Airport Regulatory Relief Act of 2025
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The bill would make it easier for states to use their own highway construction standards, instead of federal FAA standards, when building or repairing airfield pavement at small commercial airports that serve light aircraft.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would amend the process by which the Federal Aviation Administration lets states use state highway specifications, rather than federal standards, for airfield pavement projects at nonprimary airports serving aircraft under 60,000 pounds. Currently the FAA must find both that the state standards won't hurt safety and won't shorten pavement life before allowing their use; the bill would require the FAA to use the state standards whenever a state simply notifies the FAA that its nonprimary airports intend to use them and the FAA determines the standards will not negatively affect safety. The bill also sets a deadline: the FAA must make that safety determination within six months of the state's notice, with the option to extend by six months at a time if it notifies the state and justifies the delay. It does not change standards for primary airports or larger aircraft.
Key provisions
- 1Would require the FAA to use a state's highway specifications for airfield pavement projects at qualifying nonprimary airports once the state gives notice and safety is confirmed.
- 2Would remove the separate requirement that the FAA find state standards won't shorten pavement life, leaving only the safety determination.
- 3Would require the FAA to make its safety determination within six months of a state's notice.
- 4Would allow the FAA to extend the determination period in six-month increments if it notifies the state and justifies each extension.
Who would be affected
State transportation and aviation agencies overseeing nonprimary commercial airports with 2,500 to 10,000 annual passenger boardings, the airports themselves, contractors who build or repair airfield pavement, and the Federal Aviation Administration, which must process state notices and safety determinations on a fixed timeline.
Why it matters
States could switch to familiar, often cheaper highway paving standards for small airport runways more quickly, since the FAA would no longer need to separately verify pavement longevity, only safety. The new six-month deadline (extendable) also gives states a predictable timeline instead of an open-ended federal review.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Amends 49 U.S.C. § 47114(d)(4) (Sec. 2)
Replaces the dual safety-and-pavement-life finding with a simpler notice-and-safety-determination process, plus a new six-month FAA deadline with extensions.
Agencies directed to act
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 6427 would have an insignificant effect on direct spending over the 2026–2031 period and no net effect over the 2026–2036 period.
H.R. 6427 would streamline Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants for nonprimary airports by allowing them to declare their intent to use state construction standards for airfield pavement projects, rather than requiring FAA approval. CBO finds the bill would not change the total amount of AIP grants awarded, but could modestly affect the timing of spending for certain projects using previously appropriated funds — resulting in an insignificant effect on direct (mandatory) spending over 2026–2031 and no net effect over 2026–2036. The bill would have no effect on revenues, no effect on spending subject to annual appropriations, and CBO identified no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates.
How implementation would work
A state would notify the FAA that its nonprimary airports intend to use state highway specifications for pavement projects funded under the relevant Airport Improvement Program provisions. The FAA would then have six months to determine whether those specifications negatively affect safety; if more time is needed, the FAA may extend the review by six-month increments, each time notifying the state and providing a written justification for the delay, with no limit on the number of extensions allowed.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Official CRS summary
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This bill reduces the requirements for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to allow a state to use its state highway standards, instead of federal standards, for airfield pavement projects at certain smaller commercial aviation airports. The bill also requires the FAA to act within a certain time period.
Under current law, airports are generally required to meet FAA standards for Airport Improvement Program-funded construction. For certain nonprimary commercial service airports (i.e., airports that have 2,500 to 10,000 passenger boardings annually) that serve aircraft that do not exceed 60,000 pounds gross weight, the FAA must instead use the state highway standards. A state must request the use of the state standards, and the FAA must determine that their use (1) will not negatively affect safety, and (2) will not result in a shorter life for the pavement.
Under the bill, the FAA must use state highway standards for airfield pavement projects at these airports if (1) the state provides notice to the FAA that nonprimary airports intend to use the state standards, and (2) the FAA determines that the state standards will not negatively affect safety.
The bill also requires the FAA to make a safety determination within six months of a state providing notice. The FAA may extend the time period by six months if the six months is insufficient to make the determination. For each six-month extension, the FAA must notify the state and provide a justification for the extension.
Legislative subjects
Administrative law and regulatory procedures; Aviation and airports; Department of Transportation; Roads and highways; State and local government operations; Transportation and Public Works; Transportation safety and security
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-552