ND North News

The formula-based Airport Improvement Program (AIP) and Airport Infrastructure Grant (AIG) Program funds are awarded annually to nearly 3,300 public-use airports across the United States. These funds are typically not distributed until late June or July, creating challenges for airports to implement projects during the summer construction season. This delay often results in project cancellations, increased costs, and inefficiencies, particularly affecting small and rural airports.

U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Gary Peters (D-MI) have addressed this issue by sending a bipartisan letter to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Bryan Bedford. The senators urge the FAA to expedite the disbursement of AIP and AIG entitlement funds. They argue that these delays pose significant challenges for small airports with limited resources and states with shortened construction seasons due to severe weather.

“Despite their guaranteed nature, AIP and AIG entitlement funds are often not available to airports until late June or July,” they stated in their letter. The senators highlighted that this situation leads to project cancellations, increased costs, and reduces the effectiveness of each federal dollar spent. They also pointed out that actions by the FAA limiting which AIP funds are provided via block grant increase administrative burdens for states participating in the Block Grant program.

“We urge the FAA to take steps to disburse entitlement funds earlier in the fiscal year and to work with block grant states to maximize the utility of the program moving forward,” they added.

The letter has received support from several organizations including the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission, National Association of State Aviation Officials, American Association of Airport Executives, and Transportation Construction Coalition.

Cosigners of this initiative include U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), John Boozman (R-AR), Ted Budd (R-NC), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Steve Daines (R-MT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Jim Justice (R-WV), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Jim Risch (R-ID), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tim Sheehy (R-MT), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Peter Welch(D-VT) ,and Ron Wyden(D-OR).