Small Community Air Service Development Program

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The Small Community Program was established by the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (Pub. L. No. 106-181), reauthorized by the Vision 100-Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act (Pub. L. No. 108-176), and subsequently reauthorized by the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (Pub. L. No. 112-95) (FAA 2012), as amended. The program is designed to provide financial assistance to small communities in order to help them enhance their air service. The Department provides this assistance in the form of monetary grants that are disbursed on a reimbursable basis. Authorization for this program is codified at 49 U.S.C. § 41743. The Small Community Program is authorized to receive appropriations under 49 U.S.C. § 41743(e)(2), as amended. Appropriations are provided for this program for award selection in FY 2016 pursuant to FAA 2012 and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (Pub. L. No. 114-113). The Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2015 provides contract authority until March 31, 2016, for the Airport Improvement Program, which funds SCASDP. Therefore, subject to the availability of funding, the Department has up to $5 million available for FY 2016 grant awards to carry out this program. There is no other limitation on the amount of individual awards, and the amounts awarded will vary depending upon the features and merits of the selected proposals. In past years, the Department’s individual grant sizes have ranged from $20,000 to nearly $1.6 million. Funding amounts made available for reimbursement may be impacted by future limitations placed on the spending authority and appropriations enacted for the Department. OST cannot award grants until the enactment of authorizing legislation, an appropriations act, budget authority, and apportionment from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). OST may, at its discretion, issue partial funding awards up to the level authorized and provided that the above conditions are met. Additional information on the budget process may be found in OMB A-11: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_default/.

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