Regulatory Alert: FAA Updates Airports on Administration of FY24 AIP Grants
FAA Updates Airports on Administration of FY24 AIP Grants
June 4, 2024
Yesterday afternoon, the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Office of Airports delivered an update to airport sponsors on administration of the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) for fiscal year 2024 (FY24). The update was in response to President Biden signing the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 into law on May 16, which finally provided the agency with access to the entire $3.35 billion in funding for the FY24 AIP. To date, FAA has not announced any AIP grants awards for FY24, leaving the agency less than four months to issue over $3 billion in grants.
The following provides a summary of key details from FAA’s update:
• FY24 AIP Entitlement Grants: In April, FAA announced May 20 as the deadline for airports to notify the agency and submit a final grant application to use their entitlement funds, and June 3 as the date on which FAA will carry over any remaining entitlement funds. However, recognizing that the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 only recently passed, FAA has provided airports with some flexibility regarding these deadlines. If your airport is planning to use entitlement funds but has not contacted your local field office or submitted an application, FAA encourages airports to do so as soon as possible.
• FY24 AIP Discretionary Grants: In the past two years, FAA has released a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) that outlines the process for airports to apply for traditional AIP discretionary funds. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 precludes FAA from issuing a NOFO for discretionary funds awarded under the AIP moving forward. As a result, FAA will instead select projects for AIP discretionary funds based on its long-standing Airports Capital Improvement Program (ACIP) process that is outlined in FAA Order 5090.5. FAA has informed airports that the deadline to submit an application for an FY24 AIP discretionary grant through their local field office is Monday, July 15.
• PFAS Grants: Of the $3.35 billion in funding that is available for FY24 AIP grants, Congress directed FAA to award at least $5 million in grants that serve one of two purposes: (1) to fund demonstration projects for airports to collect and remove uncontained contaminants caused by aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) and other PFAS waste resulting solely from aviation operations; and (2) to field test and measure lab-proven, innovative destruction technologies, including Resource Conservation and Recovery Act-permitted incineration in order to measurably reduce and mitigate the aviation impacts of PFAS and AFFF substances on surface and groundwater quality at the airport or within five miles of the airport. This is similar to the types of projects that FAA funded in 2022 through the Airport Environmental Mitigation Pilot Program. If your airport is interested in applying for a PFAS-related grant, you should contact your local field office by Monday, June 17.
• FY25 AIP Grants: As airports are aware, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 contained many programmatic adjustments, or formula changes, to how funding in the AIP is distributed and awarded. These changes do not take effect until FY25. FAA noted in its message that the agency will be developing guidance over the next several months to implement the provisions that were included in the law.
AAAE has developed a one-page overview of the various grant programs and funds being administered by FAA, including relevant timelines, to help airports navigate the opportunities available for infrastructure funding. You can view the updated overview here.
Reminder: AAAE’s Survey on Airport Infrastructure Grant (AIG) Program Funds. Yesterday, AAAE circulated an Airport Alert requesting feedback from our airport members to better understand how they are planning to use their share of AIG Program funds that have been available to them for the first three years of the program. We are asking that you please respond to this survey by Friday, June 21. All results will be confidential and will help us protect the $20 billion that AAAE and the airport community secured for critically needed airport infrastructure projects.
