[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 249 (Friday, December 28, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67353-67355]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-32022]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration


Commercial Motor Vehicle Crash Data Collection and Analysis 
Improvement

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of availability--discretionary grants to assist states 
in improving or revising their commercial vehicle crash data collection 
procedures.

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SUMMARY: This notice solicits proposals from States for projects to 
improve traffic records, specifically data collection and analysis on 
commercial motor vehicle crashes. Where deficiencies in reporting or 
recording of such crashes are identified, a state may seek funding to 
develop new or revised systems or procedures and/or policies to improve 
its reporting and recording procedures. The NHTSA will provide grant 
funds to selected States to carry out the projects for improvements in 
data collection and analysis, in accordance with section 225 of Public 
Law 106-159.

DATES: Proposals must be received at the office designated below by 3 
p.m. on or before February 26, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Proposals must be submitted to the National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration, Office of Contracts and Procurement (NAD-30), 
Attn: Mr. Joe Comella, 400 7th Street SW., Room 5301, Washington, DC 
20590. All applications must include a reference to NHTSA Program 
Number DTNH22-01-G-07083.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Joe Comella, National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Contracts and Procurement 
(NAD-30). All questions and requests for copies may be directed by e-
mail to [email protected] or by telephone at 202-366-9568. Those 
desiring notification of receipt of their proposal submission must 
include a self-addressed, stamped envelope or postcard. Technical 
questions relating to this program should be directed to either Kenneth 
Rutland ([email protected]) NHTSA, Room 6213 (NRD-33) 400 
7th Street SW., Washington, DC 20590, 202-493-0055, or to John Brophy 
([email protected]) NHTSA, Room 6125 (NRD-33) 400 7th Street 
SW., Washington, DC 20590, 202-366-0328.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    In 1999, reports from the General Accounting Office and the United 
States Department of Transportation Inspector General recommended that 
improvements be made in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 
(FMCSA) crash and enforcement data. The existing FMCSA crash database, 
the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) crash file, is 
intended to be a census of all large commercial truck and bus crashes 
that result in a fatality, injury, or towed vehicle. However, many 
truck and bus crashes do not reach the MCMIS data processing unit, and 
many of the reports received are not complete. To address this 
situation, section 225 of Public Law 106-159 [H.R. 3419] (49 U.S.C. 
31100 note) directs the Secretary of Transportation to carry out a 
program to improve the collection and analysis of data on crashes 
involving commercial motor vehicles, administered through the National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in cooperation with the 
FMCSA. Section 225 requires the NHTSA to enter into agreements with the 
States to collect data and report it electronically to a central 
repository. In accordance with this requirement, this notice makes 
funds available to the states in the form of grants for improvements in 
data collection and analysis of commercial motor vehicle involved 
crashes.

Project Goal

    The goal is to improve the quality, completeness, timeliness and 
quantity of data collected by the States about commercial motor vehicle 
crashes. This data will be used to evaluate program effectiveness, 
identify problems and trends, target spending, and the like. In 
addition, this data will be used to support FMCSA's enforcement 
programs. By capturing more complete and accurate data, drivers and 
carriers of commercial motor vehicles can appropriately be subjected to 
reviews of their operations and cited for violations.
    The FMCSA and NHTSA seek to improve timeliness, completeness, 
accuracy and overall quality of data collected on commercial motor 
vehicle involved crashes. These improvements will facilitate the 
identification of problem drivers and carriers and provide a solid 
foundation of data on which safety analyses and program evaluation can 
be based. A State seeking to participate in this effort must be willing 
to explore and test new and proven methodologies and protocols, 
allowing for rapid electronic exchange of crash data. The State's 
proposal should seek to enhance the accuracy, speed and completeness of 
commercial motor vehicle crash information among the various components 
of the records system, including enforcement, driver licensing 
agencies, vehicle registration agencies, State departments of 
transportation, the courts, both within States and across State 
boundaries.
    The scope of potential projects or plans need not be limited to 
system development, changes or enhancements. A State may have a system 
that is technically sound but hampered by State procedures, policies, 
laws, or legislation preventing the State from utilizing its system in 
the most efficient and effective manner. Therefore, the NHTSA will 
entertain proposals that may not involve the system directly, but would 
meet the project goals through indirect effects.

Project Requirements

    Grant proposals submitted by the States must meet certain criteria. 
The grant proposal criteria are designed to

[[Page 67354]]

assure maximum flexibility while ensuring that key State agencies and 
organizations participate in approved grant activities. A thorough 
evaluation design is another key requirement. Proposals must meet the 
following items to be considered:
    1. Identify a lead Agency for the project.
    2. Identify an interdisciplinary working group within the State, 
including but not limited to the state motor vehicle licensing agency, 
the crash records department, the vehicle registration agency, State 
law enforcement, Governor's Highway Safety Representative, and Motor 
Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP) representative.
    3. Provide an analysis of existing systems or procedures, including 
discussion of the completeness, timeliness, quality and accuracy of the 
existing data collected in the MCMIS program.
    4. Provide an estimate of the total number of reportable Commercial 
Motor Vehicle Crashes involving a fatality, injury, or towed vehicle, 
the total number reported to police enforcement (documented on PAR's 
and/or PAR Supplement Forms) and the total number of Commercial Motor 
Vehicle crashes that are entered into MCMIS. This is the gap (crash 
occurrence versus crashes entered into MCMIS) that this Grant funding 
targets for reduction.
    5. Define new or improved system requirements to be implemented 
with funding under this Grant, including project scope, whether new 
technologies would be tested, and methods of gathering, integrating, 
and facilitating data exchange between various users. If the project is 
not system related, describe existing procedures, the problems they 
generate, proposed new procedures, anticipated outcome, and the means 
to measure the success or impact of the project or program.
    6. Provide and submit a project evaluation plan and timelines for 
completion.
    7. Define, analyze, and document user procedures, including 
projected barriers to project success.
    8. Define the methodology for implementing the system or 
procedures.
    9. Provide plans for preparing a final report, including the 
evaluation findings and recommendations for other States regarding the 
strengths and weaknesses of this project or program.
    10. Provide a budget for the project.
    11. Provide Monthly Progress Reports. The Grantee shall submit 
monthly progress reports to the COTR during the period of performance 
of this grant.

Eligibility Requirements

    The grantee must be a state agency of one of the fifty States or 
the District of Columbia and involved with highway traffic safety, such 
as a State Highway Safety Office, Department of Transportation or other 
State agency with demonstrated activities in the highway traffic safety 
area, to ensure active involvement by highway traffic safety 
stakeholders.
    Only one application should be submitted for a state. Because this 
Grant program requires extensive collaboration among the data owners in 
order to achieve the program objectives, it is envisioned that the 
grantee agency may need to actively involve the data owners in the 
development of the formal application.
    A single organization within any state or area may not have all of 
the required data capabilities; the application should demonstrate 
methods to improve collaborative agreements with the data owners to 
facilitate the collection of commercial motor vehicle crash data.
    This Grant is a parallel effort with the NHTSA's Commercial Vehicle 
Analysis Reporting System (CVARS) pilot effort with certain states. 
Those States that have been selected to participate in the CVARS pilot 
effort are ineligible for this Grant award.

Submission of Proposals

    Proposals responding to this notice must remain valid for 90 days 
from the due date for submission of proposals, and may be funded at any 
time during that period. Submit one original and two copies of your 
application package to: The National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, Office of Contracts and Procurement (NAD-30), Attn: Joe 
Comella, 400 7th Street SW., Room 5301, Washington, DC 20590. 
Applications must be typed on one side of page only.
    An additional two (2) copies will facilitate the review process, 
but are not required. Only complete application packages received on or 
by 3 p.m. on February 26, 2002, will be considered.

Application Contents

    The application package must be submitted with OMB Standard Form 
424 REV. 7-97, including 424A and 424B), Application for Federal 
Assistance, with the required information filled in and assurances 
signed (SF 424B). While the Form 424A deals with budget information and 
Section B identifies Budget Categories, the available space does not 
permit a level of detail which is sufficient to provide for a 
meaningful evaluation of the proposed total costs. A supplemental sheet 
shall be provided which presents a detailed breakdown of the proposed 
costs (direct labor, including labor category, level of effort, and 
rate; direct materials including itemized equipment; travel and 
transportation, including projected trips and number of people 
traveling; subcontractors/subgrants, with similar detail, if known; and 
overhead), as well as any costs the applicant proposes to contribute or 
obtain from other sources in support of the project.

Evaluation of Proposals and Award

    Initially, all application packages will be reviewed to confirm 
that the applicant is an eligible recipient and to ensure that the 
application contains all of the items specified in the Project 
Requirement and Application Content section of this announcement. Each 
complete application from an eligible recipient will then be evaluated 
by an Evaluation committee comprised of representatives from the NHTSA, 
FMCSA, and other traffic records experts. The panel will evaluate each 
proposal, based on the following factors:
    1. The technical competency of the proposal and the likeliness of 
reducing the gap between the number of CMV crashes occurring and number 
entered into MCMIS and the amount of the reduction. (50%)
    2. The reasonableness and adequacy of the cost and personnel 
resources proposed to complete the requirements in a timely manner. 
(30%)
    3. The potential for this state (and potentially the portability of 
this improvement to other states) to utilize the improvements in the 
full-scale CVARS project. (20%)

Project Funding

    NHTSA's intent is to provide up to $2,600,000 funding in FY 2002. 
States are invited to submit proposals outlining their projects to the 
NHTSA. This program will not require matching funds. However, States 
are encouraged to explore other funding sources in both the private and 
public sectors to implement improved data collection and analysis of 
commercial motor vehicle involved crashes and traffic records in 
general. NHTSA contemplates making eight to fifteen multiple awards 
from the proposals submitted.

Terms and Conditions of the Award

    Prior to award, each grantee must comply with the certification 
requirements of 49 CFR part 20, Department of Transportation New 
Restrictions on Lobbying, and 49 CFR

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part 29, Department of Transportation Government-wide Debarment and 
Suspension (Non-procurement) and Government wide Requirements for Drug 
Free Workplace (Grants).
    During the effective performance period of Cooperative Agreements 
awarded as a result of this announcement, the agreement shall be 
subject to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's General 
Provisions for Assistance Agreements.

Reporting Requirements and Deliverables

    1. Detailed Action Plan and Schedule. Within 30 days after award, 
the grantee shall deliver a detailed action plan which details the 
existing state procedures for reporting CMV crash data; and a schedule 
outlining the methods that will be employed to improve reporting. This 
detailed action plan will be subject to the approval of NHTSA.
    2. Monthly progress reports. During the performance, the grantee 
will provide letter-type written reports to the NHTSA COTR. These 
reports will compare what was proposed in the Plan of Action with 
actual accomplishments during the past month; what commitments have 
been generated; what follow-up and state-level support is expected; 
what problems have been experienced and what may be needed to overcome 
the problems; and what is specifically planned to be accomplished 
during the next reporting period. These reports will be submitted ten 
days after the end of each month.
    3. Project Report. The grantee shall deliver to NHTSA, at the end 
of the project, a final report that describes the results of activities 
undertaken to improve CMV crash data collection. This report should 
include: the initial state of CMV reporting at the state level; 
methods, procedures, or technologies employed to improve reporting, 
obstacles encountered, improvements initiated, evaluation findings and 
recommendations for other States regarding the strengths and weaknesses 
of this project or program. The grantee shall supply the NHTSA COTR one 
camera read versions of the documents, as printed and one copy on 
appropriate media (diskette, Syquest disk, etc.) of the document in the 
original program format that was used for the printing process. Each of 
these component parts should be available on disk, properly labeled 
with the program format and the file names. A complete version of the 
assembled document shall be provided in portable document format (PDF) 
for placement of the report on the World Wide Web (WWW). This will be a 
file usually created with the Adobe Exchange program of the complete 
assembled document. The document must be completely assembled with all 
colors, charts, sidebars, photographs, and graphics. This shall be 
delivered to NHTSA on appropriate media. The grantee shall provide four 
additional hard copies of the final document.
    An electronic copy of this document may be downloaded by accessing 
the Federal Register home page at http://www.nara.gov/nara/fedreg and 
the Government Printing Office database at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs

    Issued on: December 20, 2001.
Raymond R. Owings,
Associate Administration for Research and Development.
[FR Doc. 01-32022 Filed 12-27-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-12-P