Title 49 › SUBTITLE VII — AVIATION PROGRAMS › PART D — PUBLIC AIRPORTS › CHAPTER 491 — METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON AIRPORTS › § 49111
Gives the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority the same ownership powers and limits as other airports under U.S. law while the 1986 lease is in effect. During that time the airports are treated as public airports under chapter 471. Three older federal Acts (June 29, 1940; 1941; and September 7, 1950) do not apply to how these airports are run, and the Secretary of Transportation has no duties under those Acts. The United States keeping title to the land does not by itself make other laws apply. Virginia shares police power over the airports, and Virginia courts may hear cases from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The Airports Authority is not subject to the National Capital Planning Commission’s normal authority under section 8722 of title 40. Still, the Authority must consult the Commission and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation before major exterior changes to the main terminal at Dulles, and must consult the Commission before development that would change Reagan National’s skyline as seen from the opposite shore of the Potomac River or from the George Washington Parkway.
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Citation
49 U.S.C. § 49111
Title 49, Transportation
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110