REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE FOLLOWING:
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
BOARD GOVERNED COUNTY SERVICE AREAS
AND RECORD OF ACTION
May 20, 2025
FROM
BRETT J. GODOWN, Director, Department of Airports
SUBJECT
Title
Receipt of Airport Capital Improvements Project List and Delegated Authority for Applications, Fund Transfer Requests, and Award Agreements for Federal Aviation Administration Airport Capital Improvement Grants
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Acting as the governing body of San Bernardino County:
a. Receive the Airport Capital Improvement Program project list for Chino, Twentynine Palms, and Barstow-Daggett Airports for the period of October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2027, to identify the projects and anticipated project costs eligible for Federal Aviation Administration capital improvement grants as listed on Attachment A.
b. Authorize the Director of the Department of Airports to execute and submit Federal Aviation Administration standard forms of pre-applications, applications, fund transfer requests, and award agreements for Federal Aviation Administration capital improvement grants, provided through Airport Improvement Program Non-Primary Entitlement Funds, Discretionary Funds, and/or Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Law Funds/Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Funds, in an amount, per project, not to exceed the total anticipated funding from the Federal Aviation Administration set forth in the Airport Capital Improvement Program Project list for the period of October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2027, subject to County Counsel review.
2. Acting as the governing body of Board Governed County Service Area 60 - Apple Valley Airport:
a. Receive the Airport Capital Improvement Program Project list for Apple Valley Airport for the period of October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2027, to identify the projects and anticipated project costs that are eligible for Federal Aviation Administration capital improvement grants as listed on Attachment A.
b. Authorize the Director of the Department of Airports to execute and submit the Federal Aviation Administration standard forms of pre-applications, applications, fund transfer requests, and award agreements for Federal Aviation Administration capital improvement grants, provided through Airport Improvement Program Non-Primary Entitlement Funds, Discretionary Funds, and/or Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Law Funds/Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Funds, in an amount, per project, not to exceed the total anticipated funding from the Federal Aviation Administration set forth in the Airport Capital Improvement Program Project list for the period of October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2027, subject to County Counsel review.
c. Direct the Director of the Department of Airports to provide a quarterly report to the Board of Supervisors reporting all Federal Aviation Agreement grant award agreements executed by the Director of the Department of Airports pursuant to Recommendation Nos. 1.b. and 2.b.
(Presenter: Brett J. Godown, Director, 387-8810)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not require the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). There is no cost associated with receiving the Airport Capital Improvement Program Project (ACIP) list, Attachment A. If grants are awarded for ACIP projects, 90% of the design and construction costs for the ACIP project will be funded with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) capital improvement grant funds, provided through Airport Improvement Program (AIP) Non-Primary Entitlement Funds, Discretionary Funds, and/or Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Law Funds (BIL)/Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Funds (IIJA). The remaining 10% would be funded by the Airports Department (Department), unless the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) offers a 5% matching grant, which is currently capped at $150,000; in which case the Department’s obligation would be reduced to 5% of the project cost. Project costs will be included in the 2025-26 budget for the Department and will be included in future recommended budgets, as needed. See Attachment B: ACIP Funding 2024-2027
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The FAA allocates funds annually for Capital Improvement Program (CIP) projects at eligible airports through AIP, and BIL/IIJA funds. The Department currently receives an annual AIP allocation of $150,000 per airport for four of the six Department-managed airports. The eligible airports are Chino (CNO), Twentynine Palms (TNP), Barstow-Daggett (DAG), and Apple Valley (APV). The Department also currently receives an annual BIL/IIJA allocation as follows:
|
FAA Fiscal Year |
Airport |
BIL/IIJA Funding |
|
2025 |
CNO |
$295,000 |
|
2025 |
APV |
$159,000 |
|
2025 |
DAG |
$110,000 |
|
2025 |
TNP |
$110,000 |
To fund larger projects, the FAA permits three years of annually allocated AIP and BIL (which are at times also known as Airport Improvement Grants)/IIJA funds to be aggregated at each eligible airport or transferred among the eligible airports through the Department’s submission and execution of fund transfer request.
To use the allocated AIP and BIL/IIJA funds, the Department must first submit to the FAA an ACIP, which is a planning document developed in partnership with the FAA, a document listing the desired capital improvement program projects at each eligible airport. Once the ACIP has been accepted by the FAA, the Department may request a transfer of funds among eligible airports, if needed, and submit separate grant applications for AIP and BIL/IIJA funds to the FAA for an award of the allocated AIP and BIL/IIJA funds for projects listed in the ACIP. If each grant application is approved, the FAA requires the execution of award agreements to accept AIP and BIL/IIJA funds. If an ACIP project needs exceed the available AIP and BIL/IIJA funds, the Department may apply for Discretionary Funds, which are granted at the FAA’s sole discretion.
The Department is requesting to authorize the Director to execute and submit all FAA grant pre-applications, applications, fund transfer requests, and award agreements for the ACIP projects set forth above.
The FAA often gives short notice that a grant will be awarded but requires that the award agreement be executed by a duly authorized person within 10 days after issuance, which often does not allow enough time for the Department to follow the process outlined in County Policy 05-13 and obtain Board of Supervisors’ (Board) approval. In addition, the FAA requires that all award agreements be signed electronically through an automated process that sends the agreements to the County signatory’s email address. Due to the unique nature of the FAA grant process, authorizing the Director of the Department to execute and submit pre-applications, applications, fund transfer requests and award agreements for FAA funded capital improvement grants for ACIP projects, subject to County Counsel review, will enable efficient processing of these documents within FAA deadlines.
The Department Director’s authority would be limited to FAA grant pre-applications, applications, fund transfer requests and award agreements for ACIP projects presented to the Board in amounts not to exceed the total anticipated FAA funding per project as set forth in the ACIP presented to the Board. The Department Director’s authority does not extend to applying for or executing any grant agreements for any matching grants from Caltrans or any other organization. The Department would continue to follow the County Policy 05-13 and obtain Board approval as required grants from the FAA other than ACIP projects as set forth in this time, Caltrans, or any other organization.
In the event the Department elects to proceed with an ACIP project, the Department will engage the County’s Project and Facilities Management Department (PFMD) to establish a WBSE and funding appropriation, oversee bidding and construction of the CIP Project in accordance with County policy. If the cost of the ACIP project exceeds the anticipated total pre-bid engineering cost, then the Department will return to the Board for any necessary budget adjustments.
The Department shall provide a quarterly informational agenda item to the Board as a receive and file report that includes all grant agreements signed by the Department Director pursuant to Recommendations No. 1.b and 2.b. The reporting requirement shall not apply to FAA pre-applications, applications, and fund transfer requests executed by the Department Director.
PROCUREMENT
N/A
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Agnes Cheng, Deputy County Counsel, 387-4271) on March 24, 2025; PFMD (Sarah Riley, Chief of Project Management; Devalkumar Shah, Supervising Project Manager 387-5000) on April 11, 2025; Finance (Eduardo Mora, Administrative Analyst, 387-4376) on May 12, 2025; County Finance and Administration (Valerie Clay, Deputy Executive Officer 387-5423) on May 12, 2025.