Emergency Clearance Justification Document

Report to Congress on Tribal Government Transportation Safety Data

Emergency Clearance Request

Justification and Timeline

Timeline:

Tribal Government Transportation Safety Data
Assessment of available resources and determining responsible office.	Dec 2015-Feb 2016
Conduct Internal FHWA Discussions to determine content and approach & reallocation of resources to this report development	Feb 25 – March 15, 2016
Conduct literature review & draft data collection instrument	March 16 - April 1, 2016
Consult with Tribes, Tribal Technical Assistance Centers, BIA Office of Justice Services, BIA Transportation, CDC, IHS, Department of Justice, and DOT National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Contents and Approach	April 4, 2016
Develop Survey and circulate among group from April 4 for review	April 5 - April 19, 2016
Conduct Survey & Research	April 20-June 26, 2016
Compile and Analyze Survey Results and Research Findings	June 27-July 14
Preparation of Draft Report	July 15 - July 29, 2016
Draft Report – Internal FHWA Review (Chief Counsel, Public Affairs, Policy, CFO, Administrator’s Office)	August 1 – August 31, 2016
Review of Final Survey and Comparative Assessment Report – Office of the Secretary and OMB	September 1 – November 30, 2016
Revise report based on the Secretary’s and OMB review and prepare final documents	December 1 – December 15, 2016
Final Report Delivered to Congressional Committees	December 16, 2016

Emergency clearance is necessary in order to complete all required work activities, including the conduct of the Survey included in Section 1117(b) of the FAST Act, meeting the deadline for making the report available to congress as required by the referenced section. The language in the FAST Act required consultation be conducted with several federal agencies to most adequately address the report required by the FAST Act. That consultation process is started and ongoing; also, FHWA has identified staff resources to conduct necessary research and interviews as well as develop the report. The work to be conducted includes reaching out to federally recognized tribes and state governments to determine the status of the items listed in the law, receiving responses to the survey questions, reviewing the responses, and incorporating those survey results into the report. Congress has set a deadline in the law of December 16, 2016 for completion of this report.

The language included in the FAST Act reads –

(b) REPORT ON TRIBAL GOVERNMENT TRANSPORTATION SAFETY

DATA.—

(1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

(A) in many States, the Native American population is disproportionately represented in fatalities and crash statistics;

(B) improved crash reporting by tribal law enforcement agencies would facilitate safety planning and would enable Indian tribes to apply more successfully for State and Federal funds for safety improvements;

(C) the causes of underreporting of crashes on Indian reservations include—

(i) tribal law enforcement capacity, including—

(I) staffing shortages and turnover; and

(II) lack of equipment, software, and training; and

(ii) lack of standardization in crash reporting forms and protocols; and

(D) without more accurate reporting of crashes on Indian reservations, it is difficult or impossible to fully understand the nature of the problem and develop appropriate countermeasures, which may include effective transportation safety planning and programs aimed at—

(i) driving under the influence (DUI) prevention;

(ii) pedestrian safety;

(iii) roadway safety improvements;

(iv) seat belt usage; and

(v) proper use of child restraints.

(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, after consultation with the Secretary of Interior, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Attorney General, and Indian tribes, shall submit to the Committee on Environment and Public Works and the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a report describing the quality of transportation safety data collected by States, counties, and Indian tribes for transportation safety systems and the relevance of that data to improving the collection and sharing of data on crashes on Indian reservations.

(B) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the report are—

(i) to improve the collection and sharing of data on crashes on Indian reservations; and

(ii) to develop data that Indian tribes can use to recover damages to tribal property caused by motorists.

(C) PAPERLESS DATA REPORTING.—In preparing the report, the Secretary shall provide States, counties, and Indian tribes with options and best practices for transition to a paperless transportation safety data reporting system that—

(i) improves the collection of crash reports;

(ii) stores, archives, queries, and shares crash records; and

(iii) uses data exclusively—

(I) to address traffic safety issues on Indian reservations; and

(II) to identify and improve problem areas on public roads on Indian reservations.

(D) ADDITIONAL BUDGETARY RESOURCES.—The Secretary shall include in the report the identification of Federal transportation funds provided to Indian tribes by agencies in addition to the Department and the Department of the Interior.