Section 154 transfer program: open container (23 C.F.R. Part 1270; 23 U.S.C. § 154) ― penalty transfer funds to support alcohol and drug-impaired driving countermeasures in states that fail to enact…

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration awarded the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation $1.315 million on October 1, 2025, under the Alcohol Open Container Requirements formula grant program (CFDA 20.607). The award funds alcohol and drug-impaired driving countermeasures in Hawaii, which received the transfer as a state failing to enact and enforce a compliant open container law prohibiting possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages in the passenger area of motor vehicles on public highways and rights-of-way. The funds obligate through September 30, 2029, with place of performance in Honolulu, Hawaii. Under Section 154 of 23 U.S.C., states that fail to comply with open container requirements face reservation of 2.5 percent of federal-aid highway funds apportioned for the National Highway Performance Program and Surface Transportation Block Grant Program; the reserved funds may be transferred to NHTSA for impaired driving countermeasures or retained by the Federal Highway Administration for Highway Safety Improvement Program activities. The federal share is reimbursed on claims submitted in vouchers covering costs incurred, and the recipient must retain records for three years following submission of a final expenditure report and other project deliverables.

Section 154 transfer program: open container (23 C.F.R. Part 1270; 23 U.S.C. § 154) ― penalty transfer funds to support alcohol and drug-impaired driving countermeasures in states that fail to enact and enforce conforming open alcohol container laws. Under section 154, to avoid the transfer of funds, a state must enact and enforce an open container law that prohibits the possession of any open alcoholic beverage container, or the consumption of any alcoholic beverage, in the passenger area of any motor vehicle (including possession or consumption by the driver of the vehicle) located on a public highway, or the right-of-way of a public highway, in the state. 23 U.S.C. 154(B)(1)