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Purpose
Like the highway system, Washington’s system of 136 public use airports is a critical component of the state’s transportation system. And, also like the highway system, constant maintenance and improvements are necessary to meet the needs and demands of the traveling public. Simply put, current aviation system needs far outweigh available funding.
The State Capital Improvement Program (SCIP) will tackle the challenge of targeting state and federal resources in a more strategic way by better identifying and prioritizing aviation related projects. This process will help WSDOT Aviation and local governments communicate to decision-makers about the need for continued and increased investments into Washington’s airport system. The program is intended to be a continuous, multi-year funding program that will assess short-term (0-5 year) and long-term (5-20 year) airport improvement needs for the Washington state airport system. The SCIP will help agencies including WSDOT Aviation, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and local governments to better anticipate future airport development capital needs and to make strategic investments to maximize financial resources.
WSDOT will develop and implement the program on two fronts:
- A program for airports eligible for FAA Airport Improvement Program (AIP) funds.
- A program for airports only eligible for WSDOT Airport Aid Program funds.
For AIP eligible airports, the SCIP program will be developed in partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Northwest Mountain Region and the FAA Seattle Airports District Office (ADO). The Seattle ADO is the primary FAA regional Line of Business overseeing airport development and funding in the states of Washington, Idaho and Oregon. In support of this partnership, the FAA has provided WSDOT Aviation with a grant to develop an AIP eligible SCIP.
General Benefits
- Capture for the first time at the state level both the constrained and unconstrained needs of Washington state airports. This data will be used to demonstrate to state legislators and other local decision-makers the financial needs to maintain and enhance this critical component of the statewide transportation system.
- Use the process developed in partnership with the FAA for federally funded airports for non-federally funded airports within Washington state.
- Increase predictability, consistency, and efficiency amongst WSDOT, airport sponsors and FAA when prioritizing and distributing Washington airport capital improvement funds.
- Eliminate duplication of efforts. WSDOT Aviation will be responsible for the annual collection of CIPs from airport sponsors, which will alleviate airport sponsors from having to duplicate communication with both the FAA and WSDOT.
- Maximize efficiency by designating WSDOT Aviation as the organizer of CIP submittals. WSDOT will then work with the FAA to provide a more timely response from the agencies back to airport sponsors regarding their CIP requests.
- Joint coordination with FAA Project Managers as part of the five year SCIP development process will result in:
- Increased resources for airport sponsors to discuss your individual airport CIP and airport needs.
- The ability of Washington State to work with the FAA and airport sponsors to better incorporate statewide aviation needs into the FAA SCIP development process.
- More efficient use of available AIP funds to Washington state airports as well as the potential for increased access to certain AIP funds as a result of better SCIP planning.
- Create a proactive, continual planning process for years to come. This will result in a more sustainable airport system, enabling WSDOT Aviation, FAA and local governments to look ahead to determine how the system can continue to be improved and preserved.
Schedule
As a new program within WSDOT Aviation, full development and implementation of this program is expected to take two to three years. Over the coming months WSDOT Aviation will be visiting with airports to discuss the program, answer any questions and gather input about existing CIPs.
SCIP Workshops
October 2012
SCIP Presentation (187 kb)
SCIP Workshop Presentation (898 kb)
More information
SCIP Program Overview (2 mb)
More information will be added to this website as it becomes available.
Contact Information
John MacArthur, SCIP Project Manager, is available to answer your questions. For more information contact:
John MacArthur
macartj@wsdot.wa.gov
360-596-8954