REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE FOLLOWING:
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
BOARD GOVERNED COUNTY SERVICE AREAS
AND RECORD OF ACTION
December 16, 2025
FROM
BRETT J. GODOWN, Director, Department of Airports
SUBJECT
Title
Receipt of Airports Federal Aviation Administration Airport Capital Improvement Projects 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 Airports Federal Aviation Administration Airport Capital Improvement Program Projects for Chino, Twentynine Palms, and Barstow-Daggett Airports to identify the potential projects and estimated project costs eligible for Federal Aviation Administration capital improvement grants, during the planning periods as listed on Attachment A, from October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2031.
b. Terminate, effective as of December 16, 2025, the delegated authority to the Director of the Department of Airports granted pursuant to Recommendation 1.b of Item No. 106 on the Record of Action dated May 20, 2025.
c. Authorize the Director of the Department of Airports for the period from December 16, 2025 through December 15, 2026 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 in an amount not to exceed the total estimated funding from the Federal Aviation Administration per project as set forth in the Airports Capital Improvement Plans in Recommendation No. 1.a plus a fifteen percent contingency, subject to County Counsel review.
d. Direct the Director of the Department of Airports to provide an annual report to the Board of Supervisors reporting all Federal Aviation Agreement grant award agreements executed by the Director of the Department of Airports for the period ending September 30, 2026, pursuant to Recommendation No. 1.c.
2. Acting as the governing body of Board Governed County Service Area 60 - Apple Valley Airport:
a. Receive the Airports Federal Aviation Administration Airport Capital Improvement Projects for Apple Valley to identify the potential projects and estimated project costs that are eligible for Federal Aviation Administration capital improvement grants during the planning periods as listed on Attachment A.
b. Terminate, effective as of December 16, 2025, the delegated authority to the Director of the Department of Airports granted pursuant to Recommendation 2.b of Item No. 106 on the Record of Action dated May 20, 2025
c. Authorize the Director of the Department of Airports for the period from December 16, 2025 through December 15, 2026 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 in an amount not to exceed the total estimated funding from the Federal Aviation Administration per project as set forth in the Airports Capital improvement Plan in Recommendation No. 2.a plus a fifteen percent contingency, subject to County Counsel review.
d. Direct the Director of the Department of Airports to provide an annual report to the Board of Supervisors reporting all Federal Aviation Agreement grant award agreements executed by the Director of the Department of Airports for the period ending September 30, 2026, pursuant to Recommendation No. 2.c.
(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 Airports Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Capital Improvement Projects (ACIP), Attachment A. If grants are awarded for ACIP projects, a minimum of 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 /Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Funds (IIJA)/Airport Infrastructure Grant Funds (AIG). The remaining 10 or 5% 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 0% of the project cost. Project costs will be included in the 2026-27 budget for the Department and will be included in future recommended budgets, as needed.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The FAA allocates funds annually for Capital Improvement Program (CIP) projects at eligible airports through AIP and IIJA/AIG 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 IIJA/AIG funding allocation concluded in June 2025 and expires annually over the next four years. The Department last allocation of AIG/IIJA is as follows:
|
FAA Fiscal Year |
Airport |
IIJA/AIG 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 IIJA/AIG funds to be aggregated at each eligible airport or transferred among the eligible airports through the Department’s submission and execution of a fund transfer request.
To use the allocated AIP and IIJA/AIG funds, the Department must first submit to the FAA an ACIP, which is a planning document developed in partnership with the FAA that lists the potential 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. The FAA requires pre-grant applications for AIP and IIJA/AIG funds to be submitted to the FAA for programming of the allocated AIP and IIJA/AIG funds for projects listed in the ACIP in December of each year. Engineering cost estimates for potential projects are set forth in the ACIP list. However, as part of the grant application, all ACIP projects require a competitive bid process for construction projects or an Independent Fee Estimate (IFE) process for design projects over $100,000 to confirm the costs of the project. Grant applications are then submitted no later than May 1st of each year, with the confirmed costs, which may be higher or lower than the estimated project cost presented in the ACIP. Therefore, a fifteen percent (15%) contingency is included in Recommendations 1.c and 2.c. If the grant application is approved, the FAA requires the execution of awarded agreements to accept AIP and IIJA/AIG funds. If the confirmed cost of an ACIP project exceed the available AIP and IIJA/AIG funds, the Department may apply for Discretionary Funds, which are granted at the FAA’s sole discretion.
The Department is requesting authorization for 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 and 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 Attachment A with costs confirmed through competitive bidding and, as applicable, an IFE process. 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 will continue to follow County Policy 05-13, obtaining Board approval as required, for Caltrans matching grants or from other relevant organizations.
In the event the Department elects to proceed with an ACIP construction 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.
The Department shall provide an annual informational agenda item to the Board to report all grant agreements with the FAA that have been signed by the Department Director pursuant to Recommendations No. 1.c and 2.c for the period ending September 30, 2026. 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 November 10, 2025; Project and Facilities Management (Sarah Riley, Chief of Project Management, 387-5115) on December 2, 2025; County Finance and Administration (Eduardo Mora, Administrative Analyst, 387-4376) on December 1, 2025.