Inside This Issue...

President Bush has named former Federal Highway Administration chief Mary Peters to serve as his next Transportation secretary. Peters would succeed Norman Y. Mineta, who stepped down July 7 after five and a half years of service. Peters led the Federal Highway Administration from 2001 to 2005 and is now national director for transportation policy at the architectural, engineering and consulting firm HDR, Inc. Peters' nomination is not likely to face significant opposition.

If you haven’t already done so, please respond to the following surveys.

• Ontario - Gender Designation on Driver's Licenses (Ends 09/29/2006)
• Virginia - Education/Learner's Permit Requirements for Adults (Ends 09/15/2006)
• West Virginia - Hybird Vehicles (Ends 09/13/2006)
• Florida - Electronic Temporary License Plate (Ends 09/13/2006)

To learn more about using the new survey tool, visit our online tutorials. If you have any questions about using the new survey tool, contact Janice Dluzynski.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is soliciting applications from interested parties to participate in the Corridors of the Future Program (CFP) selection process. The goal of the CFP is to accelerate the development of multi-state transportation Corridors of the Future for one or more transportation modes, by selecting up to five major transportation corridors in need of investment for the purpose of reducing congestion. States are encouraged to work together and with private sector partners to develop multi-state corridor proposals to advance project development and seek alternative financial opportunities. CFP projects may augment an existing transportation corridor or may develop entirely new facilities. A proposal may be submitted by one state, multiple states, or a private sector entity, and at this stage does not require the concurrence of all affected states. After the proposal has been reviewed, the applicant may be asked to proceed to the second step in the process by submitting an application with more detailed information about the project. Proposals must be received on or before Oct. 23, 2006. The due date for applications will be April 2, 2007. Interested parties should submit proposals to James D. Ray, Chief Counsel, Federal Highway Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Room 4213, Washington, DC 20590 or electronically to corridorsofthefuture@dot.gov.

The Office of the Secretary of Transportation has issued a final rule revising delegations of authority to carry out the federal hazardous material transportation law, as amended by the Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety and Security Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Title VII of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users or “SAFETEA-LU”), and in accordance with the Norman Y. Mineta Research and Special Programs Improvement Act, Public Law 108-426, 118 Stat. 2423 (Nov. 30, 2004) (Mineta Act) that were previously published in 71 FR 30828 (May 31, 2006). This final rule also adds delegations of authority to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) to carry out certain provisions of SAFETEA-LU. The rule took effect Sept. 7, 2006. For more information, contact Rebecca S. Behravesh, Attorney Advisor, Office of General Counsel, Department of Transportation, at (202) 366-9314 or see Docket No. OST-1999-6189.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has proposed to amend part 20 of its regulations appearing at title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) pertaining to criminal justice information systems and the appendix to that part. The amendment will permit the retention and exchange of criminal history record information (CHRI) and fingerprint submissions relating to nonserious offenses (NSOs) in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) Fingerprint Identification Records System (FIRS) and the Interstate Identification Index (III) when provided by a criminal justice agency for retention by the FBI. Written comments on the proposed rule must be received on or before Nov. 6, 2006. All comments should be mailed to: Assistant General Counsel Harold M. Sklar, Federal Bureau of Investigation, CJIS Division, Module E-3, 1000 Custer Hollow Road, Clarksburg, WV 26306. To ensure proper handling, reference FBI Docket No. 111P on your correspondence. You may also comment via the Internet to the FBI at enexreg@leo.gov or by using the http://www.regulations.gov comment form for this regulation.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has selected eight companies to be finalists in its competitive search for a firm that will design, manage and implement the Transportation Worker Identification Card (TWIC) program. By the end of the year, TSA will select one company from the list of current finalists, which includes: BearingPoint Inc.; Computer Sciences Corp.; Electronic Data Systems Corp.; IBM Corp.; Integrated Biometric Technology; Lockheed Martin Corp.; Maximus Inc., and Motorola Inc. The winning contractor will operate and maintain TSA’s Identification Management System, the information technology system that governs the entire TWIC process, and also serve onsite to enroll transportation workers into the program. The TWIC program is meant to increase security at airports, mass transit facilities, pipelines, railways and seaports by creating a standardized remotely readable identification card that will be issued to transportation workers servicing the facilities.

The next meeting of the Department of Homeland Security Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee will be held from 8 a.m. to 11:30 am and 2 pm to 5 pm on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2006, in Arlington, Virginia. This meeting will be open to the public, with the exception of a one-hour administrative session. At the meeting, the Chief Privacy Officer will provide an update on the activities of the Privacy Office. The subcommittees will update the Committee on the work currently being conducted. In the morning and afternoon sessions, invited speakers will discuss screening, redress, and data integrity. A tentative agenda has been posted on the Privacy Advisory Committee Web site at www.dhs.gov/privacy. The meeting will be held in the Town Hall at the Transportation Security Administration, 601 South 12th Street, Arlington, Virginia 22202. Persons wishing to make comments or who are unable to attend or speak at the meeting may submit comments at any time. Comments must be identified by DHS-2006-0045 and may be submitted using the Federal Rulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced a public meeting to discuss the problem of railroad-highway grade crossing crashes in which a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) is struck by a train because the driver of the CMV, for whatever reason, stops the vehicle prior to clearing the railroad track. The meeting is intended to promote the sharing of information between interested parties and FMCSA, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to ensure motor carriers and drivers are prepared to achieve full compliance with a forthcoming, statutorily mandated federal rule to prohibit drivers from entering a railroad grade crossing unless there is sufficient room to clear the tracks completely without stopping. The meeting will provide all interested parties with an opportunity to voice their concerns about the potential costs and safety benefits of such a rule. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2006, from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm in Room 2230, Nassif Building, DOT Headquarters, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. You may also submit comments to the DOT Docket Management System (DMS), referencing Docket Number FMCSA-2006-25660, using http://dmses.dot.gov.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has published guidelines on the types and formats of data that states should collect relating to drivers who are arrested or convicted for violation of laws prohibiting the impaired operation of motor vehicles, as directed by Section 2007(c) of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). These final guidelines took effect on Aug. 30, 2006.

The Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCSA) is actively recruiting for one of its most critical senior executive positions, Assistant Administrator/Chief Safety Officer. The position provides direction over day-to-day operations of the FMCSA program. The individual who occupies it will have a direct and immediate impact on FMCSA's ability to meet its strategic goals and the goals of the U.S. Department of Transportation. A copy of the vacancy announcement is available at www.usajobs.opm.gov. For more information or to submit an application, contact Sharon Blank, human resources specialist, at sharon.blank@fmcsa.dot.gov.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is implementing the FY2007 Border Enforcement Grant (BEG) program with the goal of reducing the number and severity of commercial vehicle (CMV) crashes in the United States by ensuring CMVs involved in the cross-border movement of freight and passengers are in compliance with all FMCSA regulatory requirements. Additionally, a state applicant must agree to a maintenance of expenditure (MOE) requirement to receive BEG funding. The MOE calculation is based on the average annual total expenditures of the state and political subdivisions of the state, exclusive of federal funds, for carrying out border enforcement activities and related enforcement activities and projects during fiscal years 2004 and 2005 (federal or state). The applicant must submit an application no later than Nov. 1, 2006 to the Division Administrator of the FMCSA Division Office in the state in which he/she is domiciled. If funds remain available after allocations are made for applications submitted by Nov. 1, 2006, additional applications may be submitted and will be considered for funding until all available funds have been allocated. Information on how to register with grants.gov and file an application using grants.gov is available at http://www.grants.gov/Apply.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) would like to collect information on CDL (Commercial Driver's License) tests in foreign languages. If you haven't already done so, please respond to the survey on AAMVA's Web site.

Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is accepting comments on the DRAFT 2006 Election Administration and Voting Survey. Written comments must be submitted on or before Friday, Sept. 29, 2006.  For more information, visit EAC's Web site.