On April 13, 2012, as a result of the February 14, 2012 passage of the Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (“FMRA”), the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) proposed modifications to the “grant assurances” incorporated into FAA’s contracts with airports that receive FAA funding for physical improvements and/or noise compatibility purposes.  These changes were made in order to ensure the consistency of the grant contracts with the changes arising out of FMRA.  The revisions primarily address three categories of actions: (1) permission for “through the fence” operations under specified conditions; (2) exceptions to current restrictions on use of airport revenues; and (3) revision to rules governing use of revenues gained from disposal of airport property subsidized by FAA. Continue Reading The FAA Proposes Changes to its Funding Contracts with Airports

In an article posted on this blog on September 2, 2010, Chevalier, Allen & Lichman, LLP (CA&L) reported that the California Department of Transportation (Department) had announced that the Draft 2010 California Airport Land Use Planning Handbook (Handbook) would be available for review and comment from September 7 through October 4, 2010. CA&L has learned

The California Department of Transportation (Department) has announced that the Draft 2010 Airport Land Use Planning Handbook (Handbook) will be available for review and comment from September 7 through October 4, 2010. The Department’s Division of Aeronautics has been working with Environmental Science Associates to update the January 2002 version of the Handbook.

Section 21670 of the California State Aeronautics Act requires that every county in which there is an airport that is served by a scheduled airline establish an Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) “to protect public health, safety, and welfare by ensuring the orderly expansion of airports and the adoption of land use measures that minimize the public’s exposure to excessive noise and safety hazards within areas around public airports to the extent that these areas are not already devoted to incompatible uses.” One of the duties of the ALUC is to adopt an Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan (ALUCP). In formulating an ALUCP, an ALUC has the power to develop height restrictions on buildings, specify use of land and determine building standards within the Airport Influence Area (AIA) designated by the ALUC.

Continue Reading Land Use Planning Near California Airports Could Change Your Development Plans

On April 26, 2010, the Transportation Research Board published a three volume Airport Cooperative Research Program (“ACRP”) report on “Enhancing Airport Land Use Compatibility.”  The authors’ mandate was “to investigate and present the current breadth and depth of knowledge surrounding land uses around airports and to develop guidance to protect airports from incompatible land