[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 48 (Thursday, March 11, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11700-11706]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-5440]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration


Discretionary Cooperative Agreements To Assist in the Development 
of Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of availability--discretionary cooperative agreements to 
assist in the development and use of Crash Outcome Data Evaluation 
System.

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SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 
announces a discretionary cooperative agreement program to assist 
states in the development and use of Crash Outcome Data Evaluation 
System (CODES) and solicits applications for projects under this 
program from states that have not previously been funded to develop 
CODES. Under this program, states will link their existing statewide 
traffic records with injury outcome and charge data. The linked data 
will be used to support highway safety decision-making at the local, 
regional, and State levels to reduce deaths, non-fatal injuries, and 
health care costs resulting from motor vehicle crashes.

DATES: Applications must be received at the office designated below on 
or before April 26, 2004, at 2 p.m.

ADDRESSES: Applications must be submitted to DOT/National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Contracts and Procurement 
(NPO-220), ATTN: Maxine D. Edwards, 400 7th Street, SW., Room 5301, 
Washington, DC 20590. All applications submitted must include a 
reference to NHTSA

[[Page 11701]]

Cooperative Agreement Program No. DTNH22-04-H-07020.
    Applicants shall provide a complete mailing address where Federal 
Express mail can be delivered.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: General administrative questions may 
be directed to Maxine D. Edwards, Contract Specialist, at the Office of 
Contracts and Procurement.
    All questions and requests for copies may be directed by e-mail at 
[email protected] or by telephone at (202) 366-4843.
    Programmatic questions relating to this cooperative agreement 
program should be directed to Barbara Rhea CODES Contracting Officer's 
Technical Representative (COTR), at NHTSA, Room 6125, (NPO-123) 400 7th 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, or by e-mail at 
[email protected] or by telephone at (202) 366-2714.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Statement of Work

Background

    Crash data alone are unable to convey the magnitude of the injury 
and financial consequences of the injuries resulting from motor vehicle 
crashes or the success of highway safety decision-making to prevent 
them. Outcome information describing what happens to all persons 
involved in motor vehicle crashes, regardless of injury, are needed.
    Person-specific outcome information is collected at the crash scene 
and en route by EMS personnel, at the emergency department, in the 
hospital, and after discharge. When these data are computerized and 
merged statewide, they generate a source of population-based data that 
is available for use by state and local traffic safety and public 
health professionals. Linking these records to statewide crash data 
collected by police at the scene is the key to identifying the 
relationships among specific vehicle, crash, or occupant behavior 
characteristics and their injury and financial outcomes.
    The feasibility of linking crash and injury outcome (EMS, emergency 
department, hospital discharge, death certificate, claims, etc.) data 
was demonstrated by the CODES project. This project evolved from the 
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, which 
mandated that NHTSA prepare a Report to Congress about the benefits of 
safety belt and motorcycle helmet use in terms of mortality, morbidity, 
injury severity and costs. NHTSA provided funding to the States of 
Hawaii, Maine, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wisconsin to 
link their state data and use the linked data to analyze the 
effectiveness of safety belts and motorcycle helmets. The safety belt/
helmet Report was delivered to Congress in February 1996. The success 
of the Report led NHTSA to award research funds in 1996 to three CODES 
states (New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) and three non-CODES 
states with linked crash and injury data (Alaska, Connecticut, and New 
Mexico) to develop state-specific applications. Additional funds became 
available to expand the number of CODES states. NHTSA awarded CODES 
linkage grants in 1997 to Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maryland, North 
Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Nevada and, in 1998, to Iowa, 
Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, and South Carolina. Arizona, 
Delaware, Minnesota and Tennessee were funded in 1999. Georgia and 
Rhode Island were funded in 2000, and Indiana and Texas in 2002. 
Currently, 27 states have successfully implemented the data linkage 
techniques.
    The CODES project also demonstrated that linked data have many uses 
for decision-making related to highway safety and injury control. In 
addition to demonstrating the effectiveness of safety belts and 
motorcycle helmets in preventing death, injury, and costs, the linked 
data were used to identify populations at risk for increased injury 
severity or high health care costs, the impact of different occupant 
behaviors on outcome, the safety needs at the community level, the 
allocation of resources for emergency medical services, the injury 
patterns by type of roadway and geographic location, and the benefits 
of collaboration on data quality. Crash outcome information enables 
decision-makers to target those prevention programs that have the most 
impact on preventing or reducing the injury and financial costs 
associated with motor vehicle crashes.
    Data linkage fulfills expanded data needs without the additional 
expense and delay of new data collection. The linkage process itself 
provides feedback about data quality which, when improved, enhances the 
state data for their original purposes. Thus, it is in NHTSA's interest 
to encourage states to qualify for CODES funding. NHTSA benefits from 
the improved quality of the state data, while the states benefit from 
state-specific injury and financial outcome information about motor 
vehicle crashes.

Objective

    The objective of this Cooperative Agreement program is to provide 
resources to the applicant to:
    1. Coordinate the development and institutionalization of the 
capability to link state crash and injury outcome data to identify the 
injury and financial consequences of motor vehicle crashes.
    2. Utilize this information in crash analysis, problem 
identification, and program evaluation to improve decision-making at 
the local, state, and national levels related to preventing or reducing 
deaths, injuries, and direct medical costs associated with motor 
vehicle crashes.
    3. Provide NHTSA with population-based linked crash and injury data 
to analyze specific highway safety issues in collaboration with the 
CODES states.
    4. Develop data linkage capabilities as a means of improving the 
quality of state data that support NHTSA's national data.
    State data systems are stronger and more likely to survive when 
developed and supported by state funds. So, this cooperative agreement 
is not intended to fund basic development of state data systems, but 
rather to enhance their value via linkage. States with insufficient 
state data to perform the CODES linkages are encouraged to use state 
resources to improve their state data and qualify for CODES funding.

General Project Requirements

    The grantees of this cooperative agreement will be required to:
    1. Link statewide population-based crash to injury data for any two 
calendar years available since 2000 to produce a linked data file that, 
if not statewide, reflects a contiguous geographical area that contains 
at least three (3) million residents and all levels of emergency 
medical care so that persons involved in crashes do not need to be 
transferred elsewhere except in rare occurrences. The linked data must 
be representative and generalizable for highway traffic safety purposes 
in the state or within an area in the state. All applicants must be 
able to clearly document what data are available and what data are 
missing and the significance of the missing data for highway traffic 
safety planning efforts.
    a. Develop a state/area-wide CODES that includes outcome 
information for all persons, injured and uninjured, involved in police 
reported motor vehicle crashes.
    (1) The CODES should consist of person-specific crash data linked 
to hospital, death certificate, and either EMS or emergency department 
data, preferably both. States without EMS or emergency department data 
are eligible if this type of outpatient information can be obtained 
from insurance claims data.

[[Page 11702]]

    (2) Additional state/area-wide data (driver licensing, vehicle 
registration, citation/conviction records, insurance claims, HMO/
managed care, outpatient records, etc.) should be linked as necessary 
to meet state/area-wide objectives.
    b. Set up processes for collaboration among the technical experts 
who manage the data files being linked.
    c. Assign an agency to be responsible for:
    (1) Obtaining a computer to be dedicated to CODES activities (the 
computer and linkage software resources may not be permanently tied to 
an existing computer network in such a way as to preclude their 
movement in the future, as directed by the CODES Board of Directors, to 
another organization interested in continuing the linkage and 
developing applications for the linked data that improve highway 
safety;
    (2) Implementing CODES 2000 probabilistic linkage software and 
specified statistical techniques to perform the linkage of the crash 
and injury state data;
    (3) Validating the linkage results via the use of imputation 
techniques;
    (4) Analyzing the linked data; and,
    (5) Cross-training sufficient staff to ensure continuation of the 
linkage capability when unexpected changes occur in organizational 
priorities or personnel during or after the project period.
    d. Document the file preparation, linkage and validation processes 
so that the linkage can be repeated efficiently during subsequent years 
after Federal funding ends and provide evidence of this documentation.
    e. Provide NHTSA a version of the linked data file, per NHTSA's 
guidelines, including documentation of the file structure and its 
conformance with State laws and regulations governing patient/provider 
confidentiality.
    2. Use the linked data to influence highway traffic safety and 
injury control decision-making by implementing at least one application 
of linked data that is expected to have a significant impact on highway 
safety planning or a positive impact on reducing death, injury, and 
direct medical costs.
    3. Use the linked data to prepare management reports using a format 
standardized by NHTSA for a national CODES report.
    4. Develop the computer programs needed to translate the linked 
data into information useful for highway traffic safety and injury 
control at the local, regional, or state/area-wide level.
    a. Develop, for access within the State, a public-use version of 
the linked data, copies of which will be distributed upon request.
    b. Develop the resources necessary to produce and distribute fact 
sheets and routine reports, respond to data requests, and provide 
access to the linked data for analytical, management, planning, and 
other purposes after Federal funding ends.
    c. Use the Internet and other electronic mechanisms to efficiently 
distribute and share information generated from the linked data.
    5. Promote collaboration between the owners and users of the state/
area-wide data to facilitate data linkage and state-specific 
applications for linked data.
    a. Establish a state/area-wide CODES collaborative network.
    (1) Convene a Board of Directors consisting of the data owners and 
major users of the state/area-wide data. The CODES Board of Directors 
will be responsible for managing and institutionalizing the linked 
data, establishing the data release policies for the linked data, 
supporting the activities of the grantee, ensuring that data linkage 
and application activities are appropriately coordinated within the 
state/area, and resolving common issues related to data accessibility, 
availability, completeness, quality, confidentiality, transfer, 
ownership, fee for service, management, etc. The CODES Board of 
Directors shall meet at least once a month either in person or via 
conference call.
    (2) Convene a CODES Advisory Group consisting of the CODES Board of 
Directors and other stakeholders interested in the use of linked data 
to support highway safety, injury control, EMS, etc. The CODES Advisory 
Group will be informed of the results of the data linkage, application 
of the data for decision-making, the quality of the state/area-wide 
data for linkage and the quality of the linked data for analysis. The 
CODES Advisory Group shall meet in person twice a year.
    b. Promote coordination of the various stakeholders through use of 
the Internet, teleconferencing, joint meetings, and other mechanisms to 
ensure frequent communication among all parties to minimize the expense 
of travel.
    6. Work collaboratively with NHTSA to implement the Cooperative 
Agreement.
    a. Attend Initial Briefing Meeting. Each grantee shall attend a 
briefing meeting (date and time to be scheduled within 30 days after 
the award) in Washington, DC, with NHTSA staff. The purpose of the 
meeting will be to review the goals and objectives of the project, 
discuss implementation of the linkage software, review the tasks to be 
specified in the action plan for the data linkage and applications of 
the linked data for highway safety or injury control decision-making 
and discuss the agendas for the Board of Directors and Advisory Group.
    b. Submit Detailed Action Plan and Schedule. Within 30 days after 
the briefing meeting, the grantee shall deliver a detailed action plan 
and schedule, covering the remaining funding period, for accomplishing 
the data linkage and incorporating information generated from linked 
data into the processes for highway safety or injury control decision-
making. The action plan shall be subject to the technical direction and 
approval of NHTSA.
    c. Attend Technical Workshops. All grantees together shall attend 
two technology assistance workshops during project performance at 
locations convenient to the majority of CODES grantees. Each workshop 
will be organized to provide technical assistance, share data linkage 
experiences, develop standardized formats, review the proposed state-
specific highway safety applications of linked data, and resolve common 
problems.
    d. Progress Report. Grantee shall submit quarterly progress 
reports. During the period of performance, the grantee will provide 
letter-type reports to the COTR. These reports will compare what was 
proposed in the Action Plan with actual accomplishments during the past 
quarter; 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 quarter. These 
reports will be submitted seven days after the end of each quarter. 
Minutes of the meetings of the Board of Directors during the quarter, 
and any CODES applications such as reports, fact sheets or other 
publications must be attached to the Progress Report.
    e. Develop a plan to institutionalize the data linkage and 
applications for linked data after Federal funding ends. By the end of 
the 15th month of funding, each grantee shall submit a long-range plan 
and schedule to institutionalize data linkage and the use of linked 
data for highway safety and injury control decision-making within the 
state.
    f. Project Report. The grantee shall deliver to NHTSA, at the end 
of the

[[Page 11703]]

project, a final report describing the results of the data linkage 
process, and the applications of the linked data generated during the 
project. This report will follow guidelines provided by the COTR.

NHTSA Involvement

    NHTSA will be involved in all activities undertaken as part of the 
Cooperative Agreement program and will:
    1. Provide a Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) 
to participate in the planning and management of the Cooperative 
Agreement and coordinate activities between the grantee and NHTSA.
    2. Provide, at no cost to the grantee, training and technical 
assistance by a CODES expert for up to two weeks on-site and off-site 
during the project to assist the grantee in preparing the files for 
linkage, implementing probabilistic linkage and other statistical 
techniques, validating the linkage results, developing applications for 
the linked data, and organizing the CODES Board of Directors and 
Advisory Group.
    3. Develop a format in which the linked data and supporting 
documentation will be delivered to NHTSA.
    4. Conduct Initial Briefing at NHTSA Headquarters in Washington, 
D.C. (Date and time to be scheduled within 30 days after the award.) 
The purpose of the meeting will be to review the goals and objectives 
of the project, discuss implementation of the linkage software, 
identify the tasks to be specified in the action plan for the data 
linkage and applications of the linked data for highway safety or 
injury control decision-making, and discuss agendas for the Board of 
Directors and Advisory Group.
    5. Conduct two Technical Assistance workshops for the purposes of 
technical assistance, technology transfer. Each workshop will be 
organized to share data linkage experiences, develop standardized 
formats, review the proposed state-specific highway safety applications 
of linked data, and resolve common problems. Locations for the 
workshops will be determined based on the location of the Grantees. 
However, for the purpose of cost estimation, assume the workshops will 
be held in Washington, DC.
    6. Collaboratively work with the state when using the state's 
linked data to analyze and report on specific highway safety issues.
    7. When appropriate, NHTSA will publish state-specific reports on 
CODES applications.

Number of Cooperative Agreements, Award Amounts, and Period of Support

    The project study effort described in this announcement will be 
supported through the award of up to three (3) Cooperative Agreements, 
depending upon the merit of the applications received and the 
availability of funding. A total of $750,000 will be available for this 
effort. Project efforts involving linkage of the state/area-wide data 
and applications for the linked data must be completed within twenty-
one months after funding.

Eligibility Requirements

    The grantee must be a state agency 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 areas, to ensure active involvement by 
highway traffic safety stakeholders. States that have previously been 
funded to develop CODES are not eligible. Only one application should 
be submitted for a state. Because this Cooperative Agreement 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 and may need to sub-contract activities with 
at least one of them to implement a successful CODES.
    While the general eligibility requirements are broad, applicants 
are advised that this Cooperative Agreement program is not designed to 
support basic developmental efforts. Although no single organization 
within any state or area within the state has all of the required data 
capabilities, the application should demonstrate strong collaborative 
agreements with the data owners and access to at least the state/area-
wide crash, hospital, death certificate, and either EMS or emergency 
department data, or both, by the time of the award. States/areas that 
collect at least the date of birth and ZIP Code of residence on their 
crash data and have state/area-wide health and/or vehicle insurance 
claims information may be eligible, in spite of the lack of EMS or 
emergency department information, if the claims data include everyone 
involved in motor vehicle crashes. In addition, it is important that 
the application indicate the level of commitment by the state, in terms 
of funding and/or shared resources, to meet program objectives, 
particularly institutionalization of the data linkage and applications 
for linked data.

Application Procedure

    Each applicant must submit one original and four (4) copies of the 
application package to: DOT/National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, Office of Contracts and Procurement (NPO-220), ATTN: 
Maxine D. Edwards, 400 7th Street, SW., Room 5301, Washington, DC 
20590. Applications must be typed on one side of the page only.
    Applications must include a reference to NHTSA Cooperative 
Agreement Program Number DTNH22-04-H-07020. Only complete application 
packages received on or before 2 p.m. on April 26, 2004, will be 
considered.

Application Contents

    1. 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 that 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. Applicants shall 
assume that awards will be made by July 2, 2004 and should prepare 
their applications accordingly.
    2. The application shall include a program narrative statement of 
not more than 20 pages, which addresses the following as a minimum:
    a. A brief description of the state/area in terms of its highway 
safety and injury control decision-making processes for planning, 
performance monitoring and other functions aimed at reducing death, 
injury, and costs of injuries resulting from motor vehicle crashes. 
This description should indicate how linked data would make a 
difference to the decision-making processes.
    b. A brief description of the existing crash and injury outcome 
data files. Applicants will link state/area-wide population-based crash 
data to EMS (and/or emergency department or insurance claims), hospital 
discharge

[[Page 11704]]

and death certificate data to obtain injury and financial outcomes for 
persons injured in motor vehicle crashes for any two calendar years of 
data available since 2000. Linkages to census, other traffic records 
(vehicle registration, driver licensing, roadway, conviction/citation, 
etc.), insurance claims, etc., are encouraged to meet priorities for 
highway safety and injury control decision-making. The following 
information should be reported for each year of the state/area-wide 
data proposed for linkage:
    (1) The total crashes, total persons involved in crashes and the 
total persons injured by police-reported severity level (killed, 
incapacitating injury, non-incapacitating injury, possible injury, 
unknown if injured), state/area-wide.
    (2) Information about the current status of the data files to be 
linked, recorded using the format below:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                Month and year                           Can remaining
                                 Reporting threshold  Rate of compliance      Data years       most recent data   Percent of records      records be
           Data files                    (A)               with (A)         available to be      year will be        computerized     computerized?  (Y/
                                                                            linked  (2000-         available                                  N)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------2002)------------------------------------------------------------------
Crash..........................  ...................
--------------------------------
EMS............................  ...................
--------------------------------
ED.............................  ...................
--------------------------------
Hospital.......................  ...................
--------------------------------
Death Certificate..............  ...................
--------------------------------
Other..........................  ...................
--------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (3) The data elements available to identify persons and crashes and 
the missing data rate for each.
    c. A brief description of how staff from the various data owners 
will be cross-trained in the CODES linkage to compensate for potential 
future changes in organizational priorities and personnel.
    d. A brief description of the process to be used to ensure adequate 
documentation of the data files and linkage process.
    e. A brief description of how the linked data will be converted 
into information useful for the highway safety and injury control 
decision-making processes for the purpose of reducing death, injury, 
and costs resulting from motor vehicle crashes.
    Describe:
    (1) The different types of decision-making processes, currently 
being utilized in the state/area, that identify highway traffic safety 
and injury control objectives and prioritize prevention programs that 
have the most impact on reducing death, injury and direct medical costs 
associated with motor vehicle crashes; and
    (2) Why linked data are needed to make these decision-making 
processes more effective and how the data will be incorporated.
    f. A brief description of each data owner member of the CODES Board 
of Directors including the process that must be implemented to access 
the owner's data.
     2. The application shall include an appendix. A large appendix is 
strongly discouraged. Materials not listed below should be included 
only if it is necessary to support information about data linkage, 
applications for linked data or institutionalization discussed in the 
application. Do not send copies of brochures, documents, etc., 
developed as the result of a collaborative effort in the state/area. 
The appendix should include the following:
    a. Letters of support from each proposed member of the CODES Board 
of Directors. A letter of support should reflect the signer's level of 
commitment to the CODES project and thus should not be a form letter. 
The letter of support should document:
    (1) Why linked data are important to the agency.
    (2) The priority assigned by the agency to obtain linked data 
compared to other responsibilities.
    (3) The agency's level of commitment in terms of the number of 
staff and the dollars or shared resources which will be available to 
support and institutionalize CODES.
    (4) The agency's willingness to collaborate with other data owners 
to support shared ownership of the linked data.
    (5) The agency's permission to collaborate with NHTSA during the 
project and to release the linked data (or description of policies 
which would restrict transfer) to NHTSA at the end of the project.
    b. A brief description or letters of support should be included for 
the other stakeholders to be represented on the CODES Advisory Group. 
The letters of support should indicate the stakeholder's need for the 
linked data, and willingness to facilitate the linkage of state/area-
wide data or use of linked data for decision-making.
    c. A list of major activities in chronological order and a time 
line to show the expected schedule of accomplishments and their target 
dates.
    d. Descriptions of the proposed project personnel as follows:
    (1) Project Director: Include a resume along with a description of 
the director's leadership capabilities to make the various stakeholders 
work together.
    (2) Key personnel proposed for the data linkage and applications of 
linked data, and other personnel considered critical to the successful 
accomplishment of this project: include a brief description of 
qualifications, employment status (permanent full-time or part-time, 
contractor full-time or part-time, other) in the organization, and 
respective organizational responsibilities. The proposed level of 
effort in performing the various activities should also be identified.
    e. A brief description of the applicant's organizational experience 
in performing similar or related efforts, and the priority that will be 
assigned to this project compared to the organization's other 
responsibilities.
    f. A brief description of any potential delays in implementing the 
project because of requirements for legislative approval before CODES 
funds can be expended.
    g. Data Use Agreement. A description of the existing State laws and 
Privacy Act regulations governing patient/provider confidentiality in 
the data files being linked that would restrict use of the data for 
linkage at the state level

[[Page 11705]]

and/or for transfer of the CODES linked data to NHTSA for its use.

Application Review Process and Evaluation Factors

    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 Application 
Content section of this announcement. Each complete application from an 
eligible recipient will then be evaluated by an Evaluation committee. 
The applications will be evaluated using the following criteria:
    1. Understanding the intent of the program (20%). The applicant's 
recognition of the importance of CODES to obtain injury and financial 
outcome data that are necessary for a comprehensive evaluation of the 
impact of highway safety and injury control countermeasures. The 
applicant's understanding of the importance of developing CODES as a 
meaningful and appropriate strategy for improving traffic records 
capabilities and ensuring the continuation of CODES after completion of 
this project.
    2. Technical approach for project completion (40%). The 
reasonableness and feasibility of the applicant's approach for 
successfully achieving the objectives of the project within the 
required time frame. The appropriateness and feasibility of the 
applicant's proposed plans for data linkage and applications for the 
linked data. Evidence that the applicant has the necessary 
authorization and support from data owners to access injury and traffic 
records state/area-wide data, particularly total charges and 
information about type and severity of injury, which are not routinely 
available for highway safety analyses, and the authorization to 
collaborate with NHTSA.
    3. Project personnel (20%). The adequacy of the proposed personnel 
to successfully perform the project study, including qualifications and 
experience (both general and project related), the various disciplines 
represented, and the relative level of effort proposed for the 
professional, technical and support staff.
    4. Organizational capabilities (20%). The adequacy of 
organizational resources and experience to successfully manage and 
perform the project, particularly to support the collaborative network 
and respond to the increasing demand for access to the linked data. The 
proposed coordination with and use of other organizational support and 
resources, including other sources of financial support.
    An organizational representative of the Governors Highway Safety 
Association will be assisting in NHTSA's technical evaluation process.

Special Award Selection Factors

    After evaluating all applications received, in the event that 
insufficient funds are available to award to all meritorious 
applicants, NHTSA may consider the following special award factors in 
the award decision:
    1. Priority may be given to those applicants that have statewide 
data available for linkage.
    2. Priority may be given to applicants who have the highest 
probability of maintaining the collaborative network of data owners and 
users, of institutionalizing the linkage of the crash and injury 
outcome data on a routine basis, and of continuing to respond to data 
requests after the project is completed.
    3. Priority may be given to an applicant on the basis that the 
application fits a profile of providing NHTSA with a broad range of 
population densities (rural through metropolitan) with different 
highway safety needs.
    4. Priority may be given to an applicant who currently provides, or 
agrees to provide, state crash data annually to NHTSA's State Data 
System.

Terms and Conditions of the Award

    1. 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 part 29, Department of 
Transportation Government-wide Debarment and Suspension (Non-
procurement) and Government-wide Requirements for Drug Free Workplace 
(Grants). In addition, grantees must certify that data release 
agreements have been signed by the owners of the data files being 
linked to transfer the CODES linked database to NHTSA, according to 
NHTSA specifications.
    2. Reporting Requirements and Deliverables:
    a. Detailed Action Plan and Schedule. Within 30 days after the 
briefing meeting, the grantee shall deliver a detailed action plan and 
schedule for accomplishing the data linkage and applications of linked 
data for decision-making, showing any revisions to the approach 
proposed in the grantee's application. This detailed action plan will 
be subject to the approval of NHTSA and will describe the following:
    (1) The personnel who will perform the tasks.
    (2) The time period for obtaining the different files required for 
linkage.
    (3) The milestones for completing the various phases of the 
probabilistic linkage and validation processes.
    (4) The milestones for proposed meeting schedules and actions by 
the Board of Directors and Advisory Group.
    (5) Date(s) for providing the linked data to NHTSA.
    (6) The milestones for implementing the applications.
    b. Quarterly Progress Report. During the performance, the grantee 
will provide letter-type reports to the NHTSA COTR. These reports will 
compare what was proposed in the Action Plan with actual 
accomplishments during the past quarter; 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 quarter. Copies of the fact sheets, management reports and 
other CODES publications should be included with the Quarterly Progress 
Report. These reports will be submitted seven days after the end of 
each quarter. Because the security process for scanning mail at NHTSA 
causes the pages of published documents to stick together, electronic, 
rather than printed, versions of the state-specific publications should 
be sent so they can be distributed via NHTSA's CODES Web site.
    c. Board of Directors and Advisory Group Meetings. Copies of the 
agenda and minutes for each Board of Directors and Advisory Group 
Meetings held during the quarter shall be attached to the Progress 
Report submitted to NHTSA.
    d. Institutionalization Plan. The grantee shall deliver to NHTSA, 
by the end of the 15th month of funding, a long-range plan and schedule 
to institutionalize data linkage and the use of linked data for highway 
safety and injury control decision-making within the state.
    e. Project Report. The grantee shall deliver to NHTSA, at the end 
of the project, a final report that describes the results of the data 
linkage process, and the applications of the linked data. The report 
shall follow the content outline mandated by NHTSA and include the 
following:
    (1) A description of the state/area wide linked crash and injury 
data;
    (2) A description of the file preparation;
    (3) A description of the linkage, validation, imputation processes 
and results;

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    (4) A description of the extent of the documentation and how the 
documentation will facilitate linkage in subsequent years;
    (5) A discussion of the limitations of the linked data and 
subsequent applications of these data;
    (6) A description of the applications of linked data implemented 
for decision-making and results of the decision-making;
    (7) A description of how the data linkage and use of linked data 
for decision-making has been institutionalized for decision-making;
    (8) A description of the documentation created to facilitate 
repeating of the linkage process and an estimate of how much time is 
needed to repeat the linkage in subsequent years;
    (9) A copy of the public-use formats that were successful for 
incorporating linked data into the decision-making processes for 
highway safety and injury control;
    (10) A copy of the management reports prepared using the 
standardized format for the national CODES report; and,
    (11) A copy of a state-specific application using the linked data 
that had a direct impact on highway safety planning or improved highway 
safety outcome in terms of reduced deaths, injuries, injury severity 
and costs.
    f. CODES Linked Database. The grantee shall deliver to NHTSA after 
linkage, at the date specified in the Action Plan, the CODES linked 
databases. NHTSA will use the data to help facilitate the development 
of data linkage capabilities at the state/area-wide level and to 
encourage use of the linked data for decision-making.
    The deliverables will include:
    (1) The database in an electronic media and format acceptable to 
NHTSA, including all persons, regardless of injury severity (none, 
fatal, non-fatal), involved in a reported motor vehicle crash for any 
two calendar years of available data beginning in 2000, and including 
injury and financial outcome information for those who are linked.
    (2) A copy of the file structure for the linked data file.
    (3) Documentation of the definitions and file structure for each of 
the data elements contained in the linked data files.
    (4) An analysis of the quality of the linked data and a description 
of any data bias that may exist, based on an analysis of the false 
positive and false negative linked records.
    g. One state-specific application of the linked data that has an 
impact on the state's highway safety planning or program efforts 
designed to reduce death, injury, injury severity or costs resulting 
from motor vehicle crashes. Electronic versions of the state-specific 
publications should be sent so they can be distributed via NHTSA's 
CODES Web site.
    3. 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.

Joseph S. Carra,
Director for National Center for Statistics and Analysis, National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
[FR Doc. 04-5440 Filed 3-10-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-12-P