I should have known that lurking somewhere in a 145-page document entitled "FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement" would be a nugget of interesting news glossed over by most, but also little understood by even the aviation pros it is designed to assist.
And, sure enough, there it is on page 97 – Section 511, "Pilot Program for Zero-Emissions Airport Vehicles."
While most of the legislation that finally reauthorized the FAA earlier this year talks primarily about aircraft and airports, this section may be of great interest to the GSE community.
Basically, Section 511 sounds like an added incentive to use federal funds for investing in electric GSE. Section 511 outlines a pilot program for the "acquisition and operation of zero-emissions vehicles" and that "the federal share of the costs of a project carried out under the program would be 50 percent" with the source of the funds opened up by redefining "Chapter 471," better known as the Airport Improvement Plan.
Half off your next purchase of electric GSE? Maybe not that simple. But we'll tell you next week about our conversation with a VALE consultant who describes how this section provides a "whole lot more incentive to take part in a 511 program" than other funding source.
