Misuse of Airport Land Acquired Through Federal Assistance

A review was undertaken to determine whether public airport lands, acquired by direct grants of funds and by donations of federal real property, are properly controlled and used in accordance with deed restrictions and applicable laws.

Many sponsors at the airports reviewed were using land acquired with federal assistance for other than airport purposes. The nonairport uses involved revenue-producing activities. Long-term leases of 20 to 40 years exist, and in some cases, renewal options can extend nonairport use for an additional 60 years. Nonairport land uses included: an industrial park complex, private residences, recreation areas, municipal government facilities, other commercial businesses, and agriculture. Although the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has established a program for monitoring the development and use of these properties, it has had a very low priority and FAA field offices have not implemented it. FAA has failed to ensure that adequate staffing and other resources are provided to conduct the program. Similar problems and questionable land uses have been reported to FAA management repeatedly over the past decade.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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