An Act to amend the Federal Airport Act, as amended.
PL 84-211 (S.1855), enacted 08/03/1955

69 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 211-AUG. 3, 1955 
Public Law 211 
CHAPTER 494 
AN ACT 
To amend the Federal Airport Act, as amended. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled. That paragraph 
(3) of section 2 (a) of the Federal Airport Act (49 U. S. C. 1101-
1119) is amended to read as follows: 
"(3) 'Airport development' means (A) any work involved in 
constructing, improving, or repairing a public airport or portion 
thereof, including the construction, alteration, and repair of airport 
passenger or freight terminal buildings and other airport adminis-
trative buildings and the removal, lowering, relocation, and marking 
and lighting of airport hazards, and (B) any acquisition of land or 
of any interest therein, or of any easement through or other interest 
in air space, which is necessary to permit any such w'ork or to remove 
or mitigate or prevent or limit the establishment of, airport hazards; 
but such term does not include the construction, alteration, or repair 
of airport hangars." 
SEC. 2. The first two sentences of subsection (a) of section 3 of such 
Act are amended to read as follows: 
"SEC. 3. (a) The Secretary is hereby authorized and directed to 
prepare, and thereafter, at least three months prior to the close of 
each fiscal year, to revise, a national plan for the development 
of public airports in the United States, including the Territory of 
Alaska, the Territory of Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, and the Virgin 
Islands. Such plan shall specify, in terms of general location and 
type of development, the projects considered by the Secretary to be 
necessary to provide a system of public airports adequate to anticipate 
and meet the needs of civil aeronautics, which projects shall include 
all types of airport development eligible for Federal aid under this 
Act and shall not be limited to any classes or categories of public 
airports." 
SEC. 3. Section 4 of such Act is amended to read as follows: 
"SEC. 4. In order to bring about, in conformity wdth the national 
airport plan prepared and from time to time revised as provided in 
this Act, the establishment of a nationwide system of public airports 
adequate to meet the present and future needs of civil aeronautics, the 
Secretary of Commerce is authorized, within the limits of the obliga-
tion authority provided in section 5, to make grants of funds to 
sponsors for airport development as hereinafter provided." 
SEC. 4. Section 5 of such Act is amended to read as follows: 
"SEC. 5. (a) For the purpose of carrying out this Act with respect 
to projects in the several States, there are hereby authorized to be 
obligated by the execution of grant agreements pursuant to section 
12 the sum of $40,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1956, and 
the sum of $60,000,000 for each of the fiscal years ending June 30, 
1957, June 30,1958, and June 30, 1959. Each such authorized amount 
shall become available for obligation beginning July 1 of the fiscal 
year for w^liich it is authorized, and shall continue to be so available 
until so obligated, 
"(b) For the purpose of carrying out this Act with respect to 
projects in the Territories of Alaska and Hawaii, and in Puerto Rico 
and the Virgin Islands, there are hereby authorized to be obligated 
by the execution of grant agreements pursuant to section 12 the sum 
of $2,500,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1956, and the sum 
of $3,000,000 for each of the fiscal years ending June 30, 1957, June 
30, 1958, and June 30, 1959. Each such authorized amount shall be-
come available for obligation beginning July 1 of the fiscal year for 
441 
August 3, 1955 
[S. 1855] 
Federal Airport 
Act, amendment. 
60 Stat. 170. 
"Airport de-
velopment". 
49 use 1102. 
National airport 
plan. 
49 use 1103. 
D e v e l o p m e n t 
grants. 
49 use 1104. 
Appropriations. 
49 use 1111. 
49 use 1111. 
442 
PUBLIC LAW 211-AUG. 3, 1955 
[69 S T A T . 
52 Stat. 983. 
49 u s e 1105. 
A p p o r t iontnent 
among States. 
" P o p u l ation' 
•area". 
D i s c r e t i onar y 
fund. 
which it is authorized, and shall continue to be so available until so 
obligated. 
Of each of the amounts authorized by this subsection, 
45 per centum shall be available for projects in the Territory of 
Alaska, 25 per centum for projects in the Territory of Hawaii, 20 
per centum for projects in Puerto Rico, and 10 per centum for projects 
in the Virgin Islands. 
"(c) There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such amounts 
of money as may be necessary to liquidate obligations incurred as 
authorized by subsections (a) and (b). 
"(d) There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such amounts 
of money as may be necessary for planning and research and for 
administrative expenses incident to the administration of this Act. 
As used in this section, the term 'administrative expenses' includes 
expenses under this Act of the character specified in section 204 of the 
Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 (49 U. S. C. 424)." 
SEC. 5. Section 6 of such Act is amended to read as follows: 
"SEC. 6. (a) As soon as possible after July 1 of each fiscal year for 
which an amount is authorized to be obligated by section 5 (a), 75 
per centum of the amount made available for that year shall be 
apportioned by the Secretary of Commerce among the several States, 
one-half in the proportion which the population of each State bears 
to the total j)opulation of all the States, and one-half in the propor-
tion which the area of each State bears to the total area of all the 
States. Each amount so apportioned for a State shall, during the 
fiscal year for which it was first authorized to be obligated and the 
fiscal year immediately following, be available only for grants for 
approved projects located in that State, or sponsored by that State 
or some public agency thereof but located in an adjoining State, and 
thereafter any portion of such amount which remains unobligated 
shall be redistributed and reapportioned as provided in subsection 
(c) of this section. Upon making an apportionment as provided in 
this subsection, the Secretary shall inform the executive head of each 
State, and any public agency which has requested such information, as 
to the amounts apportioned for each State. As used in this subsection 
the term 'population' means the population according to the latest 
decennial census of the United States and the term 'area' includes 
both land and water. 
"(b) (1) Twenty-five per centum of all amounts authorized to be 
obligated by section 5 (a) shall, as such amounts become available, 
constitute a discretionary fund. 
"(2) Such discretionary fund shall be available for such approved 
projects in the several States as the Secretary may deem most appro-
priate for carrying out the national airport plan, regardless of the 
States in which they are located. 
The Secretary shall give consider-
ation, in determining the projects for which such fund is to be so used, 
to the existing airport facilities in the several States and to the need 
for or lack of development of airport facilities in the several States. 
"(3) Such discretionary fund shall also be available for such 
approved projects in national parks and national recreation areas, 
national monuments, and national forests, sponsored by the United 
States or any agency thereof, as tlie Secretary may deem appropriate 
for carrying out the national airport plan; but no other funds author-
ized under authority of this Act shall be available for such purpose. 
The sponsor's share of the project costs of any such approved project 
shall be paid only out of funds contributed to the sponsor for the 
purpose of paying such costs (receipt of which funds and their use 
for this purpose is hereby authorized) or appropriations specifically 
authorized therefor. 
69 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 212-AUG. 3, 1955 
M3 
"(c) Seventy-five per centum of any amount apportioned for proj-
ects in a State pursuant to subsection (a) of this section which has not 
been obligated by grant agreement at the expiration of the two fiscal 
3'ears for which such amount was so apportioned shall be reapportioned 
among the respective States in the manner of apportionment of the 
original authorization under subsection (a) and the remaining 25 per 
centum of such amount shall be added to the discretionary fund 
established by subsection (b), and at the expiration of each succeed-
ing fiscal year any of the amount so reapportioned for a State that 
still remains unobligated shall again be reapportioned and redis-
tributed in the same manner." 
SEC. 6. Section 8 of such Act is repealed. 
SEC. 7. The first sentence of subsection (d) of section 9 of such Act 
is amended to read as follows: "All such projects shall be subject to the 
approval of the Secretary of Commerce, which approval shall be 
given only if he is satisfied that the project will contribute to the 
accomplishment of the purposes of this Act, that sufficient funds are 
available for that portion of the project costs which is not to be paid 
by the United States under this Act, that the project will be completed 
without undue delay, that the public agency or public agencies which 
submitted the project application have legal authority to engage in 
the airport development as proposed, and that all project sponsor-
ship requirements prescribed by or under the authority of this Act 
have been or will be met.". 
SEC. 8, The third sentence of section 12 of such Act is amended to 
read as follows: "Each such offer shall state a definite amount as the 
maximum obligation of the United States payable from funds author-
ized by this Act, and shall stipulate the obligations to be assumed 
by the sponsor or sponsors of the project.". 
SEC. 9. All amounts authorized by section 4 of this Act to be obli-
gated for grants under the Federal Airport Act shall be additional 
to all amounts previously appropriated or authorized to be obligated 
for such purposes. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 
the balances of such previously appropriated or authorized funds 
which are unexpended and unobligated on the effective date of this 
Act shall remain available for obligation and expenditure as originally 
appropriated or authorized. 
Approved August 3, 1955. 
Reapportionment. 
49 u s e 1107. 
49 u s e 1108. 
Project approval. 
49 u s e 1111. 
G r a n t a gr e 
ments. 
Appropriations 
available. 
Public Law 212 
CHAPTER 495 
AN ACT 
To declare a certain portion of the waterway (a section of the Acushnet River) 
in the city of New Bedford and the towns of Fairhaven and Acushnet, Massa-
chusetts, a nonnavigable stream. 
August 3, 19SS 
[H. R. 2866] 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assemhled^ That the portion of 
the waterway in the city of New Bedford and the towns of Fairhaven 
and Acushnet lying north of the Coggeshall Street Bridge (north 41 
degrees 31 minutes 00 seconds), is hereby declared to be a nonnavigable 
water of the United States within the meaning of the Constitution 
and laws of the United States. Any project heretofore authorized by 
any Act of Congress, insofar as such project relates to the above-
described portions of the Acushnet River section of New Bedford and 
Fairhaven Harbor, is hereby abandoned. The right to alter, amend, 
or repeal this Act is hereby expressly reserved. 
Approved August 3, 1955. 
Acushnet River, 
Mass. 
N o n n a v i g able 
stream.