Inside This Issue...

AAMVA and IRP, Inc. offices will close at 2:00 pm (ET) on Friday, Dec. 22, 2006 in observance of the Christmas Holiday. Next week's edition of TWIR will be published on Wednesday, Dec. 27. Offices will reopen on Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2006 at 8:30 am (ET). AAMVA wishes all a safe and happy holiday season.

Approximately 1,300 lives per year in the United States are lost in crashes where vehicles are in a truck’s blind spot. If you're one of the many Americans traveling the highways this holiday season, make sure to listen to AAMVA's second podcast, Sharing the Road with a Truck, where we speak to driver David May. David travels the country educating people as part of the American Trucking Associations' Share the Road campaign. He has logged over 1.4 million accident-free miles as a driver for Con-way Central Express, and he's seen his fair share of car drivers endangering themselves and others by not knowing how to properly share the road. Here's your chance to listen to his safety tips before you hit the road for the holidays. Just click on over to AAMVA's podcasts at Boulevard 27 to listen to this informative talk.

AAMVA has developed a unique public affairs opportunity for member jurisdictions by partnering with CarTalk, featuring Click and Clack. The credibility and following of these two dynamic personalities is unmatched and can be of great benefit to your jurisdiction. Pre-production on the show is already underway! And PBS and CarTalk must know which jurisdictions are going with them into prime-time. By now you have received the draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) that your organization will need to sign by Jan. 31, 2007. This agreement can be tweaked to meet your individual jurisdictional needs. For those jurisdictions that display the logos of CarTalk TV's corporate underwriters as outlined in the MOU, you will receive the added benefit of planned Public Service Spots in your market. This media buy includes the scheduled airing of a 15-second CarTalk/Real ID educational spot on major networks: ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX. The magnitude of this buy will be determined based on underwriter support. Also, for those jurisdictions displaying the underwriters' logos, you will receive an additional benefit and public relations opportunity with planned national outreach programs in your jurisdictions tied in with your local PBS station. These may include a visit by the CarTalk tour bus to DMV parking lots catering to all drivers with information, events, games and giveaways. If you have not already done so, please assign a contact person to this opportunity and have them contact Jason King by COB Friday, Dec. 22, 2006 at jking@aamva.org or (703) 908-8287. Let your jurisdiction ride along into prime-time with "Click and Clack" on CarTalk TV!

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has published a notice of interim guidance on the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program. The purpose of this notice is to: (1) Announce the publication of interim CMAQ guidance; and (2) solicit public comment on the contents of the interim guidance. Sections 1101, 1103 and 1808 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) (Pub. L. 109-59, Aug. 10, 2005) amended the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program, and authorizes $8.6 billion to support the CMAQ program in 2005-2009. The interim guidance went into effect Oct. 31, 2006; however, FHWA will review all comments submitted to the docket and will modify the guidance as necessary or appropriate. Comments must be received on or before Feb. 20, 2007.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announces it is considering whether to amend its financial responsibility requirements for motor carriers in response to two petitions for rulemaking. The Government of Canada (Canada) petitioned FMCSA to amend these requirements to permit, as acceptable evidence of financial responsibility, a policy of insurance issued by a Canadian insurance company legally authorized to issue such policies in the Province or Territory of Canada where the motor carrier has its principal place of business. Canada believes the FMCSA’s current regulations place Canada-domiciled motor carriers operating in the United States at a competitive disadvantage with U.S.-domiciled carriers. The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) petitioned FMCSA to make revisions to the MCS-90 and MCS-90B endorsements to clarify that language in the endorsements imposing liability for negligence occurring “on any route or in any territory authorized to be served by the insured or elsewhere” does not include liability connected with transportation within Mexico. FMCSA seeks input from the public in the form of data or other information in response to several questions posed in the Advance Notice for Proposed Rulemaking to assist the agency in evaluating these proposals. Comments must be received by Feb. 13, 2007 and identified by the docket number FMCSA-2006-26262. Submit them electronically at http://dms.dot.gov or http://www.regulations.gov.

In May 2006, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced its National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America’s Transportation Network (the Congestion Initiative), a bold and comprehensive national program to reduce congestion on the nation’s roads, rails, runways, and waterways. One major component of the Congestion Initiative is the Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA). By separate notice in the Federal Register, the Department has solicited metropolitan areas to enter into UPAs to demonstrate strategies with a combined track record of effectiveness in reducing traffic congestion. See Applications for Urban Partnership Agreements as Part of Congestion Initiative, (71 FR 71231) dated Dec. 8, 2006. To support this national strategy, the Department intends to award cooperative agreements to one or more successful jurisdictions to operationally test, demonstrate, and evaluate region-wide innovative technology based congestion mitigation strategies. The purpose of this notice is to solicit proposals by metropolitan areas to the Intelligent Transportation Systems Operational Testing to Mitigate Congestion (ITS-OTMC) Program for funding the implementation of innovative congestion-reducing technologies. The Department may provide successful jurisdictions up to $100 million over three years through the ITS-OTMC Program in support of innovative technology-based strategies to reduce congestion.
This notice is one of three solicitations being issued by the Department in connection with the Congestion Initiative. Applicants wishing to receive funding under the ITS-OTMC Program must submit their applications on or before April 30, 2007. Applicants may file their applications online at http://www.grants.gov under Funding Opportunity Number DTFH61-07-RA-00111. The grant synopsis is available at http://www.grants.gov. The full announcement is expected to be available on http:www.grants.gov no later than Jan. 15, 2007. For more information, contact Brian Cronin, Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, at (202) 366-8841 or brian.cronin@dot.gov.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has announced the first meeting of the National Safe Routes to School Task Force. The purpose of the Task Force is to advise the Secretary of Transportation, through the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Safety, on strategies to advance Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Programs nationwide and to encourage children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to school pursuant to Section 1404(h) of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) (Pub. L. 109-59). This meeting is open to the public and will have time allocated for public testimony. The public is welcome to present written or oral comments to the Task Force. The first meeting of the Task Force is scheduled for Jan. 11, 2007, from 8:30 am to 5 pm ET. It will be held at the Holiday Inn Capitol, 550 C Street, SW., Washington, DC 20024. For more information, contact Tim Arnade, the Designated Federal Official, Safe Routes to School Program Manager, FHWA Office of Safety Programs, at (202) 366-2205 or Tim.Arnade@dot.gov.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is revising its regulation that prescribes procedures for obtaining basic uniformity of traffic control devices on federal-aid and other streets and highways. This final rule, which is effective Jan. 16, 2007, makes some nomenclature changes, removes outdated references, and provides clarification on the meaning of roads “open to public travel” and “substantial conformance.” For more information, contact Hari Kalla, Office of Transportation Operations, at (202) 366-5915, or Raymond Cuprill, Office of the Chief Counsel, at (202) 366-0791.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced that it has published an opportunity to apply for FY 2007 CMV Operator Safety Training Grant funding on the grants.gov Web site. Section 4134 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy For Users (SAFETEA-LU) establishes the CMV Operator Safety Training Grant Opportunity program. The legislation requires grant recipients to train drivers and future drivers in the safe operation of CMVs, as defined in Section 31301 of Title 49, U.S. Code. Priority will be given to regional or multi-state educational or nonprofit associations serving economically distressed regions of the United States. Eligible awardees also can include state governments, local governments, and accredited post-secondary educational institutions (public or private) such as colleges, universities, vocational-technical schools and truck driver training schools. To apply for funding, applicants must be registered with grants.gov. Registration with grants.gov may take two to five days before the system will allow you to apply for grants using the grants.gov Web site. The CFDA number for MCSAP is 20.235. FMCSA will initially consider funding of applications submitted by Jan. 31, 2007 by qualified applicants. If additional funding remains available, applications submitted after Jan. 31, 2007 will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Funds will not be available for allocation until such time as FY2007 appropriations legislation is passed and signed into law. Funding is subject to reductions resulting from obligation limitations or rescissions as specified in SAFETEA-LU or other legislation. Fore more informatiom, contact FMCSA's Art L. Williams at (202) 366-3695.