Staffing
- Lindsay Butler was promoted to the Dakota-Minnesota Airports District Office (ADO) manager, previously having served as the deputy manager.
- Josh Fitzpatrick, environmental specialist, accepted a new position within the HQ-DC office and will no longer work with the ADO.
- Sandy DePottey, program manager/planner, retired December 31, 2021.
Seasonal reminder
Please make sure that you are keeping your runways and lighting free of snow and ice.
Deadlines
- Please see the federal register web page for the FY22 FRN for AIP Entitlements issued via the Federal Register on December 21, 2021. There are important dates for your entitlement-only grants—especially ones that are pending environmental or land acquisition.
- An airport sponsor intending to apply for any of its available entitlement funds, including those unused, but still available in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 47117 from prior years, must notify the FAA of its intent to submit a grant application by 12 p.m. prevailing local time February 15, 2022.
- This notice must be in writing and stipulate the total amount the sponsor intends to use for eligible and justified projects during FY22, including those entitlement funds not obligated from prior years that remain available in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 47117 (also known as protected carryover). These notifications are critical to ensure efficient planning and administration of the AIP.
- The final grant application deadline for entitlement funds only is April 11, 2022. The final grant application funding requests should be based on bids, not estimates.
- The FAA will carry over the remainder of available entitlement funds after June 1, 2022. These funds will not be available again to the airport sponsor until the beginning of FY23.
Please work with your FAA program manager and MnDOT state engineer for your FY2022 projects.In addition, continue to work with your airport consultants, MnDOT, and the FAA for your FY18 grant closeouts: they must close in FY22 (by July 1).
New policies and regulations
On December 16, 2021, the FAA provided a breakdown of the FY22 airport allocation designated to each airport under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (BIL). If you haven’t already visited the BIL website, you should!
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $15 billion over five years for airport-related projects as defined under the existing Airport Improvement Grant and Passenger Facility Charge criteria.The money can be invested in runways, taxiways, or safety and sustainability projects, as well as terminal, airport-transit connections, and roadway projects.
The allocations announced on the FAA webpage are for FY22 only.Precise airport allocations could change each year because the yearly allocations are based on enplanements, passenger boarding, and cargo data. Note that the airport allocations are not grant announcements. The BIL airport allocations are dollar amounts that will be available through grants in addition to the normal FAA AIP entitlements that an airport currently receives under the AIP program.
In addition to the $15 billion funding provided over five years for airport-related projects, there are two other separate allocations: $5 billion provided over five years for airport terminal development projects and $5 billion provided over five years for air traffic facilities.These funds will provide competitive grants for airport terminal development projects that address the aging infrastructure of the nation’s airports and replace air traffic facilities; update and upgrade equipment including landing and navigational aids; and improve safety, security, and environmental standards at facilities. To stay tuned in for the additional information as it is released, you can subscribe to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law page on the FAA website (located at bottom of the link provided).
Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, airports in Minnesota could receive approximately $298 million for infrastructure development over five years.
