TagAirport Improvement Program(59)

The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) 2021–2025 is a federal planning document published by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration on September 30, 2020. It outlines the nation's airport infrastructure needs and investment priorities for a five-year period under Title 49 U.S. Code, Section 47103. While it covers the broader national airport system, it provides context for understanding federal aviation policy that can influence noise management decisions at airports like Sea-Tac.

FAA Order 5090.5, effective September 3, 2019, establishes guidelines for managing the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) and the Airports Capital Improvement Plan (ACIP), which together identify airports important to national air transportation and prioritize federal funding for airport development projects. The order serves as a financial planning tool for systematically assigning Airport Improvement Program (AIP) funds to qualifying airports across the country. Note that this document addresses broad national airport capital planning policy and does not contain specific provisions related to Sea-Tac Airport noise mitigation or local noise policy.

The FAA's Airport Improvement Program (AIP) Grant Histories page provides access to annual summaries of federal airport grants dating back to 2006, organized by fiscal year and available in both PDF and MS Excel formats. Users can look up grant histories for individual airports included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) using an online tool. While this resource covers AIP funding across all U.S. airports, it may be referenced when researching federal grants awarded to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for noise mitigation and other improvement projects.

This Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA) report, covering 2019–2023, examines the gap between what U.S. airports need to spend on infrastructure and the funding currently available to them. It estimates total development costs by airport size, project type, and location, and compares ACI-NA findings with FAA projections. The report highlights growing pressures from rising construction costs, increasing passenger and cargo demand, and insufficient federal funding mechanisms.

A December 2018 article from Air Line Pilot magazine highlights FAA Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants awarded to major U.S. airports, including $14,526,800 to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to reconstruct taxiways and rehabilitate Runway 16L/34R, plus $1,876,800 for residential noise mitigation. The AIP program funds infrastructure projects such as runways, taxiways, signage, and lighting, covering 75–95 percent of eligible costs depending on airport size. In 2018, the program distributed more than $3.5 billion to airports across all 50 states and four U.S. territories.

In 2015, FAA officials exchanged emails explaining how federal Airport Improvement Program grant funds were used to replace the Olympic Elementary School in the Highline School District near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Because Olympic fell within the airport's 65 DNL noise zone but was deemed not worth insulating, the FAA allowed approximately $3.9 million in noise-mitigation funds to offset construction of the new Marvista Elementary School instead. The exchange was prompted by a Washington State Auditor inquiry questioning whether Davis-Bacon Act and other federal compliance requirements applied, given that the grant was awarded after the construction project had already been completed.