BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 616
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 23, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
SB 616 (Roth) - As Amended: June 10, 2014
SENATE VOTE : Not relevant
SUBJECT : Aeronautics Account: California Aid to Airports
Program
SUMMARY : Requires the Department of Transportation (Caltrans),
when awarding grants from the Aeronautics Account within the
State Transportation Fund, to certify to an applicant at the
time a grant award is issued that the department has received
all required documentation from the applicant. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Requires Caltrans, in administering financial assistance
programs funded from the Aeronautics Account, to certify to an
applicant that at the time a grant award is issued, it has
received all statements, resolutions, and other documentation
required to fulfill grant terms and conditions.
2)Allows the applicant to begin the project for which funds have
been awarded upon receipt of the certification from Caltrans.
3)Specifies that if Caltrans requires further documentation to
satisfy grant terms after transmitting the certification, the
applicant has 45 days to submit the additional documentation,
during which time the applicant shall not lose eligibility for
the grant award.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Creates the Aeronautics Account within the State
Transportation Fund, into which is deposited revenue from the
fuel excise taxes of 18 cents per gallon on general aviation
fuel and 2 cents per gallon on jet fuel, to fund a variety of
airport-related activities.
2)Authorizes Caltrans, at the discretion of the California
Transportation Commission, to use funds from the Aeronautics
Account to provide a portion of the local match for federal
SB 616
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Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants.
3)Limits eligibility for the state matching grants to general
aviation airports or airports designated by the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) as reliever airports.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The AIP, administered by the FAA, provides grants to
public agencies for the planning and development of public-use
airports. In general, the federal grant covers 75% of eligible
costs for large and medium primary hub airports and 90% of
eligible costs for small primary, reliever, and general aviation
airports. Eligible projects include capital improvements
related to safety, capacity, security, and environment.
Operational and maintenance costs are generally not eligible.
In order to qualify for an AIP grant, a project sponsor must be
able to demonstrate that sufficient funds are available for the
non-federally funded portion of the project.
To supplement the federal AIP, Caltrans administers a state AIP
matching grant program through its Division of Aeronautics. The
program provides grants equal to five percent of the federal
grant. Caltrans' regulations require that in order to be
eligible for a state AIP grant, a sponsor already must have
secured a federal AIP grant and complied with the California
Environmental Quality Act.
This bill requires Caltrans, in awarding state AIP matching
grants or other grants funded from the Aeronautics Account, to
certify to an applicant at the time of the award that it has
received all required documentation required to fulfill the
terms of the grant. The applicant may begin the project once it
receives the certification. If Caltrans later discovers that it
needs additional documentation, the bill gives the applicant 45
days to submit the documents without losing eligibility for the
grant award.
Under the current regulations governing the state AIP matching
grants, airports are only eligible for the grant on projects
that have not yet broken ground. This is a fairly standard
requirement in grant programs, especially ones in which funding
is not guaranteed. Caltrans does not have enough funds to
provide a matching grant to every airport in California that
receives a federal AIP grant and does not want airports starting
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a project in reliance on a state match that may not get
approved.
According to the author, there have been instances in which
Caltrans has awarded an airport an AIP matching grant and later
determined that the grant application file was incomplete. If
the airport had already broken ground, Caltrans revoked the
grant because the regulations limit the department from
exercising discretion in such situations. The purpose of this
bill is to provide Caltrans flexibility to work with an airport
when grant applications and related documentation are found to
be deficient after an award has been made without the airport
losing eligibility for the grant.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Airports Council (sponsor)
Association of California Airports
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Anya Lawler / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093