About the Series
This educational webinar series, organized by AirTAP, MnDOT Aeronautics, and industry experts, provided attendees with timely and relevant information to better manage your airports. Recordings of all five events are available.
FY23 Lessons Learned from the FAA (October 19, 2023)
This session discussed last year’s grant topics, including evolving statute and policy guidance surrounding Buy America provisions for equipment grants, signatures and recording for land grants, and how the FAA manages their e-signature process for executing airport grants. Our goal was to help airports be aware of the challenges surrounding these unique grant processes and position them for success in FY24.
Preparing for 2024 with Tips from the FAA (November 16, 2023)
FAA staff provided a recap of how they evaluate airport capital improvement program projects, including how they are structured and organized to best utilize federal funding. With an increase in grant volumes and projects, there is renewed focus on how a project moves from inception to implementation. This session included what questions airports need to ask when modernizing airport infrastructure and how all of this positions airports to make timely preapplications for federal funding—including the information the FAA and MnDOT need to program project funds.
FAA Policy: It's Complicated! (January 25, 2024)
The FAA’s policy on evaluating airport proposals for land releases or non-aeronautical use of airport property continues to evolve as they develop best practices and issue further guidance. This session covered the latest changes to how these policies are implemented, talked about what makes a successful proposal, and reviewed what is needed to move a project through the approval process. It also discussed a new focus on what constitutes a crosswind runway or a secondary runway and how this impacts the airport’s ability to request federal funding for improvements.
From the CIP to Project Completion: Know the Important Touch Points (February 22, 2024)
MnDOT Development Section staff discussed the overall process of getting a project from Capital Improvement Program (CIP) to completion. This webinar reviewed major touch points that are important in achieving a smooth and well-communicated grant process. These touch points include CIP information, grant request documents, payment documentation, and closeout info.
The FAA After-Grant (February 29, 2024)
Getting an FAA grant is exciting! It often means that you are finally able to improve your airport or purchase much-needed equipment so you can continue providing a great facility for our aviation community. Sometimes it's easy to lose sight of how important what comes next is to the project and the management of the grant. Projects start evolving the minute a shovel goes in the ground, so this webinar covered what comes next after a federal grant, what reporting is needed, how payments work, what environmental reviews are required after the initial determination is made, and ultimately the closeout of the project and the final grant payment.