There's More to TEA-21 Than .08.

• Author: Mejeur, Jeanne

There's funding to be gained and lost under TEA-21's drunk driving provisions.

The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) became law in June 1998, creating massive challenges and opportunities for the states. TEA-21 includes mandates and funding for a wide variety of highway safety and transportation programs and also has provisions related to drunk driving. It's a complex law that basically comes down to two things: incentives and penalties.

THE GOOD NEWS - INCENTIVES

The best known drunk driving provision of TEA-21 is the incentive grant for adopting .08 as a state's blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit. Currently 17 states have .08 laws on the books and are entitled to additional highway funding. The bonanza each state will receive varies based on the amount of their current Section 402 funding, which will make sense only to transportation fiscal gurus - it's a formula based on population and road miles. But suffice it to say, states that pass .08 illegal per se legislation will be splitting $500 million in incentive grants from 1998 to 2003. The amount will vary each year depending on the number of states splitting the pie. Illegal per se laws make it a crime to drive with a BAC level above a statutorily established limit, usually .08 or .10, and impairment need not be demonstrated.

The best-kept secret of TEA-21 is that there is $219.5 million available in additional incentive grants for states that adopt specific drunk driving countermeasures (Basic Grant A) or meet performance criteria in reducing drunk driving deaths (Basic Grant B). States that meet the requirements of either grant may also qualify for up to six types of supplemental grants through 2003.

To qualify for Basic Grant A, a state must implement at least five of the following seven criteria:

* Administrative license revocation.

* A program to prevent drivers under age 21 from obtaining alcoholic beverages.

* A program for intensive enforcement of laws forbidding driving while impaired.

* A graduated licensing law with nighttime driving restrictions and zero tolerance.

* A program to target drivers with high BAC.

* Programs to reduce impaired driving by young adults age 21 through 34.

* An effective system for increasing the rate of testing for blood alcohol levels of drivers in fatal crashes; in FY 2001 and after, the testing rate must be above the national average.

To qualify for Basic Grant B, a state must demonstrate two things:

* A reduction in...