Article 1. Assistance To Political Subdivisions of California Public Utilities Code >> Division 9. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 1.

The department may make available its engineering and other technical services, with or without charge, to any political subdivision or person desiring them in connection with the planning, acquisition, construction, improvement, maintenance, or operation of airports or air navigation facilities, subject to rules promulgated by the department.

(a) Subject to the terms and within the limits of special appropriations made by the Legislature, the department may render financial assistance by grant or loan, or both, to political subdivisions jointly, in the planning, acquisition, construction, improvement, maintenance, or operation of an airport owned or controlled, or to be owned or controlled, by a political subdivision or subdivisions, if the financial assistance has been shown by public hearing to be appropriate to the proper development or maintenance of a statewide system of airports. Financial assistance may be furnished in connection with federal or other financial aid for the same purpose.
  (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 21681, a city or county designated by the Airport Land Use Commission is eligible to compete for funds held in the Aeronautics Account in the State Transportation Fund on behalf of any privately owned, public use airport that is included in an airport land use compatibility plan. However, the city or county shall be eligible to compete for the funds only when zoning on the parcel is tantamount to a taking of all reasonable uses that might otherwise be permitted on the parcel. The eligible airport and aviation purposes are limited to those specified in paragraphs (4), (5), (6), (9), and (14) of subdivision (f) of Section 21681, and, further, any capital improvements or acquisitions shall become the property of the designated city or county. Matching funds pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 21684 may include the in-kind contribution of real property, with the approval of the department.
  (c) Any grant of funds held in the Aeronautics Account in the State Transportation Fund on behalf of any privately owned airports shall contain a covenant that the airport remain open for public use for 20 years. Any grant made to a city or county on behalf of a privately owned airport shall contain a payback provision based upon existing market value at the time the private airport ceases to be open for public use.
  (d) Upon request, California Aid to Airports Program (CAAP) projects included within the adopted Aeronautics Program, may be funded in advance of the year programmed, with the concurrence of the department, in order to better utilize funds in the account.
  (e) There is, in the Aeronautics Account in the State Transportation Fund, a subaccount, the Local Airport Loan Account, for the management of funds for loans to local entities pursuant to this chapter. All funds for airport loans in the Special Deposit Fund are hereby transferred to the subaccount. With the approval of the Department of Finance, the department shall deposit in the subaccount all money received by the department from repayments of, and interest on, existing and future airport loans, including, but not limited to, the sums of five hundred forty thousand dollars ($540,000) in repayments from the General Fund due in July 1987, and July 1988, and may, upon appropriation, transfer additional funds from the Aeronautics Account in the State Transportation Fund to the subaccount as the department deems appropriate. Interest on money in the subaccount shall be credited to the subaccount as it accrues.
  (f) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 13340 of the Government Code, the money in the subaccount created by subdivision (e) is hereby continuously appropriated to the department without regard to fiscal years for purposes of loans to political subdivisions for airport purposes.
  (2) Upon a determination by the department that the balance in the subaccount exceeds projected needs, funds in the subaccount may be transferred by the department to the Aeronautics Account to fund the California Aid to Airports Program with the approval of the California Transportation Commission and the Department of Finance. The transfers shall not reduce the amount of funds in the subaccount below five million dollars ($5,000,000).

Upon the request of any political subdivision or political subdivisions acting jointly, the department may act as agent in accepting, receiving, receipting for, and disbursing federal money, and other money public or private, made available to finance, in whole or in part, the planning, acquisition, construction, improvement, maintenance, or operation of a public airport or air navigation facility. The department may act as agent in contracting for and supervising the planning, acquisition, construction, improvement, maintenance, or operation. Any political subdivision may designate the department as its agent for these purposes. The department as principal on behalf of the state, and any political subdivision on its own behalf, may enter into any contracts with each other, the United States, or any person, which may be required in connection with a grant or loan of federal money for public airport or air navigation facility purposes. All federal money accepted under this section shall be accepted and transferred or expended by the department upon such terms and conditions as are prescribed by the United States. All money received by the department pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the Special Deposit Fund in the State Treasury, to be disbursed or expended in accordance with the terms and conditions upon which it was made available.

No proprietor of any permitted airport which is open to the public and has received public funds shall close or suspend operation of the airport, or close an existing runway or taxiway except on a temporary basis for inspection, maintenance, construction, or emergency purposes, without notifying the department in writing 60 days prior to the intended closure or suspension of operations. On its own motion or upon the request of an affected or interested person, the department may conduct a public hearing to determine the impact of the intended closure or suspension of operations, both economically and on the entire state air transportation system. The department may take appropriate action to assist the proprietor in keeping the airport operational and open for public use.