Congress Re-Authorizes FAA Airport Grant Program
Late in October, Congress passed an omnibus spending bill for FY 99 which included funding for FANs Airport Improvement Program. The good news is that funding for the program was increased from $1.7 billion in FY 98 to $1 .95 billion in FY 99. The bad news is that Congress re-authorized the program for a period of six months only, instead of the entire year, thereby making available only one-half of the authorization, $0.975 billion to be spent prior to March 31, 1999. Congress must pass additional legislation in the upcoming months to grant authority to spend the remaining half of the authorization. That being the case, our staff is reviewing projects approved for federal funding to determine which ones should be funded now and which ones will have to be delayed. Most likely, the projects selected for immediate funding will be those which are ready to begin immediately. If you have any questions regarding TxDOT Aviation’s FY 99 grant program, call either Linda Howard or myself at 1 /800/68-PILOT.
Routine Airport Maintenance Program (RAMP) Changes
On Aug. 31, 1998, TxDOT completed its second full year of RAMP, a program to partner with local communities to assist in providing routine maintenance for airports. Although the program has been a success thus far, it was felt that a few changes to the program were needed. In a few instances, the maximum state funding level of $10,000 per year, when combined with a like amount of local funding, was inadequate to perform the needed maintenance at some airports. Occasionally, delays were encountered due to difficulty in attempting to merge airport maintenance work into district highway maintenance contracts. As a result, beginning Sept. 1 , 1998, several changes to the RAMP Program have been adopted. They include: (1) Increased financial participation; maximum state funding for the program has been increased from $10,000 per airport per year to $20,000. (2) Greater flexibility in eligible items of work. The program has been broadened to include, in addition to crack sealing, seal coats, herbicide application and striping, virtually all projects which are part of an airport’s annual routine maintenance program. (3) Private sector involvement: The opportunity now exists for an airport owner to contract out maintenance work with private sector companies, in certain instances, subject to prior approval by TxDOT. If you would like more information about the changes in this program, contact Kathy Griffin at 1/800/68-PILOT.
Air Service Grant Received
TxDOT’s Aviation Division recently received a $383,000 grant from the FAA which will be used to study opportunities for improvement in air service in Texas. The study will be directed toward medium and smaller cities which either have or desire new and improved scheduled commercial air service. Some 20 to 25 cities, participating members of the Texas Regional Air Service Task Force, are expected to participate in the study. It is hoped that this effort will lead to improvements in air service for many Texas communities.