The recent FAA FY 2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act brought forth a nice surprise: a supplemental $1 billion in airport grant money, specifically targeted to projects at (a) nonprimary airports that are classified as Regional, Local, or Basic airports and not located within a Metropolitan Statistical Area as defined by OMB, or (b) primary airports that are classified as Small Hub or Nonhub airports. FAA has now published a Federal Register notice on the upcoming deadlines for the selection and award, noting that any airport identified in the NPIAS is eligible to request funding, and that sponsors can also submit projects that are not contained on the Airports Capital Improvement Plan (ACIP).
- Deadline #1 August 8, 2018, for any airport meeting the criteria for “priority consideration” should notify the appropriate ADO to be considered.
- Deadline #2 October 31, 2018, for any eligible NPIAS airport is invited to notify the appropriate ADO to be considered
- The FAA will update the list of airports eligible for “priority consideration” after the next update of the NPIAS Report in September 2018.
The evaluation criteria focuses on the long-term economic sustainability of the airport, the sponsors track record in project delivery, and speed of project completion. FAA says it MAY give higher consideration to projects that might not normally be funded under the normal AIP program
