Barrasso Introduces TIRES Act to Improve Tribal Road Safety

Press Release

U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, introduced S. 1776, the Tribal Infrastructure and Roads Enhancement and Safety Act (TIRES Act). S. 1776 is cosponsored by Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID).

The TIRES Act supports increasing the safety of roads throughout Indian Country. This bill streamlines the process to start and complete safety projects, increases available funding for tribal road programs, and reinstates the tribal facility bridge program.

"The number of lives lost on roads across Indian Country is staggering," said Chairman Barrasso. "We must pursue policies that guarantee a majority of highway and road safety funds are actually spent on safety, not on bureaucracy. This bill will do just that by cutting through Washington red tape and empowering tribes to improve roads in their communities."

Beyond streamlining environmental approvals and increasing available funding for tribal road safety projects, the TIRES Act improves tribal road safety by:

· Requiring a study at the Department of Transportation to examine the quality of transportation safety data collected that can benefit tribes in preventing crashes and seeking reimbursement from those that damage tribal roads;

· Requiring a study at the Department of the Interior to examine ways to improve safety on public roads on Indian reservations; and

· Reducing the administrative fees that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) charges tribes for road work.

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