Regulatory Alert: FAA Announces $2.89 Billion in First-Year Airport Grant Awards Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
December 16, 2021
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that the agency will award $2.89 billion in grants to 3,075 airports across the country for fiscal year 2022 with funds that have been made available under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which is being referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). FAA indicated that these funds may be used for runways, taxiways, safety and sustainability projects, terminal development, airport-transit connections, and roadway projects. 
The award amounts announced today are only the first year's allocations to be made available under the BIL, which provided a total of $15 billion over five years for a new 'Airport Infrastructure Grant program.' However, the amounts do not include the $20 million per year that FAA will be providing via discretionary grants to airports participating in the Contract Tower Program. FAA's allocations are consistent with the tables that were released by the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee yesterday afternoon, as we outlined in our December 15 Airport Alert.
'The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has given us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build safer and more sustainable airports that connect individuals to jobs and communities to the world,' said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. 'With this new funding, urban, regional and rural airports across the country now can get to work on projects that have waited for years, modernizing their infrastructure and building a better America.'
For additional information, please see FAA's press release, the agency's interactive map and listing of funding for individual airports, and a spreadsheet of amounts for each airport. 
Background on the BIL. As airports are aware, the BIL provides an historic investment of $20 billion in new federal spending for airport infrastructure over a five-year period, including $15 billion for the new airport infrastructure grant program to support a broad array of projects at commercial and general aviation airports; $5 billion for an airport terminal competitive grant program; and $300 million in dedicated funding to help contract tower airports upgrade aging air traffic control facilities. For additional details and a breakdown of the airport and aviation provisions in the BIL, please see our November 15 Airport Alert. 
What's Next? AAAE is monitoring developments at DOT and FAA and working closely with the agencies on implementation to ensure that our airport members can access these grant funds with minimal burden and maximum flexibility. We expect that FAA will be providing a high-level briefing on implementation for airport sponsors early next week. However, we do not expect any details on how airports can apply for and/or access grant award amounts in the immediate future. DOT and FAA are still developing the process and guidance that airports will use to access and make use of the grant funds made available under the BIL. 
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that the agency will award $2.89 billion in grants to 3,075 airports across the country for fiscal year 2022 with funds that have been made available under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which is being referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). FAA indicated that these funds may be used for runways, taxiways, safety and sustainability projects, terminal development, airport-transit connections, and roadway projects. 
The award amounts announced today are only the first year's allocations to be made available under the BIL, which provided a total of $15 billion over five years for a new 'Airport Infrastructure Grant program.' However, the amounts do not include the $20 million per year that FAA will be providing via discretionary grants to airports participating in the Contract Tower Program. FAA's allocations are consistent with the tables that were released by the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee yesterday afternoon, as we outlined in our December 15 Airport Alert.
'The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has given us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build safer and more sustainable airports that connect individuals to jobs and communities to the world,' said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. 'With this new funding, urban, regional and rural airports across the country now can get to work on projects that have waited for years, modernizing their infrastructure and building a better America.'
For additional information, please see FAA's press release, the agency's interactive map and listing of funding for individual airports, and a spreadsheet of amounts for each airport. 
Background on the BIL. As airports are aware, the BIL provides an historic investment of $20 billion in new federal spending for airport infrastructure over a five-year period, including $15 billion for the new airport infrastructure grant program to support a broad array of projects at commercial and general aviation airports; $5 billion for an airport terminal competitive grant program; and $300 million in dedicated funding to help contract tower airports upgrade aging air traffic control facilities. For additional details and a breakdown of the airport and aviation provisions in the BIL, please see our November 15 Airport Alert. 
What's Next? AAAE is monitoring developments at DOT and FAA and working closely with the agencies on implementation to ensure that our airport members can access these grant funds with minimal burden and maximum flexibility. We expect that FAA will be providing a high-level briefing on implementation for airport sponsors early next week. However, we do not expect any details on how airports can apply for and/or access grant award amounts in the immediate future. DOT and FAA are still developing the process and guidance that airports will use to access and make use of the grant funds made available under the BIL. 
