Funding for FAA’s Airport Improvement Grant Program Approved:
Congress has passed, and the President has signed, a bill that includes funding for airports for Fiscal Year 2006. Earlier it had appeared that there could be a reduction in federal funding for airports this year. However, the amount approved by Congress is $3.55B or 98.6 percent of the amount authorized in the program for this fiscal year. This compares with a national funding level of $3.472B for last year. As a result, we should be able to meet most funding needs for general aviation airports in Texas as identified in our program for the year.
This is the last year of authorization for FAA funding. Congress will be undertaking a review of all of the FAA’s programs which could result in some overall changes. One of the most notable is how the FAA is funded. Currently, most of the funds for the FAA come from an airline passenger ticket tax and a tax on aviation fuel. The FAAs authority to collect aviation ticket and fuel taxes expires in 2007. FAA Administrator, Marion Blakey, has stated that the agency is about to run out of money and that, “A change in our funding system is not only necessary, it is warranted.” This is viewed in some quarters as a move toward direct charges to the user for aviation services.
Southwest Airlines Gains New Service Authority from Love Field; American Airlines to Resume Local Service:
With the signing of the Transportation Bill by President Bush on November 30, 2005, Southwest Airlines received approval to begin direct service from Love Field to cities in Missouri. Southwest has been lobbying hard to rescind the Wright Amendment thereby allowing service from Love Field to any destination in the country. This makes Missouri the ninth state that can be served by nonstop flights from Love Field. The original “Wright Amendment” limited direct flights from Love Field solely to states adjoining Texas. Congress added Alabama, Kansas, and Mississippi in 1997. American Airlines has already announced that it intends to resume flights from Love Field as soon as it can “obtain and prepare appropriate facilities.”
Modifications to the Environment Protection Agency’s Spill Prevention Contril and Countermeasures (SPCC) Requirements:
On Friday, December 2, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that ii has proposed modifications to the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures (SPCCl regulations to exempt airport mobile refuelers from some secondary containment requirements. This comes as good news as most aviation industry groups felt that containment for fuel trucks is an expensive and unnecessary requirement. EPA should soon be releasing a “guidance document” containing additional information on their rules and regulations.
