[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 36 (Thursday, February 22, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6882-6883]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-3932]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary


Criteria and Application Process for the Secretary of 
Transportation's Community Partnership Awards

AGENCY: DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation (DOT) announces procedures 
and guidelines for nominating community programs to receive the 
Secretary of Transportation's Community Partnership Awards. These 
annual awards will recognize exceptional community partnerships that 
have implemented innovative transportation-related safety programs in 
their communities.

DEADLINE DATE: Applications for the Secretary of Transportation's 
Community Partnership Awards must be postmarked on or before April 19, 
1996.

MAILING ADDRESSES: Applications and all documents are to be submitted 
to: Military Assistant to the Secretary, Office of the Secretary, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street SW., Room 10200, 
Washington, DC 20590.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Diane Wigle, Special Assistant to 
the Secretary, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street S.W., Room 10200, Washington, DC 
20590, (202) 366-9361.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    This Notice solicits nominations for the Secretary of 
Transportation's Community Partnership Awards and provides relevant 
information on the application and selection process. This award 
program recognizes exceptional community programs which have 
successfully implemented innovative programs to improve transportation 
safety.

Purpose

    Transportation safety begins at home. Be it a parent securing a 
child in a safety seat or a bike helmet or a child reminding a car 
operator to buckle-up, those safe behaviors are carried out by 
individuals across the nation millions of times each day. It has been 
shown time and again that the way to instill safe behavior in people is 
to reach them through community programs and activities. One of the 
most significant developments in the fight to reduce transportation-
related deaths, injuries and their costs is the emergence of local 
coalitions and programs addressing a community's transportation safety 
problems. The Secretary of Transportation has established the Secretary 
of Transportation's Community Partnership Awards to recognize and honor 
outstanding community transportation safety programs because of the 
important and vital role they play in keeping Americans safe each time 
they travel.

Award Categories

    Four (4) awards will be presented in the following three (3) 
categories:
     Child Transportation Safety--One award will be presented 
to recognize an 

[[Page 6883]]
exemplary community program partnership which addresses transportation 
safety issues involving children under the age of 16.
     Transportation Safety--Two awards will be made in this 
category to recognize community program partnerships addressing 
identified or potential transportation safety problems. One award, of 
the two, will recognize a program addressing multimodal transportation 
safety issues. Multimodal issues include traffic (bicycle, pedestrian, 
and roadway) boating, transit, railroad, aviation, pipeline, 
transportation of hazardous materials, and motor carrier safety issues; 
and
     Safe Communities--One award will be presented to a ``Safe 
Community'' program. In addition to transportation-related injuries, a 
Safe Community program addresses other types of injury such as: falls 
and those related to sports, occupation, and violence. This award will 
be made to a community transportation safety program that has shown 
innovation in moving toward this comprehensive injury prevention 
approach, has included a broad array of partners (including both 
traditional transportation partners and new partners from the health, 
medical, and business communities) and is focused on reducing injuries 
and associated costs.

Presentation of Awards

    Recipients will receive an award and letter of commendation from 
the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. In addition, each recipient will 
be featured in an awards publication designed to share each program's 
success story as an illustration of creative solutions used to build 
safer and healthier communities. Awards will be presented at a special 
luncheon program during the Department of Transportation's ``Moving 
Kids Safely '96: Building Safe Communities,'' child safety conference 
to be held June 9-12, 1996 in Vienna, Virginia.
    Further information about the award ceremony will be provided once 
the award recipients have been selected and notified. For further 
information about the conference, please call 1-800-784-1215.

Application Process

    Attach a cover sheet stating the program's name, address, telephone 
and fax number, and contact person. A program may only be nominated in 
one award category; please specify on the cover sheet the award 
category for which the program is being nominated. To be eligible the 
application must contain a brief summary statement (no longer than one 
page) describing the program, how it has met the identified needs of 
the community, and its impact on the community. Beginning on a separate 
piece of page, please provide detailed information describing:
     the community being served by the program;
     the problem(s) or potential problem(s) and how they were 
identified;
     the program's goals, objectives, and outcomes;
     program partnerships; and
     how this program meets the identified transportation 
safety needs of the community and how its effectiveness is measured.

Review Criteria

    Nominations will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
     Problem Identification and Community Assessment. The 
program demonstrates an understanding of the nature of the 
transportation-related fatalities, injuries and non-injury incidents 
within the community. This includes an understanding of the causes, the 
seriousness of the injuries, the risk factors, and the costs to the 
community. In addition, the program demonstrates an understanding of 
the community it serves, including local resources.
     Community Partnerships. The program demonstrates the 
importance of partnerships in determining and solving transportation-
related safety problems by forging relationships with a variety of 
stakeholders such as local government, law enforcement, emergency 
medical services, hospitals, rehabilitation specialists, schools, and 
businesses. If the program is multimodal, representatives of the 
different transportation modes are involved.
     Innovative and Comprehensive Approaches. The program 
demonstrates visible community support by involving community members 
in prioritizing identified problems, identifying solutions unique to 
the community and implementing those solutions. It also demonstrates 
unique partnerships, creative approaches for involving partners, and 
solving community safety problems or potential risk situations using 
multiple strategies for addressing identified problems.
     Evidence of Concrete, Quantifiable Results. The program 
has achieved measurable results showing the effectiveness of its 
strategies in determining improvements in identified transportation 
safety problems and reduction of related costs.

Program Eligibility

    To be eligible, a program must be a coordinated, comprehensive 
activity that addresses an identified or potential transportation-
related safety problem(s) within a community. The community being 
served by the program should be defined by the applicant. Definitions 
of ``community'' include the citizenry in neighborhoods, towns, cities, 
villages, counties, etc. In addition, a nominated community program 
must have been operational for at least one year.

Review Process

    An initial review of all applications will be conducted by DOT 
staff to determine completeness and compliance with the award criteria. 
Applications will then be submitted to a panel of reviewers that 
includes representatives from Departmental agencies, partner 
organizations, and community advocacy groups. Each award category will 
have a separate panel of reviewers. A numerical score will be given to 
each of the criteria segments. The criteria will be weighted equally.

Entry Rules

    An original and three (3) copies of the nomination must be 
submitted to Commander Edward Gleason, Military Assistant to the 
Secretary, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation, 
400 Seventh Street SW., Room 10200, Washington, DC 20590, and 
postmarked on or before April 19, 1996. Delivery by certified mail is 
recommended. Facsimile applications will not be accepted.

    Issued this 15th day of February 1996, in Washington, DC, by: 
Commander Edward Gleason, Military Assistant to the Secretary.
Edward Gleason, Commander,
Military Assistant to the Secretary .
[FR Doc. 96-3932 Filed 2-21-96; 8:45 am]
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