FINAL 2012-15 STIP

MINNESOTA AERONAUTICS AIRPORT CAPITALIMPROVEMENT PROGRAMLegislationState:Minnesota Statutes 360 (MS 360), Aeronautics, is the enablinglegislation which the Minnesota Department of Transportation(MnDOT), Office of Aeronautics operates. One of the primarydirectives of this Statute is to promote aviation and aviation safetyin Minnesota. MS 360 also establishes a dedicated “State AirportSystem,” and a dedicated “State Airport Fund.” This fund derivesrevenue from four sources: aircraft registration tax, aviation fueltax, airline flight property tax, and interest earned on the fund.The Legislature appropriates monies from the State Airport Fundon a biennial basis to support the state funded aviation programsand activities. The Airport Development and Assistanceappropriations are for Airport Grant-In-Aid Programs whichsupport the continued development and maintenance of the StateAirport System.Federal:The legislative authorization for the Airport ImprovementProgram (AIP) contained in the “Vision 100 – Century of FlightAuthorization Act of 2003,” expired at the end of Fiscal Year(FY) 2007. At the time of this publishing Congress was workingon new authorization language. The new authorization willestablish funding levels and policy for airport development.Currently, commercial service airports receive primaryentitlement funds based on their number of passengerB-3(1)enplanements. Airports with at least 10,000 annual enplanementsreceive a minimum of $1 million in entitlement funds.Commercial service airports may also collect a Passenger FacilityCharge (PFC) from enplaning passengers to supplement AIPfunding. The current limit on PFCs is $4.50 per passenger. Nonprimary(i.e. general aviation, reliever and non-primarycommercial service) airports also receive entitlements up to$150,000 per year. Continuation of a non-primary entitlementprogram is being considered by Congress. AIP discretionaryfunds are available to eligible airports. Projects funded withdiscretionary funds must compete for those funds on a nationwidebasis.Minnesota Chapter 360 requires that the state act as agent onbehalf of airport municipalities for making application, and forreceiving and disbursing federal funds. The MnDOT, Office ofAeronautics is the designated state agent for providing thiscoordination.EligibilityState:To be eligible for state grants-in-aid, the airport must be owned bya municipality, licensed for public use, and identified in the StateAirport System as designated by the Commissioner ofTransportation and approved by the Governor. It must also haveairport safety zoning or be in the process of zoning. Currentlythere are 135 publicly-owned airports in Minnesota.Federal: