SECTIONS 21601-21605 - California Statutes

PUBLIC UTILITIES CODE

SECTION 21601-21605

21601. 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.

21602. (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 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) Notwithstanding 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.

21603. 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.

21605. 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.