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RCED-00-285R 1 (2000-09-27)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaalqv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: I GAO Accountability * Integrity * Reliability United States General Accounting Office Resources, Community, and Washington, DC 20548 Economic Development Division B-286087 September 27, 2000 The Honorable John J. Duncan, Jr. Chairman, Subcommittee on Aviation Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure House of Representatives Subject: Aviation and the Environment: Federally Authorized Funding for Noise- Related Projects Dear Mr. Chairman: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) administers two programs that fund airports' capital development projects, including noise-related projects: the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), which provides federal grants for airport capital development, and the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) program, which allows airports, with the approval of FAA, to charge passengers a fee that also pays for development projects. You asked us to (1) determine the total historical funding of noise-related projects through both the AIP and the PFC programs, by FAA region, and (2) compare the amount of AIP funds set aside for noise-related projects in the AIP appropriation for fiscal year 2000 and the authorized amounts for the AIP for fiscal years 2001 through 2003 with the projected costs of noise-related projects planned in the current National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS).' The AIP grant program is funded by appropriations from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. Two types of AIP grants are available to fund capital development at airports in the national airport system: (1) apportionment grants, which are distributed by a statutory formula to commercial service airports according to the number of passengers served and the land weight of cargo moved, and to the states according to a percentage of the total amount of the appropriated funds, with a special supplement for the state of Alaska; and (2) discretionary grants (those 1The more than 3,300 airports in the NPIAS, also referred to as the national airport system, fall into two categories: (1) commercial service airports-those that enplane 2,500 or more passengers a year and have scheduled airline service-and (2) general aviation airports-those that have at least 10 aircraft based at their locations and fewer than 2,500 scheduled enplanements a year. Commercial service airports consist of primary and other commercial service airports. Primary airports are categorized as large hubs, medium hubs, small hubs, and nonhubs, based on enplanement levels. The NPIAS database provides a compilation of planned development projects that are competing for federal grants, including noise-related projects, at airports in the national system. GAO/RCED-00-285R Funds for Airport Noise-Related Projects