Inside This Issue...

Administrator John Hill has announced that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) plans to release an updated Strategic Plan later this year. The final FMCSA Strategic Plan will serve as the centerpiece of the agency's priorities, budget requests and other activities. It will be an important foundation for the next reauthorization, which will span 2010 through 2016. A Strategic Plan Working Group, representing a cross section of agency personnel, was tasked to write the updated plan and to define the strategic goals of the agency in the context of a growing commercial motor vehicle environment. The draft FMCSA 2006-2011 Strategic Plan is available on the FMCSA Web site for review. If you have comments or suggestions, send them to FMCSAStrategicPlan@dot.gov. Comments will be collected through Oct. 27, 2006. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is seeking comments on the economic impact of its regulations on small entities. As required by Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, NHTSA is attempting to identify rules that may have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. NHTSA also requests comments on ways to make these regulations easier to read and understand. The focus of this notice is rules that specifically relate to passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, buses, trailers, incomplete vehicles, motorcycles, and motor vehicle equipment. Comments must be received on or before Dec. 4, 2006 and should mention Docket No. NHTSA-06-25715. Submit comments in writing to: Docket Management System, U.S. Department of Transportation, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, 20590. For more information, contact Juanita Kavalauskas, Office of Regulatory Analysis and Evaluation, at (202) 366-2584.

AAMVA is partnering with Car Talk (the nationally syndicated radio show on NPR) in 2007-2008 to help jurisdictions humorously communicate, via the Click and Clack animated characters, their Real ID changes for consumers. Participating agencies will receive, at no cost, the production and broadcasting in primetime television of a 30-second animated commercial starring Click and Clack. Please respond to this short survey by Sept. 28, 2006. If you have questions, contact Jason King or call (703) 908-8287.

• Vehicle Document Examiner Certification:
• October 30-31:  VDEC (2 days)

Tracy A. Henke, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) grants master, is expected to leave the department by the end of October. Prior to joining DHS in January, Henke led the Office of Justice Programs at the Justice Department. At DHS, she oversaw the distribution of counterterrorism grants to high-risk areas in the country. DHS has not named a replacement.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is holding a public Sunshine Act and Unified Carrier Registration Plan Board of Directors meeting on Oct. 11, 2006, 8:30 am to 5 pm. The meeting will provide an overview of the Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) Plan and Agreement requirements set forth under section 4305 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, and the administrative functioning of the Board. In addition, the Board will continue its work in developing the Unified Carrier Registration Agreement procedures and toward recommending UCRA fees to the Secretary. The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Capitol, 550 C Street, SW., Washington, DC 20024. For more information, contact Shannon L. Watson at (202) 366-0702.

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission has released three new quick start guides on voting system security, poll workers and ballot preparation/printing and pre-election testing. The guides provide snapshots of processes and procedures for use by local election administrators. They follow the release of a previous guide released last June titled Quick Start Management Guide for New Voting Systems. All four guides are a prelude to EAC's Election Management Guidelines (EMG), a comprehensive document of election administration practices and recommendations. The EMG is a multi-year project, with new portions being completed and released on a priority basis over the next several years. The guides are available on EAC's Web site at the above links.

AAMVA welcomes back the fall workshop Nov. 14-16, 2006 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The fall workshop returns to the AAMVA meeting track with a focus on motor carrier issues, law enforcement and technology. Planned by representatives from across committees and discipline areas, the new collaborative format will focus on improving highway safety and motor vehicle administration. Topics include federal issues and rulemaking, funding and grants, credentials, roadside access, document fraud, highway safety enforcement campaigns and much more. Representatives from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration also will be conducting interactive sessions with participants. FMCSA has qualified this workshop for use of MCSAP funding. The cut-off date for booking a room at the Hilton Minneapolis hotel is Oct. 23. Be sure to get your reservation in soon! For more details and to register online, visit the Events section of AAMVA's Web site.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced the first meeting of the Motorcyclist Advisory Council to the Federal Highway Administration (MAC-FHWA). The purpose of this meeting is to advise the Secretary of Transportation, through the Administrator of FHWA, on infrastructure issues of concern to motorcyclists, including (1) barrier design; (2) road design, construction, and maintenance practices; and (3) the architecture and implementation of intelligent transportation system technologies, pursuant to Section 1914 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). The first meeting of the MAC-FHWA is scheduled for Oct. 24, 2006, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. It will be held at the Holiday Inn Capitol, 550 C Street, SW., Washington, DC 20024. For more information, contact Michael Halladay, the Designated Federal Official, Office of Safety, at (202) 366-2288 or michael.halladay@dot.gov, or Morris Oliver, Office of Safety at (202) 366-2251 or morris.oliver@dot.gov.

The Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) has created a new section on its Web site to host material associated with the Forum on Driving and Function that was held June 15-16, 2006 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The forum brought together approximately 40 specialists from Canada, the United States, and Australia to review the state of knowledge regarding what level of skills and capacities are necessary for safe driving. Information from the forum will help the Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles for the province of British Columbia (OSMV) revise its "Guide for Physicians in Determining Fitness to Drive a Motor Vehicle." Presentations from several specialists are now posted online, along with summaries of the forum workshops. The Forum on Driving and Function is a partnership between TIRF and OSMV.

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

• Oklahoma – Model Codes on Titles (Ends 10/20/2006)
• Wisconsin – Instruction Permits to Drivers 18+ (Ends 10/27/2006)
• Maryland – Online Driver Improvement Program (Ends 10/18/2006)