On December 23, the Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) filed an amicus brief in support of the city of Santa Monica’s efforts to contest an FAA decision affecting Airport Improvement Program grant terms at the Santa Monica Airport (SMO). The brief outlines a key issue in the FAA Final Agency Decision in August that requires the city to keep SMO open until 2023. The issue was whether the city was obligated, under the standard 20-year term resulting from a grant obtained in 1994 and later amended in 2003, to keep the airport open until 2014 or 2023. The FAA decision determined that the city was obligated until 2023, and that the amended grant reset the 20-year clock.

ACI-NA “represents the state, regional and local government bodies that own and operate the principal commercial airports in North America.” The association is aware of the dispute between the FAA, which is trying to preserve airports important to the National Airspace System, and the city, which is trying to close its airport. “ACI-NA takes no position on that dispute,” it said.

What the association is trying to do is clarify the grant agreement process so that airport operators don’t face arbitrary changes to the rules. “ACI-NA is concerned, however, that the FAA has departed from existing law in a manner that could set a precedent by which the agency could unilaterally rewrite the terms of a grant agreement long after it has been executed by the parties. Regardless of the merits of the FAA’s policy objectives, it simply lacks the authority to unilaterally rewrite the terms of an executed grant agreement.”

ACI-NA pointed out that its members have never been required by the FAA to provide “additional consideration…for such amendments.” Essentially, the association asserts, the FAA has taken on a new power “to effectively rewrite grant agreements.”

Nelson Hernandez, senior advisory to the Santa Monica city manager on airport affairs, issued a statement saying that the 2003 grant amendment was “very minor. Grant amendments involving less than 15 percent of the original dollar amount are permitted by law and regulation without triggering additional time obligations. The city and ACI concur the grant obligations expired in 2014, because the city received an AIP grant in 1994 and complied with the 20-year obligation.”