Incentive Grant Criteria for Drunk Driving Prevention Programs

This interim final rule amends the regulations on incentive grant criteria for drunk driving prevention programs to reflect changes that were made to the section 410 program by the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 (NHS Act). As a result of this interim final rule, the Section 410 supplemental grant criterion that requires that States ``deem persons under age 21 who operate a motor vehicle with a BAC of 0.02 or greater to be driving while intoxicated'' has been changed to a basic grant criterion. In addition, the regulation now provides for an alternative method for some States to demonstrate compliance with the basic grant criterion that requires that States have a ``statewide program for stopping vehicles.'' In today's Federal Register, NHTSA and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) have published a separate notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), which contains a proposal for implementing a new ``zero tolerance'' sanction program enacted by the NHS Act, which is similar to the Section 410 ``0.02 BAC'' basic grant criterion cited above. NHTSA requests comments regarding the changes made by this interim final rule, and regarding whether additional changes should be made to the Section 410 ``0.02 BAC'' basic grant criterion, as a result of the new ``zero tolerance'' sanction program.