Department of Transportation Small Community Air Service Development Program

Hub Size: In order to satisfy the hub size requirement set forth in 49 U.S.C. § 41743(c)(1)(A), the airport serving the community or consortium may not be larger than a small hub airport, as determined using the FAA’s most recently published classification effective on the date that the community or consortium files an application.

Same Project Limitation: Under 49 U.S.C. § 41743(c)(4)(B), a community or consortium may not receive a new grant to support the same project more than once in a ten-year period. In assessing whether a previous grantee’s current application represents a new project, the Department will compare the goals and objectives of the previous grant, including the key components of the means by which those goals and objectives were to be achieved, to the current application. For example, if a community received an earlier grant to support a revenue guarantee for service to a particular destination or direction, a new application by that community for another revenue guarantee for service to the same destination or in the same direction would be subject to the ten-year restriction, even if the revenue guarantee were structured differently or the type of carrier were different. However, a new application by such a previous grantee for service to a new destination or direction using a revenue guarantee, or for general marketing and promotion (including advertising and public relations) of the airport and the various services it offers, is eligible at any time. The Department recognizes that not all revenue guarantees, marketing agreements, studies, or other activities are of the same nature, and that if a subsequent application incorporates different goals or significantly different components, it may be sufficiently different to constitute a new project under 49 U.S.C. § 41743(c).

In FAA 2018, Congress has authorized limited waivers of the Ten-Year Same Project Limitation. Under new § 41743(c)(4)(C), the Secretary may waive the limitation, and thus make additional grants to a community or consortium of communities to participate in support of the same project within a 10-year period, if she determines that communities “spent little or no money on [their] previous project or encountered industry or environmental challenges, due to circumstances that were reasonably beyond [their] control….” The Department will only consider waiver requests as part of complete and timely applications submitted in response to this Order. Communities seeking a waiver must include in their application a discussion of the facts and circumstances that the Secretary should consider in applying the statutory test to their request, e.g., a full history of the previous grant and a documented and well-supported description of any industry or environmental challenges encountered in the communities.

Concurrent Grant Limitation: A community or consortium may have only one SCASDP grant at any time. If a community or consortium applies for a subsequent SCASDP grant when its current grant has not yet expired, that community/consortium must notify the Department of its intent to terminate the current SCASDP grant, and if the community/consortium is selected for a new grant, such termination must take place prior to entering into the new grant agreement. In addition, for consortium member applicants, permission must be granted from both the grant sponsor and the Department to withdraw from the current SCASDP grant before that consortium member will be deemed eligible to receive a subsequent SCASDP grant.

Private Entities: Private organizations may not be designated as the legal sponsor of a grant under the Small Community Program.

Airport Capital Improvement Projects: Airport capital improvement projects, including, but not limited to, runway expansions and enhancements, the construction of additional aircraft gates, and other airport terminal expansions and reconfigurations are ineligible for funding under the Small Community Program. Airports seeking funding for airport capital improvement projects may want to consult with their local FAA Regional Office to discuss potential eligibility for grants under the Airport Improvement Program.

Deadline: See Section D.4 (“Submission Dates and Times”).

Multiple Applications Prohibited: A community may file only one application for a grant, either individually or as part of a consortium.

Essential Air Service Communities: As was the case in FY 2017, small communities that currently receive subsidized air service under the Essential Air Service (“EAS”) or Alternate Essential Air Service (“AEAS”) program will not be considered for SCASDP funds. The EAS statute (49 U.S.C. § 41733(c)(E)) now includes a provision requiring that the Department consider whether an air carrier has included a marketing proposal in its proposal to provide subsidized EAS as part of the carrier selection criteria. In light of this and the scarcity of SCASDP funds, the Department will not consider awarding additional Federal support under SCASDP for the marketing of subsidized EAS air service.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching

Cost sharing or matching is not required for applications. However, applications that provide multiple levels of contributions (state, local, cash and in-kind contributions) will be viewed more favorably. See Section E.1.c (“Cost sharing and Local Contributions”).

3. Other

Communities Without Existing Air Service: Communities that do not currently have commercial air service are eligible for SCASDP funds.

Consortium Applications: Both individual communities and consortia of communities are eligible for SCASDP funds. An application from a consortium of communities must be one that seeks to facilitate the efforts of the communities working together toward one joint grant project, with one joint objective, including the establishment of one entity to ensure that the joint objective is accomplished.

The Small Community Program was established by the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (Pub. L. No. 106-181), reauthorized by the Vision 100-Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act (Pub. L. No. 108-176), and subsequently reauthorized by the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (Pub. L. No. 112-95) as amended, the Disaster Tax Relief and Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2017 (Pub. L. No. 115-63), and the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Pub. L. No. 115-254) (FAA 2018).[1]  The program is designed to provide financial assistance to small communities in order to help them enhance their air service.  The Department provides this assistance in the form of monetary grants that are disbursed on a reimbursable basis.  Authorization for this program is codified at 49 U.S.C. § 41743.

The Small Community Program is authorized to receive appropriations under 49 U.S.C. § 41743(e)(2).  Appropriations are provided for this program for award selection in FY 2018 pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Pub. L. No. 115-141).

49 U.S.C. § 41743(c) sets forth the “Criteria for Participation.”  As detailed below, in implementing these statutory criteria the Department has determined that certain criteria will be considered as part of the Eligibility Review, and other criteria will be considered as part of the Technical Review.  The Department’s application of these criteria has not changed, but more clarity is being provided at this time to assist applicants.

B.        FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

No more than four communities or consortia of communities, or a combination thereof, from the same State may be selected to participate in the program in any fiscal year.  No more than 40 communities or consortia of communities, or a combination thereof, may be selected to participate in the program in each year for which the funds are appropriated.  Applications for renewal or supplementation of existing projects are not eligible to compete with applications for new Federal awards.

Pursuant to the authorities described above, the Department has $12.5 million available for FY 2018 grant awards to carry out this program.  There is no other limitation on the amount of individual awards, and the amounts awarded will vary depending upon the features and merits of the selected proposals.  In past years, the Department’s individual grant sizes have ranged from $20,000 to nearly $1.6 million.  Funding amounts made available for reimbursement may be impacted by future limitations placed on the spending authority and appropriations enacted for the Department.  OST may, at its discretion, issue partial funding awards up to the level authorized and provided that the above conditions are met.