FAA offers $1 billion in grants for airport terminal and tower projects

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is now accepting applications for about $1 billion in grants for airport projects during fiscal year 2022.

The funds from the Airport Terminal Program (ATP) were included in the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden. The IIJA makes $5 billion available under the program over a five-year period.

Airports within the national air transportation system, whether they are owned by airport authorities, cities, territories, or tribes, are eligible. Applications are due to the FAA by March 28, 2022.

Large hub airports will receive up to 55% of total funding. Medium-sized hub airports will get up to 15%, while small hub airports may get up to 20%. Non-hub and non-primary airports will receive up to 10%. The money must go towards the upgrade, modernization, and rebuilding of airport terminals or airport-owned air traffic control towers.

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.