Section 1214(d) of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) provides additional funding for States that have within their boundaries all or part of an Indian reservation having a land area of 10,000,000 acres or more. The only Indian reservation meeting this criterion is the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Under the provisions of Section 1214(d)(1), these funds are to be equally divided among the three States.

Each county within any of these three States, that has a public road meeting the following criteria, is eligible to apply to the State for these funds to be used to maintain these public roads. The public road must be:

1. one that is within, adjacent to, or provides access to the Indian reservation described above;

2. used by a school bus to transport children to or from a school or Headstart program carried out under the Head Start Act; and

3. maintained by the County in which the road is located.

The State shall provide the funding directly to each county based on the amount requested. If more funding is requested from the counties than is available to the State, the State shall determine an equitable distribution of funds among the eligible counties that apply. These funds are to supplement, not replace, any funding provided by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for road maintenance on Indian reservations or any funding provided by the State to the county for road maintenance.

In accordance with Section 1214(d)(5)(A) of TEA-21, $1,500,000 is available from the Highway Trust Fund each of fiscal years 1998 through 2003 for this activity. In applying the provisions of Section 1102(f) of TEA-21 concerning the redistribution of certain allocated funds, only the amount for which obligation authority is provided will be made available. For FY 1998, only 89.1 percent, or $1,336,500, is available. The remaining $163,500 will not be available for this activity, but instead is distributed to the States in accordance with Section 1102(f).

We are, therefore, allocating $445,500 of appropriation code Q57 funds each to Arizona,

New Mexico and Utah, and providing an equal amount of obligation authority. In accordance with Section 1214(d)(4), any of these funds that are not obligated by June 9, 1999, will be withdrawn and apportioned among all the States in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 104(b).

Additionally, this allocation of funds and accompanying obligation authority are available only for purposes set forth in this memorandum. Any funds not obligated as of September 15, 1998, will be withdrawn, along with the accompanying obligation authority, to be returned the following fiscal year.

The Federal share for these funds is to be determined in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 120. If the funds are used for a project on a Federal-aid highway that lies within the Indian reservation, 23 U.S.C. 120(f) may be applied.

By copy of this memorandum, the Budget Division of the Office of Budget and Finance is requested to process this allocation.