§44517 Program to Permit Cost Sharing of Air Traffic Modernization Projects

Summary

The Secretary can run a grant program that gives money to up to 10 eligible projects each fiscal year to help buy FAA-approved air traffic control equipment and software that improve safety and the movement of air traffic. The federal government can pay no more than 33 percent of a project's cost. The rest must come from non-federal sources, which can include revenues collected under section 40117. No project can get more than $5,000,000 in federal funds. Money for the program must come from amounts appropriated under section 48101(a). An "eligible project" is a purchase of FAA-approved equipment or software that boosts safety, efficiency, or mobility (examples: airport systems, automation tools to increase capacity, or equipment for airspace control and en route tracking). A "project sponsor" is a major user of the national airspace system, like a public-use airport or a joint venture that includes an airport and airlines, as the Secretary decides. With the FAA's agreement, a sponsor may give to the FAA, for free, any grant-assisted equipment that meets FAA operation and maintenance rules. The FAA Administrator must issue advisory guidelines on how to run the program; those guidelines do not have to go through formal federal rulemaking under subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5.