FHWA Agreement Tribes Planning Process

The Federal Highway Administration Office of Tribal Transportation works in partnership with Tribal Governments and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to achieve Tribal Transportation Program (TTP) planning on Tribal lands. A TTP Agreement between the U.S. Department of Transportation and a Tribe provides an understanding that Tribal Governments inherit "all the functions and duties that the Secretary of Interior would have performed (Chapter 2 of Title 23, USC)."

As per this legislation, the Tribal transportation planning process, including the development of a long-range transportation plan is carried out and approved by the Tribal Government. However, a major planning component that FHWA has approval authority on, in partnership with a Tribe, is the development of an annual TTP Transportation Improvement Program (TTPTIP). The TTPTIP is derived from a list of eligible projects approved under a Tribe's individual TIP.

State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP)

Incorporating the TTPTIP into the STIP

The TTPTIP is a financially constrained compilation of all Tribal Governments' TTIP projects organized by year, State, and Tribe. It may also include projects and activities funded with funding sources other than the TTP funds (25 CFR 170.422). As outlined in 25 CFR 170.426, the approval process for the TTPTIP is as follows:

1. The BIA Regional Office and FHWA work together to review and concur on the TTPTIPs and forward to the Secretaries for review and approval.

2. Once approved, copies of the approved TTPTIP are made available back to the FHWA, BIA Regional Offices, and Tribal Governments.

3. FHWA provides copies of the approved TTPTIP to the FHWA Division Office in each State for transmittal to the State Departments of Transportation for inclusion in the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).