replacing the current 35-character, ‘@’-delimited name field). To ensure sufficient field sizes are established and to minimize the impact on jurisdictions, AAMVA is requesting information on how jurisdictions currently store driver names. Please respond to this survey. Thank you for your input.
 

Please share information with your fellow jurisdictions by responding to these surveys. Contact Member & Conference Services if you need a user ID and password.

• South Dakota – Electronic Signature on DL application (Ends 8/7/2006)
• California – Recording of Medical Evaluation Reports (8/18/06)
• Alberta – Child ID Card Program (7/31/06)
• Ontario – Modified H2 Hummer (7/28/06) and Driver’s License-Recreational Vehicles (7/24/06)
• Mississippi - Driver's License Compact Agreement with Canada  (Ends 7/31/06)