The House yesterday approved legislation that would extend through June 30 the laws authorizing and funding Federal Aviation Administration programs, including authority to provide new grants to airports for improvement projects.
The stopgap funding bill, which was approved by the House on a voice vote, now goes to the Senate, which could have acted on the measure as soon as last night.
Congress last extended FAA laws through the end of the month, but the extension did authorize the FAA to provide new airport grant funding beyond Dec. 31. The House-approved measure would extend the authority for the FAA's airport improvement program through the end of June.
Under the grant program, also known as AIP, the FAA provides funds to about 3,400 airports. The grants are sometimes used to repay tax-exempt bonds, but more often are used to augment other funding sources, such as bond proceeds, and other state and local grants.
The inability of the FAA to make new AIP grants has been a strain on some airports, according to FAA chief financial officer Ramesh K. Punwani.
"As a result of the lack of new contract authority, we cannot distribute funds to 62 airport sponsors that have requested approximately $265 million in fiscal 2008 to upgrade their runway safety areas, or make almost $250 million in discretionary letter of intent payments," Punwani told members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure aviation subcommittee last week.
A letter of intent, or LOI, is a commitment from federal government to provide funds over a period time to an airport for a particular project.
"Based on a quick survey, we have learned that 11 airports with pending LOIs are facing immediate impacts, some as soon as February and March, with several taking out short-term loans to bridge financial requirements, and others at risk for incurring heavy financial penalties on financing," Punwani said. "Unfortunately, with the gap in AIP contract authority for fiscal 2008, we are near the point of losing a portion of this construction season, and airport sponsors will have to defer critical safety and capacity projects."
Enactment of a new legislative extension through June 30 would also give Congress additional time to finish drafting a multiyear FAA bill. The House approved its reauthorization bill in September, but progress on the Senate version has been held up over significant differences in a bill approved by the Senate Commerce Committee and the Senate Finance Committee last summer.
"But this is only the first step," said Rep. James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the transportation committee. "We need to enact a long-term FAA reauthorization bill, which will permit us to go forward on modernization of the air traffic control system, and improvement of our airports." q
