Page 45 - Planning and Design of Airports

The Natur e of Civil Aviation and Airports 23

5. That sponsors of projects be required to enter into contracts
with the Civil Aeronautics Administration ensuring the
proper maintenance and protection of airports developed
with federal aid and their operation in the public interest.

The recommendations contained in the airport needs survey
report were written into an airport development bill, introduced into
the House of Representatives (H.R. 5024) but no action was taken on
it. After extensive hearings in both houses of Congress, the Senate
passed an airport bill (S. 2) in 1945 and later that year the House
passed a bill (H.R. 3615). The language in these two bills differed in
several respects. One of the principal differences was the method
employed in channeling funds to the municipalities. The Senate bill
provided that funds be channeled to the municipalities through
appropriate state aviation organizations unless a state did not have
an appropriate agency to handle the matter. The House bill permitted
channeling of funds either through the state or directly to a munici-
pality or other political subdivision of government. The substitute
bill agreed to in conference conformed more nearly to the House lan-
guage. Another difference had to do with the size of the discretionary
fund, which, instead of being apportioned among the states by a fixed
formula, would be available for use by the administrator at his sole
determination. The House bill provided 25 percent of the total appro-
priation for airport development as a discretionary fund, the Senate
bill 35 percent. The compromise reached in conference retained the
House version. Other differences which were worked out in confer-
ence concerned whether or not the costs of the acquisition of land and
interest in airspace should be eligible for federal aid, project sponsor-
ship requirements, and the reimbursement for damage to public air-
ports caused by federal agencies.
The conference report was approved by the Congress and the
Federal Airport Act of 1946 was enacted (Public Law 79-377). Known
as the Federal Airport-Aid Program, appropriations of $500 million
over a 7-year period were authorized for projects within the United
States plus $20 million for projects in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico,
and the Virgin Islands. In l950, the 7-year period was extended an
additional 5 years (Public Law 81-846). However, annual appropria-
tions approved by Congress were much less than the amounts author-
ized by the act.
The original act provided that a project shall not be approved for
federal aid unless “sufficient funds are available for that portion of
the project which is not to be paid by the United States.”
Local governments often required 2 to 3 years to make arrange-
ments for raising funds. Most of the larger projects are financed
locally through the sale of bonds. This method of financing requires
legislation at the local level and, in some cases, also at the state level.
General obligation bonds normally require approval by the electorate.