OFFICE OF AVIATION ANALYSIS

SMALL COMMUNITY AIR SERVICE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (SCASDP)

FY 2011 Grant Awards

By Order 2011-7-1 (Docket OST-2011-0119), July 1, 2011, the Department solicited applications from communities and consortiums of communities interested in receiving a grant under the Small Community Air Service Development Program. This program provides grant-in-aid financial assistance to small communities to improve their air service.  The Department has up to $15million available for grant awards, please see Funding below and in the RFP for further details

APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Filing Deadline and Procedures

To comply with the Grants.gov initiative, a mandate of the President’s Management Agenda, all applicants must submit form SF424, Application for Federal Domestic Assistance, found on http://www.grants.gov. Further, grant proposals must be submitted as an attachment to the SF424. An application will NOT be deemed complete unless the SF424 and the attached proposal have been submitted through Grants.gov by the 5 PM EDT, August 2, 2011, deadline.

Grant applications are due by 5 PM EDT on August 2, 2011.

The cover page of each application should contain the information specified under “Cover page contents,” below. Questions regarding the program should be directed to the Office of Aviation Analysis on (202) 366-2347 or aloha.ley@dot.gov. A community may file its proposal anytime after the initial registration process has been completed on www.grants.gov as long as the entire application is filed by August 2, 2011. The Grants.gov “Applicant Resources” page (http://www07.grants.gov/applicants/app_help_reso.jsp) provides instructions and guidance on completing the registration and application processes. Communities are encouraged to contact the Grants.gov help desk for any technical assistance in filing their applications.

Cover page contents.

The cover page for all applications should bear the title "Proposal Under the Small Community Air Service Development Program, Docket DOT-OST-2011-0119" and should include:

(1) the name of the community or consortium of communities applying for the grant;

(2) the legal sponsor and its Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, including + 4; and

(3) the 2-digit Congressional district code applicable to the sponsoring organization and, if a

consortium, to each participating community.

Background:

On April 5, 2000, the President signed the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR-21), Public Law 106-181, which, among other things, established a new pilot program designed to help smaller communities to enhance their air service. Vision 100-Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act, P.L. 108-176 reauthorized the program and deleted its status as a "pilot" program.

Specifically, the law authorizes the Secretary to make a maximum of 40 grants each year though no more than four of those may be to the same state (a consortium of communities is considered a single entity).

The core objective of the program is to secure enhancements that will be responsive to a community's air transportation needs and whose benefits can be expected to continue after the initial expenditures.

Eligibility for Participation:

To be eligible for a grant, the community must meet the following criteria:

Size-for calendar year 1997, the airport serving the community or consortium was not larger than a small hub airport, and

• had insufficient air carrier service; or
• had unreasonably high air fares

Funding:

The program was not funded in its first year, fiscal year 2001, but was funded and implemented in each of fiscal years 2002 through 2005 at a level of $20 million. The Department of Transportation’s budget appropriation for 2006-2007 provided the Department with $10 million to administer the Small Community program. In 2008-2009 funding was provided at $8 million. 

For fiscal year 2010 the Department was appropriated $6 million to carry out the Small Community Program.  However, the Department made $7 million available for grant awards.  The Department added additional funds that can be reallocated from prior year recoveries. 

For fiscal year 2011 The Small Community Program is authorized to receive appropriations under 49 U.S.C. 41743(e)(2), as amended.  Appropriations are provided for the program pursuant to Section 1104 of the FY 2011 Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act (P.L. 112-10 (extending the FY 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-117)).  The Department has up to $15 million available for FY 2011 grant awards to carry out the Small Community Program.

The program is limited to a maximum of 40 grant awards, with a maximum of four grants per State, in each year the program is funded.  There are no limits on the amounts of individual awards, and the amounts awarded will vary depending upon the features and merits of the proposals selected.  In past years, the Department’s individual grant sizes have ranged from $20,000 to nearly $1.6 million.

Please refer to the Request for Proposal (Order 2011-7-1, Docket DOT-OST-2011-0119) for further details on the FY2011 funding appropriations.  The funds remain available until expended.  In addition, funds not used by previous grant recipients that have completed their grant projects are also available for reallocation.

For fiscal year 2011, The grant funds awarded do not need to be expended in the fiscal year that they are awarded. Nor do they need to be used within a one-year period. Authorized grant projects may include activities that extend over a multi-year period under a single grant award to the extent reasonable and practicable. Generally speaking, grant awards have not exceeded a three-year period.

Grant funds to the selected communities are available on a reimbursable basis under which the community expends funds related to implementation of the approved grant project, and then seeks reimbursement from the Department for project expenditures.

Communities that were awarded grants in previous years that want to apply for a grant this year should be aware that they are precluded from seeking funds for projects that have already received an award under the Small Community Program. However, previous grant recipients may submit grant proposals and seek funds for new projects. That said, the funds for this program are very limited and the interest in the program has far exceeded both the funds available and the number of communities that can participate under the statute in any one year. The fact that a community has already received one or more grants will be a consideration when comparing its new proposal with those of other applicant communities.

Use of Funds:

The Small Community Program provides considerable flexibility in how funds can be used to implement a community’s grant proposal. For example, grant funds can be used to cover the expenses of any new advertising or promotional activities that can reasonably be related to improving the air service to the community. Funds may also be used for new studies designed to measure air service deficiencies, or to measure traffic loss or diversion to other communities, or for the employment or use of new, dedicated air service development staff on a long-term basis, advertising or public relations agencies, universities, and consulting firms. In addition, grant funds may also be used for financial incentives, including subsidy or revenue guarantees, to air carriers in conjunction with their provision of air service or the fare levels charged, or to ground service providers in providing access to air transportation services. The statute limits the use of grant funds for air carrier subsidy to a maximum period of three years. That same limitation applies to revenue guarantees and other forms of ongoing financial support for air carrier operations. These serve only as illustrative examples and are not meant to comprise an exhaustive list.

Priorities for Selection:

In selecting communities to participate in the program, the statute directs the Secretary to give priority to those communities where:

Air Service Development Zone Designation

The statute authorizing the Small Community Program also provides that the Department will designate one of the grant recipients in the program as an Air Service Development Zone (ASDZ).  There are no additional funds associated with this designation, and the designation will provide no special benefit or preference to a community in receiving a grant award under the Small Community Program.

Contact:
Questions regarding the new program or the filing of proposals should be directed to:

Last updated: 9/28/2011