State And Federal Electronic Data Records to Improve Vehicle-operator Eligibility Reporting Systems Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4531 To amend title 23, United States Code, to modify the permitted uses of grant funds for certain grants, to allow States to reallocate certain funds provided for national priority safety programs, to direct the Sec- retary of Transportation to award grants to improve interoperability among State and national traffic data systems, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 Mr. MOULTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend title 23, United States Code, to modify the per- mitted uses of grant funds for certain grants, to allow States to reallocate certain funds provided for national priority safety programs, to direct the Secretary of Transportation to award grants to improve interoper- ability among State and national traffic data systems, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘State And Federal 4 Electronic Data Records to Improve Vehicle-operator Eli- 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4531.IH H4531 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4531 IH gibility Reporting Systems Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘SAFE 1 DRIVERS Act’’. 2 SEC. 2. NATIONAL PRIORITY SAFETY PROGRAMS. 3 Section 405 of title 23, United States Code, is 4 amended— 5 (1) in subsection (a)(8)— 6 (A) by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding’’ and in- 7 serting ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL—Notwithstanding’’; 8 and 9 (B) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(B) REALLOCATION.—Notwithstanding 11 paragraphs (1) through (7), a State may reallo- 12 cate, in not more than 1 fiscal year, not more 13 than 10 percent of funds allocated for programs 14 described in such paragraphs to carry out ac- 15 tivities described in subsection (c)(4)(D).’’; and 16 (2) in subsection (c)(4)— 17 (A) by striking ‘‘used for making’’ and in- 18 serting ‘‘used for— 19 ‘‘(A) making’’; and 20 (B) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(B) developing or acquiring programs to 22 identify, collect, and report data to State and 23 local government agencies, and enter data, in- 24 cluding crash, citation or adjudication, driver, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4531.IH H4531 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4531 IH emergency medical services or injury surveil- 1 lance system, roadway, and vehicle, into the 2 core highway safety databases of a State; 3 ‘‘(C) purchasing equipment to improve 4 processes by which data is identified, collected, 5 and reported to State and local government 6 agencies; 7 ‘‘(D) linking core highway safety databases 8 of a State with such databases of other States 9 or with other data systems within the State, in- 10 cluding systems that contain medical, roadway, 11 and economic data; 12 ‘‘(E) improving the compatibility and 13 interoperability of the core highway safety data- 14 bases of the State with national data systems 15 and data systems of other States; 16 ‘‘(F) enhancing the ability of a State and 17 the Secretary to observe and analyze local, 18 State, and national trends in crash occurrences, 19 rates, outcomes, and circumstances; 20 ‘‘(G) supporting traffic records-related 21 training and related expenditures for law en- 22 forcement, emergency medical, judicial, prosecu- 23 torial and traffic records professionals; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4531.IH H4531 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4531 IH ‘‘(H) hiring traffic records professionals, 1 including a Fatality Analysis Reporting System 2 liaison for a State; and 3 ‘‘(I) conducting research on State traffic 4 safety information systems, including devel- 5 oping and evaluating programs to improve core 6 highway safety databases of such State and 7 processes by which data is identified, collected, 8 reported to State and local government agencies 9 and entered into such core safety databases.’’. 10 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO DEVELOP DATA SHARING CAPABILITIES 11 AMONG STATE AND NATIONAL TRAFFIC DATA 12 SYSTEMS. 13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Beginning on the date of en- 14 actment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall 15 award not more than 10 interoperability grants in a fiscal 16 year to eligible entities to improve interoperability among 17 State and national traffic data systems. 18 (b) INITIAL GRANTS.—Not later than 1 year after 19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 20 award 10 interoperability grants under subsection (a). 21 (c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 22 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 23 Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4531.IH H4531 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4531 IH and containing such information as the Secretary may re- 1 quire. 2 (d) TOTAL GRANT AMOUNTS.—The total grant 3 amounts awarded by the Secretary under subsection (a) 4 may not exceed $50,000,000 in a fiscal year. 5 (e) USE OF GRANTS.—An eligible entity that receives 6 a grant under this section shall use such grant to improve 7 interoperability among State and national traffic data sys- 8 tems through— 9 (1) data notification and the exchange of driver 10 history and safety information between State drivers 11 license agencies, including information that may im- 12 pact the eligibility of a driver to obtain or maintain 13 a motor vehicle operator’s license; and 14 (2) other improvements to the interoperability 15 among State and national traffic data systems as 16 the Secretary determines appropriate. 17 (f) EVALUATION OF GRANT APPLICATIONS.—In 18 awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall 19 evaluate applications from an eligible entity based on the 20 following criteria: 21 (1) The experience of the eligible entity in de- 22 veloping, implementing, or improving State traffic 23 data systems. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4531.IH H4531 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4531 IH (2) The experience of the eligible entity in im- 1 proving compatibility and interoperability among 2 State and national traffic data systems. 3 (3) The potential of the goals and outcomes 4 stated in the application of an eligible entity to pro- 5 mote efficiency among, or to automate notifications 6 between, the chief driver licensing officials of States 7 when the drivers license eligibility of a driver may be 8 impacted by an event in another State. 9 (4) The potential for the proposed project of an 10 eligible entity to be scaled or adopted nationally and 11 by other States. 12 (5) Any other factor that the Secretary deter- 13 mines appropriate. 14 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 15 (1) CHIEF DRIVER LICENSING OFFICIAL.—The 16 term ‘‘chief driver licensing official’’ has the mean- 17 ing given the term in section 30301 of title 49, 18 United States Code. 19 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 20 ty’’ means— 21 (A) a State driver licensing agency; 22 (B) an organization that administers a 23 State traffic data system; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4531.IH H4531 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4531 IH (C) a consortium of entities described in 1 subparagraphs (A) and (B). 2 (3) MOTOR VEHICLE OPERATOR’S LICENSE.— 3 The term ‘‘motor vehicle operator’s license’’ has the 4 meaning given the term in section 30301 of title 49, 5 United States Code. 6 (4) STATE DRIVERS LICENSE AGENCY.—The 7 term ‘‘State drivers license agency’’ means the agen- 8 cy of a State responsible for issuing motor vehicle 9 operator’s licenses. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4531.IH H4531 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS