This interim final rule updates the Tribal Transportation Program regulations published in 2016 to delay the deadline for Tribes to comply with requirements to collect data on proposed roads for the National Tribal Transportation Facility Inventory (NTTFI).

Regulations governing the Tribal Transportation Program published last year. See 81 FR 78456 (November 7, 2016). The regulations became effective on December 7, 2016, except for § 170.443, which required Tribes' compliance one year later: on November 7, 2017. Section 170.443 requires Tribes to collect data for proposed roads to be added to, or remain in, the NTTFI. This interim final rule affects only § 170.443. The rule delays the current November 7, 2017, deadline for compliance with that section to November 7, 2019. This delay will allow the Bureau of Indian Affairs time to reexamine the need for this data collected in the NTTFI and consult with Tribes on whether revision or deletion of the data collection requirements in § 170.443 is appropriate. The Bureau of Indian Affairs finds that there is good cause to place this rule into immediate effect before receiving public comment and without a 30-day waiting period because the delay in the compliance deadline is expected to be uncontroversial with both the impacted Tribes and the public, and placing into immediate effect will eliminate potentially needless expenditure of resources by Tribes.