Table 1. Airport definition by component and state.

^A – Right of Way specifically includes approaches to the airport.

^B – Airport is captured in other term, such as Air Navigation Facility.

^C – Airport is defined in relation to a specific airport, rather than generally defined.

tion, or replacement of any structure if the FAA has issued a determination of no hazard to air navigation for that structure.” In this instance, the state of Alabama adopted the FAA hazard determination scheme and applied state enforcement mechanisms that are not available to the FAA.

The state of Delaware directly referenced 14 C.F.R. Part 77 in its definition of a “helicopter landing site.” Nebraska and Virginia, for the purpose of licensing public heliports, require that a “public use heliport shall comply with the technical information and guidelines of the Federal Aviation Administration Advisory Circular No. 150/5390-2A, ‘Heliport Design’ dated January 20, 1994.”

These examples demonstrate the interplay between federal and state regulation of airport safety. In these examples, the states adopted the FAA source material to define a safety standard. Alabama, in its Airport Hazard Statute, deferred to the FAA’s judgment to determine if a hazard exists.

Variation from the Federal Scheme with Reference to the Federal Requirements

Indiana law requires prior approval from the state before making any alteration or expansion to a public-use airport. The application for approval must include a copy of either FAA Form 7480-1, “Notice of Landing Area Proposal,” or FAA Form 7460-1, “Notice of Proposed Construction or Alteration.” The state then evaluates the project based on its minimum standards, unless the project was funded by state or federal airport improvement project funds.

Montana requires local governments to adopt zoning regulations if the airport is an NPIAS airport. The Montana statute independently defines the zoning mechanisms for an “airport hazard.” For the purpose of enacting hazard prevention protections, an “airport hazard” is “any structure or tree or use of land which would exceed the federal obstruction standards as contained in 14 C.F.R., sections 77.21, 77.23, and 77.25, as revised March 4, 1972….”

Independent State Scheme

Arkansas’ Minimum Distance Between Towers and Runways statute establishes specific criteria for the maximum height of structures in the vicinity of airports. The statute contains a 65-to-1 slope that is not present in the federal scheme.

Idaho established a standard for placing markers on guyed wires that is independent of federal requirements.

Illinois’ minimum standards for airports do not reference federal standards.

Minnesota adopted obstruction regulations with similar requirements to FAA Part 77 restrictions without specific reference to Part 77. The only federal reference in the Minnesota regulations is to FAA Advisory Circular 70/7460-1K, Obstruction Marking and Lighting.

Means or Mechanism for Enforcing State Standards

Statutory or Administrative Requirements

States that adopted state safety standards primarily followed two systems in the adoption of minimum airport safety requirements: statutory enactment or administrative rulemaking. Statutory enactments are specific in some situations and provide open-ended regulatory authority for state aviation agencies in others. Based on the research conducted for this LRD, administrative requirements are limited to states with registration, licensing, or permitting requirements. Several jurisdictions, such as Alabama for statutory provisions, and New Jersey for administrative rules, place time limitations on enactments. The enactment must be renewed, or it expires.

State Licensing and Certification

The federalist nature of the regulation of airports results in 26 states choosing to require registration, licensure, and/or certification of airports. The requirement for initial registration does not necessarily result in an ongoing inspection or certification process. In states that license airports, the enforcement of minimum safety and security standards is conducted during license review. Table 2 lists the states whereby the state’s license or certification requires airports to register with the state.

Table 2. States with licensing or certification requirements.

Contractual Agreement

A state may engage in a system like the FAA’s contract-based, grant assurance program by conditioning assistance to an airport sponsor on agreeing to meet specific safety requirements. Wyoming, for instance, contracts with airports to achieve safety goals identified by the state system’s plan when assisting airports with state grant funding. States contracting with airports may select safety standards that are consistent with state highway quality standards, but not necessarily consistent with FAA requirements.⁷⁰ In response to the survey that the authors sent to State Aviation Departments, many respondents indicated that they use multiple methods to achieve compliance with state requirements, including licensing, permitting, or other regulatory scheme, inspection, grant eligibility, civil enforcement through the state, criminal enforcement through the state, and private attorney general actions.

Table 3 presents all 50 states’ approaches to safety regulations. The table also summarizes the approach selected by the state for safety standard creation and the mechanism for enforcement.

State-Specific Standards

State-imposed safety standards can be specific. For instance, Minnesota requires the placement of a bulletin board at airports and Illinois requires a source of potable water.

Airport infrastructure may be subject to both FAA guidance and state-specific mandates. Table 4 displays the state marking and lighting standards.

Many standards provide safety of flight aids, such as a minimum runway length, wind indicators, beacons, and segmented circles. Other standards provide for conveniences, such as telephones and restrooms, or basic safety items—fire extinguishers or first aid kits. Table 5 shows the state navigational aids and conveniences standards.

Five states have perimeter fencing standards. Michigan requires an “adequate means to deter unauthorized or inadvertent access to the aircraft operations area.”⁷¹ South Dakota requires airports to be “adequately fenced so as to control the access of unauthorized persons, automobiles, equipment, or livestock onto the areas designated as landing areas, taxiways or tie down areas.”⁷² California, New Hampshire, and Illinois⁷³ reported a requirement for perimeter fencing in their responses to the authors’ survey.

Illinois and Michigan require access to an office or hangar depending on the category of the airport.⁷⁴

Heliport and Vertiport Standards—General Aviation Airport in the NPIAS System

Heliports and vertiports existing or proposed for establishment on federally obligated noncertified general aviation airports are governed by FAA minimum requirements and applicable state regulation. There is variation in the definition of a heliport among the states. However, placement of a heliport or vertiport at an obligated airport does not impact the regulatory schemes presented in this LRD. The FAA is recommending that AAM infrastructure and associated charging stations should be on the airport’s airport layout plan. To meet FAA requirements, all FAA Obstruction Evaluation—Airport Airspace Analysis requirements should be followed.⁷⁵

Advanced Air Mobility and Local Regulation

An airport operator with a system of airports may be enticed to expand the system to include the management or creation of AAM locations. The NPIAS system is based on location-specific eligibility.⁷⁶ Locations within the AAM system would be judged based on existing NPIAS criteria. However, an airport sponsor may expend revenue generated by an obligated airport for the “local airport system” or “other local facilities owned or operated by the airport owner or operator and directly and substantially related to the air transportation of passengers or property.”⁷⁷ This airport revenue statutory language is also contained in Grant Assurance 25. Participating in an urban AAM system may be tied to promoting self-sustainability for the airport. ACRP LRD 40: Permissible Use of Airport Property and Revenue provides information regarding the general use of airport revenue for

Table 3. State licensure and minimum safety standards.

traditional and non-traditional investment.⁷⁸ The emergence of a potential AAM system managed or owned by an airport requires additional research.

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) review, including surveys and interviews with local officials, determined that state and local officials believed that they had some authority to regulate vertiport construction and noise management.⁷⁹ Local authority would be derived from traditional police powers, such as planning and zoning, including the definition of an airport to include vertiports or the independent establishment of regulations related to vertiports. The GAO review did not account for the lack of uniformity in the licensure and certification of airports. In response to the GAO review, the FAA asserted that state and local entities could require privately funded vertiports to adhere to federal design guidance. State-based airport and AAM requirements should be considered in the evolution of landing facilities.

Attempts to create a national AAM policy are ongoing. The adoption of standard safety designs would promote a uniform system.⁸⁰ However, as this LRD illustrates, the history of airport regulations created a complex federalist system. The establishment and creation of an interconnected AAM system is outside the scope of this LRD.

State Zoning and Obstruction Regulations

The information in this section provides a basic overview of the types of zoning or obstruction schemes in all 50 states. Readers should refer to ACRP Legal Research Digest 5: Responsibility for Implementation and Enforcement of Airport Land-Use Zoning Restrictions (2009),⁸¹ for a comprehensive analysis of federal, state, and local requirements for airport land use controls.

Ordinarily, zoning refers to land-use oversight. Land-use oversight regulates not only the placement of specific types of structures, but also the use of those structures. For instance, a zoning regulation can restrict the size of a building and its specific use as a place of gathering or high occupancy. Obstructions refer to objects that may be deemed hazards⁸² to air navigation.