During an April 13, 2022, meeting, the Colorado Aeronautical Board (CAB) approved a second round of FY2022 Colorado Discretionary Aviation Grant (CDAG) funding allocated to match federally funded airport projects in Colorado. The unanimous decision authorized the distribution of just over $3 million in state aviation fuel tax revenues that support the CDAG Program administered by the Colorado Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) Division of Aeronautics.
This round of state aviation grants matched federal funding for the Federal Airport Improvement Program (AIP) and the recently approved Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). State aviation funding to match AIP projects had been paused for the past two years due to 100% federal airport project funding supported by COVID-19 relief funding. The federal AIP program normally requires airports to provide a 10% local funding match, of which the Division of Aeronautics typically provides half, up to $250,000 annually.
In addition to the usual AIP funding, BIL funding provides an additional $27 million annually ($86 million including Denver International Airport) for federally funded Colorado airport projects until 2026. BIL funding requires the same 10% match, however since this funding was only approved this past November, many airports were unprepared to budget for the match funding. In order to offset this unplanned burden, the CAB in February approved the allocation of an additional $1 million to assist airports with the local matching fund requirement for all airport projects utilizing BIL funding in 2022.
A comprehensive listing of each individual airport grant award can be found here.
Combining funding from the AIP and BIL, 30 Colorado airports were awarded a total of $3,018,418 in state matching funds which leveraged a total of $84,011,983 in federal funding. Combining the total funding during this round of funding with the $5.5 million awarded in February for state & local airport projects, the total funding for 2022 statewide airport projects comes in at a total of just under $100 million. This grand total marks the most funding awarded since the Division was founded in 1991.
“This year’s Colorado aviation funding amount gives the Division more opportunities to raise the bar for the Colorado aviation system in terms of safety, efficiency, and viability. We now have the ability to consider funding even more strategically planned projects that directly benefit the users of the Colorado aviation system,” said Aeronautics Division Director David Ulane.
The second round of state aviation funding grants ranged in size from $6,111 to $384,097 and supported a number of performance measures coinciding with goals set by the 2020 Colorado Aviation System Plan including safety, efficiency, economic sustainability, and state airport system viability.
The Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport (GUC) was awarded a total of $112,414 in state funding to support an airport terminal rehabilitation and expansion project funded by AIP and BIL funding. The Harriet Alexander Airport located in Salida, CO received $8,833 in state funding that will be used to replace and relocate the airport’s automated weather observing system (AWOS) funded by the BIL.
