Inside This Issue...

By Federal Register Notice dated March 12, 2007, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a notice of intent to form the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission, in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users. Section 11142(a) of SAFETEA-LU established the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission and charged it to analyze future highway and transit needs and the finances of the Highway Trust Fund and to make recommendations regarding alternative approaches to financing transportation infrastructure. DOT has set April 25, 2007, as the date for the inaugural Financing Commission meeting. The meeting will take place from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm at the Oklahoma City Memorial Room (Room 2230) in the Department’s headquarters building, located at 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590.

A bill (HR 1756) introduced in the House on March 29 would prohibit Mexico-domiciled motor carriers from operating beyond U.S. municipalities and commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border until certain conditions are met to ensure the safety of such operations. Cited as the “NAFTA Trucking Safety Act of 2007," the bill states that no Mexico-domiciled motor carrier shall be granted authority to operate beyond U.S. municipalities and commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border until the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of Homeland Security submit to Congress a joint certification that specific conditions have been met.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) proposes to revise its regulation establishing the general requirements for quality assurance procedures for construction on all federal-aid highway projects on the National Highway System. Specifically, the FHWA proposes to require accreditation of laboratories conducting crash tests on roadside hardware by an accrediting body that is recognized by the National Cooperation for Laboratory Accreditation (NCLA) or is a signatory to an International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA), an Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) MRA, or another comparable accreditation body approved by FHWA. The objective of this proposed rule is to improve the agency’s ability to determine that crash test laboratories are qualified to conduct and evaluate tests intended to determine the crashworthiness of roadside safety features. Laboratory accreditation is widely recognized as a reliable indicator of technical competence. Comments identified by Docket No. FHWA-2006-26501 must be received on or before June 8, 2007. They may be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov.

The next AAMVA CIO Outreach conference call is scheduled for Wednesday, April 18, 2007, from 2 to 3:30 pm EDT. These meetings address IT issues relevant to the CIOs and technology staff members of the DMVs (in both the U.S. and Canada) and concerns relevant to their day-to-day jobs. Draft agendas and minutes from previous meetings are available on AAMVA's Web site. The conference call telephone number and conference ID can be found at the top of the agenda. Send requests for future agenda topics to Greg Sensiba at gsensiba@aamva.org or (703) 908-2822.

As part of a comprehensive plan for reducing the serious risk of rollover crashes and the risk of death and serious injury in those crashes, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has established federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) No. 126 to require electronic stability control (ESC) systems on passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less. ESC systems use automatic computer-controlled braking of individual wheels to assist the driver in maintaining control in critical driving situations in which the vehicle is beginning to lose directional stability at the rear wheels (spin out) or directional control at the front wheels (plow out). NHTSA estimates that ESC would save 5,300 to 9,600 lives and prevent 156,000 to 238,000 injuries in all types of crashes annually once all light vehicles on the road are equipped with ESC systems. This final rule is effective June 5, 2007. Consistent with the phase-in commencing Sept. 1, 2008, all new light vehicles must be equipped with an ESC system that meets the requirements of the standard by Sept. 1, 2011, with some exceptions. If you wish to submit a petition for reconsideration of this rule, your petition must be received by May 21, 2007.

As part of its ongoing effort to review and update the legacy system of records notices, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is altering previously established Privacy Act systems of records published by the former Immigration and Naturalization Service for the Verification and Information System (VIS) Justice/INS-035 published Oct. 17, 2002 (67 FR 64134) and Alien Status Verification Index (ASVI) Justice/INS-009 published Sept. 7, 2001 (66 FR 46815). The Department of Homeland Security will consolidate information from different systems of records notices and is adding new sources of data to the VIS to update the routine uses that were previously published for this system of records. The established systems of records will be effective on May 9, 2007. You may submit comments, identified by Docket Number DHS-2007-0010, via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov.

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

• AAMVA – Mini Trucks (Ends 04/19/2007)
• AAMVA – Trucks Converted to Motor Homes (Ends 04/19/2007)
• Maryland – Electronic Lien (Ends 05/11/2007)
• Maryland – Electronic Titling and Registration (Ends 05/11/2007)
• Maryland – Outsourcing (Ends 05/11/2007)

The TJX Corporation recently experienced a significant compromise of customer data including DL/ID numbers and the personal information on the front of the documents. TJX Corporation previously sent a letter to the customers identified in the database compromise suggesting they contact their DMV to determine if their DL/ID control numbers have been compromised. TJ Maxx has notified AAMVA that they intend to release a second letter on April 23 to those same customers. The letter will again suggest the customer visit their DMV Web site and determine whether the DMV has a “Fraud Alert System” that will allow the customer to refer to the TJ Maxx letter and stop a possible ID Theft situation. TJ Maxx has been in contact with every state Attorney General and suggested they make contact with their DMV administrators regarding this situation. For more information, customers and DMVs can visit the TJX.com Web site or contact Selden Fritschner, AAMVA VP, Law Enforcement, at sfritschner@aamva.org.

Take your training to a higher level! Sign up today for a course with AAMVA University. Following are upcoming courses to be held in Arlington, Virginia.  AAMVA University can also personalize training for your jurisdictional facility. Visit www.aamva-u.org for details or to register online!

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced that on April 2, 2007 it began the rulemaking necessary to set the 2007 fees for the new Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) Agreement. The 2005 federal highway reauthorization bill repealed the Single State Registration System (SSRS), effective Jan. 1, 2007, and provided for the replacement of the revenues states have derived from SSRS and related programs through the new UCR. Developing the new program is largely the responsibility of the UCR Board of Directors, a body composed of state and industry representatives and the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is the board’s job to recommend a fee structure and the level of fees to the DOT, which actually sets them. The timing of the rulemaking has become especially important because a number of states have been lobbying Congress to revive SSRS for 2007. Under the law, FMCSA has 90 days to set the UCR agreement fees, so the results of the rulemaking are expected around July 1, 2007.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) invites public comments about its intention to request the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) approval for renewal of an existing information collection titled "Drug Offender’s Drivers License Suspension Certification." Submit comments identified by DOT DMS Docket Number FHWA-2007-27819 by June 11, 2007. You may submit comments at http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.

A bill (HR 1757) that would adjust weight limits of commercial motor vehicles was introduced in the House on March 29. The bill, which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, would change the definition of a "commercial motor vehicle" by essentially removing commercial vehicles under 26,000 pounds from federal oversight. 

Under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) passed in 2005, Congress increased funding for Highway Use Tax Evasion Projects to assist in the enforcement of excise tax evasion at the federal and state level. As part of the legislation, a new program was created entitled Intergovernmental Enforcement Efforts. Annually, $1 million in funds will be awarded through the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). In FY 2006, eight grants were awarded ranging from $100,000 to $250,000. These grants went to states with innovative proposals for increasing collaboration and coordination among several public agencies to combat motor fuel tax evasion. FHWA is seeking applications for Intergovernmental Enforcement Efforts in FY 2007. Applications are due by June 8, 2007.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has published a list of solicitations issued by the Department in connection with its Urban Partnership Program announced in December 2006. The Urban Partnership Program reflects the Department’s effort to develop, in the words of U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, “21st Century Solutions to 21st Century Challenges” facing the nation’s transportation network. One such challenge is the severe and worsening problem of metropolitan traffic congestion. Through the Urban Partnership Program, the Department is offering a combination of grants, technical expertise, regulatory relief and credit support to jurisdictions that are prepared to experiment with four strategies believed to be effective in reducing metropolitan traffic congestion: (1) Value pricing, (2) bus transit, (3) telecommuting and flextime, and (4) intelligent transportation technology.

Representatives of metropolitan areas interested in becoming Urban Partners must submit an application to the Department that meets the requirements detailed in the Department’s Dec. 8, 2006, Federal Register notice. Designation as an Urban Partner does not, by itself, qualify a party for any grant or funding amount. However, Urban Partners will receive priority consideration under the other departmental discretionary funding programs referenced below, to the extent that program terms provide or allow. All application materials are due to the Department by April 30, 2007, apart from applications to the Federal Transit Administration’s Alternatives Analysis and Bus & Bus Facilities Programs, which are due by May 22, 2007.