[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 91 (Wednesday, May 12, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25530-25533]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-11925]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Highway Administration
Driver History Initiative Projects; Fiscal Year 1999 Funding
AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of solicitation.
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SUMMARY: This notice solicits proposals from States for projects to
improve the timeliness, accuracy, and completeness of reporting and
recording of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) traffic
[[Page 25531]]
convictions within a State and between States. Where safety and
identification of traffic offenders can be improved, these grants would
provide funding to assist States to improve the reporting and recording
of traffic convictions. The FHWA, in partnership with the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), will provide grant funds
to the selected States to carry out the projects for driver
improvements and enhancements.
DATES: Proposals must be submitted on or before August 10, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Submit all proposals to: the State Director, Department of
Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Office of Motor Carrier
and Highway Safety in your State. Those desiring notification of
receipt of their proposal submission must include a self-addressed,
stamped envelope or postcard. If you need the name and address of the
State Director in your State, you can call (202) 366-9579 between the
hours of 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For program issues: Mr. Norm Anger,
Office of National and International Safety Programs, (202) 366-2170,
or Mr. Phillip Forjan, Office of Motor Carrier Research and Standards,
(202) 366-4001: For legal issues: Ms. Suzanne O'Malley, Office of Chief
Counsel, (202) 366-1367 Federal Highway Administration, Department of
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Office
hours are from 7:45 am to 4:15 pm, e.t., Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Electronic Access
An electronic copy of this document may be downloaded using a modem
and suitable communications software from the Federal Register
Electronic Bulletin Board Service at (202) 512-1661. Internet users may
reach the Federal Register's home page at: http://www.nara.gov/fedreg
and the Government Printing Office's database at http://
www.acesss.gpo.gov/nara.
Background
The Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations
Act for Fiscal Year 1999, Pub. L. 105-277, 112 Stat 2681, enacted on
October 21, 1998, set aside grant funds for states to carry out
projects for driver improvements and enhancements.
This is the second year in which the FHWA, in cooperation with the
NHTSA, is making funds available to States desiring to improve their
CMV driver license adjudication and data exchange systems. While the
funding is primarily intended to improve driver license adjudication
reporting and information exchange for CMV drivers, it does not
preclude States' non-commercial systems from benefitting from any
system improvements. The agencies are seeking grant applications from
States willing to undertake a systematic review of their license
citation and conviction reporting systems and the development of plans
to improve the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of driver license
information exchange with courts, prosecutors, and law enforcement.
This may include procedural changes within the State licensing agency,
new or expanded communications with courts, prosecutors and police, or
perhaps regulatory and/or legislative changes. The initiative is a
collaborative effort of the FHWA and the NHTSA, which jointly will
provide the funding, as well as the American Association of Motor
Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA), which will provide technical support
during all phases of the projects.
Extensive studies and research conducted over a period of years
have found that driver error is a major cause of motor vehicle crashes.
Driver error is a complex problem with many components including age,
experience, time of day, extent of familiarity with the roadway,
emotional/physical/mental state, traffic patterns, etc. Improving
driver behavior is an essential component to improving highway safety.
Federal, State, and local governments spend millions of dollars
annually on training, education, public information and law enforcement
efforts to protect the motoring public by detecting and deterring
unsafe driver behavior. The enforcement component of these programs
produces thousands of citations for driving violations every day. This
Driver History Initiative is designed to assist States to answer the
question of what happens to those convictions.
The backbone of the effort to deal with unsafe drivers is the
driver control system. This is the adjudicatory framework by which law
enforcement, prosecutors, courts and motor vehicle licensing agencies
issue citations, adjudicate driving offenses, report those offenses for
entry on the driver record, and exchange that information among the
participants in that State's system and with licensing and adjudication
systems outside that State. If the driver control system breaks down,
or if it is not working efficiently, there is no method for identifying
potential problem drivers for remediation. Without early detection and
corrective action, these violators can develop into chronic offenders
and become the problem drivers that cause crashes and injuries, and
fatalities. The accurate and timely exchange of driver licensing
information between jurisdictions can save lives, and the Federal
government's implementation of these grants is designed to achieve that
objective. In addition, timely, accurate and complete recording of
traffic adjudications insures that the millions of dollars spent
annually to fund roadside traffic enforcement achieve maximum safety
benefit and that officers are not needlessly placed at risk when
conducting traffic enforcement activities.
FY 1998 Awards: A Strong Beginning
The Department of Transportation and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act, 1998, Pub. L. 105-66, 111 Stat. 1425, made
available $1 million dollars in Information Systems funding for the
FHWA for driver program improvements. The FHWA made that full amount
available for grants to States for improvement of their traffic
adjudication systems. The NHTSA provided $200,000 in additional funding
to support this program, making $1.2 million available to the States
for FY 1998. Twelve States submitted grant proposals, totaling just
under $3 million dollars. Each grant proposal was reviewed based on its
adherence to the grant application criteria contained in the Federal
Register notice published on April 9, 1998 (63 FR 17474) and the extent
to which it addressed driver licensing adjudication system problems in
that particular State. The results of the review lead to full funding
of five proposals, partial funding of four proposals, and no funding to
three States, because they either failed to meet the required criteria
specified in the notice or did not meet the deadline for submitting
grant applications.
Some of the projects which were funded are as follows: an analysis
of a current driver citation reporting process and the design of a new
system to automate this process; a study on the impact of diversion and
deferral programs on the accuracy and integrity of driver histories;
and the reprogramming of a driver control system to accept driver crash
data, a vital component of the driver control record.
Driver History Initiative Projects
The FHWA seeks to improve the timeliness, completeness, accuracy,
and
[[Page 25532]]
clarity of State driver history files by promoting an integrated driver
licensing system. Such a system will improve and enhance the driver
control system by its ability to facilitate identification,
prosecution, and adjudication of problem drivers. It will benefit
drivers who have satisfied the penalties or conditions of a driving
restriction by promptly updating their driving record. It will ensure
that all drivers have complete, accurate, and up-to-date histories
available as needed for employment and insurance purposes.
The Initiative will again begin with federally-funded State
projects. It will once more involve States that are willing to explore
and test new and proven methodologies and protocols, allowing for rapid
electronic exchange of driver history information. A major component of
the projects will continue to be to test procedures that facilitate
citation tracking from issuance to resolution. The projects should also
enhance the accuracy, speed, and completeness of driver history
information exchange among the various components of the system,
including law enforcement, prosecutors, the courts, and driver
licensing agencies, both within the State and between States.
The scope of potential projects or plans need not to be limited to
information systems development, changes, or enhancements. The State
may have a system that is technically sound but hampered by State
procedures, policies, laws, or legislation preventing the State from
utilizing its system in the most efficient and effective manner. The
FHWA will entertain proposals that may not involve the system but still
would meet the project goals. One example of a procedural problem is
the handling of out-of-State convictions. Some States treat paper
notification of out-of-State convictions differently than electronic
notification of similar convictions; several States lack the authority
to assess points or penalties for convictions received electronically.
Some States report there are certain out-of-State convictions which
they cannot enter on drivers' records because of State-to-State
statutory inconsistencies.
Project Goal
The goal of the FHWA is to ensure timely, accurate, and complete
reporting and recording of traffic convictions within State courts,
State licensing agencies, prosecutors; and between and among States to
reliably identify potential problem drivers by enhancing existing
systems, developing new systems, or revising existing procedural
practices and/or procedures.
The Initiative's primary objective is to achieve enhancements in
the development, exchange, retention, and reporting of driver histories
of CMV operators. The FHWA believes that any enhancements to the
commercial segment of the driver licensing system will also have a
positive effect on processing of traffic offenses for drivers of non-
commercial vehicles. While focusing primarily on improving CMV traffic
adjudication systems, State proposals that also serve to improve or
enhance non-commercial systems ancillary to the CMV improvements are
eligible for funding. One of the results of these grants will be to
broadly share information among States on methods to improve traffic
adjudication and recordkeeping systems. Consequently, States submitting
applications for grant funding will be required to report regularly on
project activities and progress and share the results of their efforts
with other jurisdictions. The FHWA, the NHTSA and the AAMVA will
facilitate these efforts and provide technical assistance to all
jurisdictions.
Proposal Submission
Required Content of Proposals
While providing flexibility to States, grant proposals must meet
certain criteria. The grant proposal criteria are designed to ensure
that project proposals will enhance traffic adjudication systems in the
State and that key State agencies and organizations participate in
approved grant activities. Traffic adjudication systems involve law
enforcement, courts, prosecutors, and driver licensing agencies. To be
effective, the FHWA and the NHTSA believe that traffic adjudication
system improvement projects must be multi-disciplinary and reflect the
expertise and commitment of all participants in the system.
Consequently, grant applications must specify that all relevant
participants in the process are involved in the project. A thorough
evaluation design is another key requirement. The proposal must include
the following seven items:
1. Identification of a lead Agency for the project.
2. Identification of an interdisciplinary working group within the
State, including but not limited to representation from the motor
vehicle licensing agency, court system, prosecutors, State law
enforcement, Governor's Highway Safety Representatives, and State Motor
Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP) agency.
3. An analysis of existing systems or procedures, including
discussion of any driver conviction/deferral programs operating in the
State, an outline of system strengths, and definition of areas
requiring attention or improvement. The grant proposal should define,
analyze, and document user procedures, including projected barriers to
project success, such as any statutory limitations that may affect
communication and recording of convictions on the system.
4. System requirements, including project scope, whether new
technologies would be tested, and methods of gathering, integrating,
and facilitating data exchange between various users. If the project is
not system-related, describe existing procedures, the problems they
generate, proposed new procedures, anticipated outcome, and the means
to measure the success or impact of the project or program.
5. A plan for preparing a final report, including the evaluation
findings and recommendations for other States regarding the strengths
and weaknesses of this project or program. All grant recipients will be
required to provide periodic progress reports on funded projects and
agree to share project results with other jurisdictions.
6. A detailed plan for implementing the system or procedures,
including time lines for completion, along with a detailed budget for
the project. The budget must be sufficiently detailed so that it may be
evaluated on the costs assigned to each proposed task, the allocation
of resources to complete the tasks, the procurement of hardware and/or
software (if applicable), staff hours (broken out by labor category),
and other costs (e.g., travel, printing, etc.). The budget should
closely correspond to the tasks outlined in the implementation plan and
be broken out according to the time lines for completion.
7. A detailed description of how the success of the project will be
evaluated and measured. This must include specific descriptions of the
goals of the project, how progress will be monitored and the final
evaluation design and due date.
Submission of Proposals
There will be no formal Request For Proposals (RFP). Proposals
responding to this notice must be valid for 180 days and may be funded
at any time during that period. Proposals should be submitted with an
original and two copies, following the task requirements listed above,
to the State Director, Federal Highway Administration, Department of
Transportation, Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety in
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your State. If you need the name and address of the State Director in
your State, you can call (202) 366-9579 between the hours of 7:45 a.m.
to 4:15 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Sample Proposal Available
A sample proposal was developed and could be used by the States as
a guideline for submitting their own proposals. The sample proposal can
be obtained on-line, in portable document format, from the AAMVA web
site (http://www.aamva.org) and clicking on ``Must See Items.'' If you
have any problems retrieving the document from AAMVA's web site, please
call (703) 908-2822. The proposal is also available from the FHWA's web
site at (http://www.mcregis.fhwa.dot/forms.htm) or from the State
Director in the FHWA's Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety in
your State.
Evaluation of Proposals and Award
A panel comprised of representatives from the NHTSA and the AAMVA
will assist the FHWA in its technical review of project proposals. The
AAMVA and the FHWA will also participate in project monitoring,
evaluation, and information sharing with other States. Members of the
panel will be available for technical assistance during all phases of
the projects and will review the evaluations of each final product. The
panel will evaluate each proposal based on the following factors: (1)
The intrinsic merit of the proposal; (2) the technical competency of
the proposal; (3) the potential for utilization of results; (4)
reasonableness of the costs proposed; and (5) adequacy of proposed
resources to complete the project requirements satisfactorily, and in a
timely manner; and (6) the adequacy of the project evaluation design.
Proposals which most closely meet the seven content criteria and
the six evaluation criteria as outlined above will be considered for
funding. In addition, it is understood that States which receive
funding may be visited by the FHWA representatives who will review the
progress of their projects , as well as seek input and feedback on the
Initiative.
Project Funding
This notice announces the FHWA's intent to provide funding in FY
1999 for a number of projects relating to driver licensing systems and
State driver license procedures. States are invited to submit proposals
outlining their projects to the FHWA's Office of Motor Carriers and
Highway Safety. The FHWA will fund project management and
implementation of State systems or revision of State procedures. This
grant will not require matching funds. The FHWA has $700,000 available
for this purpose in FY 1999 and contemplates making several awards from
the proposals submitted. States are also encouraged to explore other
funding sources in both the private and public sectors to implement
integrated driver history tracking systems.
Authority: Pub. L. 105-277, 112 stat. 2681 (1998); 49 U.S.C.
31102; and 49 CFR 1.48.
Issued on: May 3, 1999.
Gloria J. Jeff,
Federal Highway Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 99-11925 Filed 5-11-99; 8:45 am]
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