U.S. Transportation Secretary Mineta Announces $76.75 Million in Incentive Grants To 27 States, D.C., Puerto Rico for .08 BAC Laws

Topics:  Norman Y. Mineta

NHTSA
August 20, 2001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NHTSA 44-01
Monday, August 20, 2001
Contact: Liz Neblett
Telephone: (202) 366-9550

U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta today announced incentive grants totaling $76.75 million to 27 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico for lowering the legal threshold for impaired driving to .08 percent blood alcohol concentration (BAC).

"I commend the states that have already passed .08 BAC laws - they echo our emphasis on safety as President Bush's highest transportation priority," said Mineta. "If all states had these laws, hundreds of additional lives could be saved every year."

The states receiving fiscal 2001 incentive grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.

The grant recipients include 11 new jurisdictions that did not qualify for fiscal 2000 grants: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Puerto Rico.

Grant funds may be used for highway safety or highway infrastructure projects. In fiscal 2000, 68 percent of .08 incentive funding was used for highway safety programs and 32 percent for federal-aid highway construction.

The funds announced today are incentive grants, authorized under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century (TEA-21). It authorized $500 million in federal grants to states over six years, beginning in 1998, as incentives to enact and enforce laws that make it illegal to operate a motor vehicle with a BAC of .08 or greater.

The total amount awarded this year is $7 million more than was awarded in 2000. A table showing the states and the amounts received follows. Grant recipients that are new in fiscal 2001 are shown in upper case letters.

FUNDING FOR STATES WITH .08 LAWS