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Supporting Middle America’s Airports Act
12/15/2023, 3:56 PM
Summary of Bill HR 2467
The legislation proposes to allocate funding to airports that serve between 10,000 and 30,000 passengers annually. These airports often struggle to generate enough revenue to cover operating costs and infrastructure improvements. The bill seeks to address this issue by providing grants to help these airports maintain and improve their facilities.
Additionally, the Supporting Middle America's Airports Act includes provisions to streamline the application process for airport improvement grants and ensure that funds are distributed efficiently and effectively. The bill also emphasizes the importance of safety and security measures at these smaller airports. Overall, the goal of Bill 118 hr 2467 is to support and strengthen the infrastructure of middle America's airports, ensuring that they can continue to serve their communities and contribute to the overall transportation network in the United States.
Congressional Summary of HR 2467
Supporting Middle America's Airports Act
This bill modifies the eligibility requirements for the Essential Air Service (EAS) program to allow additional communities to apply for assistance. The EAS program was established to ensure that small communities that were served by certificated air carriers before the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 would continue to receive scheduled passenger service.
Under current law, new communities have generally not been permitted to enter the program since October 1 2012, unless they are located in Alaska or Hawaii. The bill removes this restriction and allows DOT to accept new applications for a three-year period. After the three-year period, DOT may only compensate an air carrier for the provision of essential air service to a place if the place previously received essential air service under the program.
