How did the FAA staff issue a record-breaking $2B in 582 AIP grants ?

JDA Aviation Technology Solutions

Below are two articles which detail the $2,000,000,000 airport grants which the  FAA has issued for 582 projects. THE LARGEST GRANT IN THE HISTORY OF FUNDING AIRPORTS under Congressional authorizations and appropriations that date back to the Federal-Aid Airport Program (FAAP), authorized by the Federal Airport Act of 1946.

With millions and now billions of AIP dollars AND a plethora of requests by sponsors for projects, the FAA  has developed its 586 page Order 5100.38D – Airport Improvement Program Handbook. With considerable Congressional interest, this document(p.59) sets the priorities in allocating this money:

The tests, that MUST be completed BEFORE the request is approved, are multiple and comprehensive:

• The project sponsorship requirements have been met.
• The project is reasonably consistent with the plans of planning agencies for the development of the area in which the airport is located.
• Sufficient funds are available for the portion of the project not paid for by the Federal Government.
• The project will be completed without undue delay.
• The airport location is included in the current version of the NPIAS.
• The project involves more than $25,000 in AIP funds.
• The project is depicted on a current airport layout plan approved by FAA.

These broad parameters require the staff to complete several analyses to determine the eligibility of an airport project before issuing approval, such as

1. Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA): This analysis assesses the ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF THE PROJECT COMPARED TO ITS COSTS. It helps ensure that the project provides a net positive benefit to the public.
2. Environmental Review: Projects must comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This involves evaluating the potential environmental impacts of the project and ensuring that they are minimized or mitigated.
3. Safety and Security Assessment: The project must enhance or maintain the safety and security of the airport. This includes improvements to runways, taxiways, lighting, and signage.
4. Capacity and Efficiency Evaluation: The project should improve the capacity and efficiency of the airport. This can involve expanding terminals, adding new gates, or upgrading air traffic control systems.
5. Compliance with FAA Standards: The project must comply with FAA design and construction standards. This ensures that the improvements meet the necessary technical and operational requirements..
6. Financial Feasibility: The project must be financially feasible, with a clear plan for funding and maintaining the improvements. This includes evaluating the airport’s financial health and its ability to cover any additional costs

To have complied with these requirements, designed to assure that taxes are spent on 582 worthy projects, signifies that FAA Associate Administrator for Airports Shannetta R. Griffin, P.E did a masterful job of managing[1] her staff to complete this long list of prerequisites. The devil is in the details!!!

The poster in the lower part of this image was copied from the FAA Airports webpage suggests that the current administration

has altered the priorities established in existing Order 5100.38D – Airport Improvement Program Handbook, in particular “airport safety, airport security, AIRPORT CAPACITY, meeting an FAA standard, preserving airport infrastructure through reconstruction or rehabilitation, protecting and enhancing the environment, minimizing aircraft noise impacts, and airport planning. AIP funds must not be used for a project that does not specifically advance one of the AIP policies.”

The absence of mention for AIRPORT CAPACITY continues when Secretary Buttigieg made this statement announcing the Administration’s actions:

“The Biden-Harris Administration is funding projects across the country that are making airports safer and more efficient[2] for the passengers who travel through them and for the airport and airline employees who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make these complex systems run as smoothly as possible,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. “The grants we’re announcing today will improve airfield operations for dozens of airports and help ensure the U.S. retains its global leadership in aviation.”

No doubt that these public utilities should reflect values of equity, access and sustainability. Those are not included in AIP past practices and current published policies. The stewardship of this program by the FAA staff carefully complying with the recognized requirements. Did these additional considerations add to the staff’s AIP paperwork burden? Or did their policy preferences make it easier to complete 582 checklists to issue $2B in grants?

AIP, according to  30 years of Administrators, has added runways and critical infrastructure to the National Airspace System. Hopefully these grants have continued this goal without compromise.

FAA reveals more than $2bn in grants for US airports

The regulator said the funding round was the largest in its Airport Improvement Program’s history.

Noah Bovenizer

September 9, 2024

The majority of the FAA’s funding will go towards runway improvement projects.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has revealed more than $2BN IN GRANTS for airports across the country as the government continues a major investment programme into the national aviation infrastructure. 

The FAA’s funding consists of $1.9BN across 519 GRANTS under the Airport Improvement Programme (AIP) and $269M for 62 PROJECTS under the AIP’s Supplemental Discretionary Grants fund from FY 2023 to FY 2025. 

Projects set to receive grants cover a range of issues, including

• airport safety,
• operational efficiency,
• noise reduction,

and

• zero emissions projects such as the preparation for the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the grants would make “airports safer and more efficient for the passengers who travel through them and for the airport and airline employees who work tirelessly behind the scenes”.

Some of the biggest grants included in the AIP funding round include $55m for the improvement of a runway a Tucson International in Arizona, $29m for the construction of zero-emission infrastructure at St Louis Lambert International in Missouri, and $42m for airport drainage and wildlife protection works at Deadhorse Airport in Alaska.

Projects included under the AIP’s supplemental grants involve a $18m grant to San Francisco Bay Oakland International in California for safety works, a $14.3m grant for apron light replacement at Kahului Airport in Hawaii, and a $1.3m grant for Houma-Terrebonne Airport in Louisiana to install SAF infrastructure. 

Biden-Harris Administration Announces More than $2 Billion in Grants to Improve Airport Infrastructure Across the U.S.

EXCERPTED—

This FIFTH ROUND of the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants, the LARGEST ANNOUNCEMENT IN PROGRAM HISTORY, funds a variety of projects including airport safety and sustainability improvements and airport noise reduction in airports of all sizes and across all parts of the country. For the first time, the grants include funding for the testing of technologies to reduce, mitigate, and remove contaminants caused by Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) and other per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals” which can contaminate air, water, and soil, and are harmful to human health.  

“Today, we invest in our future – enhancing safety, improving sustainability and ensuring our infrastructure meets the needs of the traveling public,” said FAA Associate Administrator for Airports Shannetta R. Griffin, P.E. “This funding helps ensure traveler safety, reduces the environmental impacts on communities, and builds more resilient airports nationally.”

Airports receiving grants to reconstruct taxiway and runway pavement include:  

• $55 million to Tucson International Airport in Arizona: This grant funds associated construction for shifting Runway 11/29 to conform with current FAA standards.
  
• $34.7 million to Grand Junction Regional Airport in Colorado: This grant funds required grading and drainage to shift Runway 11/29 to conform with current FAA standards.
  
• $24.4 million to in Columbus Airport Georgia: This grant funds the reconstruction of Runway 6/24 to improve safety.
  
• $18.7 million to South Bend International Airport in Indiana: This grant funds the reconstruction of Taxiway B to improve safety.

Airports receiving grants for the testing of PFAS remediation include:  

• $3.5 million to San Luis Obispo County Airport in California: This grant funds the purchase demonstration testing of three different innovative PFAS remediation technologies for both soil and water.
  
• $1.2 million to Nantucket Memorial Airport in Massachusetts: This grant funds testing of technologies like hydrothermal alkaline treatment (HALT) to treat PFAS contaminated water and to test the efficacy of concrete encapsulation technology to prevent leaching of PFAS and other contaminants into water.
  
• $700,000 to Pellston Regional Airport in Michigan: This grant funds the testing of soil stabilization additive to eliminate further leaching of PFAS to groundwater.

Airports receiving grants for noise studies and mitigation includes: 

• $15.8 million to Los Angeles International Airport in California: This grant funds the purchase and installation of sound insulation treatments for 400 homes affected by airport noise exposure.
  
• $2.2 million to Key West International Airport in Florida: This grant funds the final design for 45 homes and installation of sound insulation treatment for 17 homes.
  
• $539,910 to Tweed New Haven Airport in Connecticut: This grant funds the sound insulation treatment design for 12 residences.
  
• $555,019 to Chicago Midway International Airport in Illinois: This grant funds the purchase and installation of sound insulation treatments for 12 homes affected by airport noise exposure.

Several airports are receiving a portion of funding for sustainability related projects. Examples of these airports include [redundant from above bot included]: 

…

• $20.4 million to Muskegon County Airport in Michigan: This grant funds the purchase and installation of zero-emissions vehicles and chargers. In addition, the grant funds shifting the Taxiway A pavement, installation of lighting to conform with current FAA standards and improve safety.
  
• $15.1 million to Salt Lake City International Airport in Utah: This grant funds the purchase and installation of 11 zero-emissions vehicles and four chargers. Additionally, this grant funds construction of a new terminal tarmac to bring the airport into conformity with current FAA standards.
  
• $10.1 million to Fort Wayne International Airport in Indiana: This grant funds the purchase of low-emission equipment including two pre-conditioned air units and two remote ground power units. This grant also funds expansion of the East terminal to accommodate more passengers and allow access to a broader fleet mix. The grant will fund shifting Taxiway C2 to enhance safety.
  
• $6.2 million to Detroit Metro Wayne County Airport in Michigan: This grant funds the purchase and installation of low-emission equipment including 38 electric pre-conditioned air and 38 remote ground power units.
  
• $3.5 million to Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International in California: This grant funds the purchase and installation of 12 electric pre-conditioned air power units.

Also being announced is a $2.9 million Military Airport Program (MAP) grant for Tipton Airport in Maryland. This grant will provide funds to the military airfield for the construction of a new terminal. The MAP program provides grants for converting former military airfields to public use, which adds system capacity and reduces congestion at existing airports experiencing significant delays. 

The 2023 Supplemental Discretionary Grant Program provides grants to eligible airports for improvement projects including: 

• Development of resilient airfield infrastructure improvements
• Infrastructure required for on-airport handling and distribution of sustainable aviation fuels
• Improving air quality at commercial service airports, even at airports in air-quality attainment areas
• Energy and emissions sustainability projects

Examples of airports receiving AIP Supplemental grants include:  

…
 

• $14.5 million to Salt Lake City International in Utah: This grant funds a portion of construction of vehicle service roads under Taxiways U and V to promote safer vehicle movement, improve resilience, and reduce emissions.
  …
  
• $10 million to Dallas Love Field in Texas: This grant funds the reconstruction of 2,400 feet of concrete on the northwest end including lighting, signage and markings, erosion mitigation, and associated utility work to assure airfield operational resiliency on this critical parallel taxiway enhancing safety.
  

…
 

• $1 million to Andrew Othole Memorial in New Mexico: This grant funds removing the hill located approximately 500 feet to the east of Runway 6/24 identified as an obstruction to improve safety.
  
• $630,000 to City of Naples Airport Authority in Florida: This grant funds the construction of a Sustainable Aviation Fuel Tank to enhance sustainability.
  
• $545,400 to Cheyenne Eagle Butte Airport in South Dakota: This grant funds a new automated weather observing system for enhanced approaches to the airport for medical transport, enhancing safety.

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[1] The FAA asked its civil servants, who are  telework-eligible employees with approved telework agreements, to report in person to their official worksite for an average of four days each two-week pay period, starting Jan. 28. The agency revised its return-to-office expectations, after getting pushback last summer from the unions that represent the FAA workforce. The FAA previously announced its employees would return to the office at least three days per week — or six days per pay period — starting on Oct. 9, 2023.

[2] Efficiency involves optimizing the current airfield, not adding capacity.