This FAST Act Fact Sheet has been superseded by a BIL TTP Fact Sheet.

Tribal Transportation Program

Program purpose

The FAST Act continues the Tribal Transportation Program (TTP), which provides access to basic community services to enhance the quality of life in Indian country.

Statutory citations

FAST Act § 1117-1118; 23 U.S.C. 201-202

Funding features

Type of budget authority

Contract authority from the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund, subject to the overall Federal-aid obligation limitation. While subject to the obligation limitation, the TTP retains the contract authority that is in excess of the obligation limitation.

Set-asides

Prior to distributing TTP funding to Tribes for a fiscal year, the Secretary may deduct (or, in the case of Tribal supplemental funding, must deduct) the following amounts:

• Program administration.—Up to 5% (vs. 6% under MAP-21) for program administration, including funding for Tribal Technical Assistance Centers. Either the Secretary or the Secretary of the Interior may use these funds for program management and oversight and project-related administrative expenses. [FAST Act § 1118(1); 23 U.S.C. 202(a)(6)]
• Tribal planning.—Up to 2% for transportation planning. [23 U.S.C. 202(c)]
• Tribal bridges.—Up to 3% (vs. 2% under MAP-21) for a nationwide priority program for improving eligible deficient bridges. [FAST Act § 1118(2); 23 U.S.C. 202(d)]
• Tribal safety projects.—Up to 2% for safety projects, to be allocated to applicant tribal governments for projects eligible under the Highway Safety Improvement Program (23 U.S.C. 148(a)(4)). [23 U.S.C. 202(e)]
• Tribal supplemental funding—An amount of funding equal to $82.5 million, plus 12.5% of the amount by which total TTP funding in a fiscal year exceeds $275 million. The FAST Act continues to distribute Tribal supplemental funding to Bureau of Indian Affairs regions based on the cumulative tribal shares in each region and then further distributes to Tribes within the region. [23 U.S.C. 202(b)(3)(C)]

Formula

As under MAP-21, the FAST Act allocates TTP funding (net of the set-asides described above) among the Tribes through a statutory formula based on tribal population, road mileage and average tribal shares under the SAFETEA-LU Indian Reservation Road program. The FAST Act continues this formula without modification. [23 U.S.C. 202(b)]

Federal share

100% [23 U.S.C. 201(b)(7)]

The FAST Act also continues the authority to use TTP and Federal Lands Transportation Program funds to pay the non-Federal share for any project funded under 23 U.S.C. or chapter 53 of 49 U.S.C. that provides access to or within Federal or tribal land. [23 U.S.C. 120(k)]

Eligible activities

The FAST Act makes no changes to TTP eligibilities.

Program features

Tribal data collection

The FAST Act requires any entity that carries out a TTP project to provide to the Secretary (and to the Secretary of the Interior) specified information on that project. This must include the name, description, and current status of the project, as well as an estimate of the number of jobs that the project creates or retains. [FAST Act § 1117; 23 U.S.C. 201(c)(6)(C)]

Tribal high-priority projects

The FAST Act does not authorize any funding for the MAP-21 Tribal High Priority Projects Program. [MAP-21 § 1123]

Except as specified above, the FAST Act makes no changes to the TTP.

February 2016