To promote aviation, FAA provides grants and land to airports. Grants for airport development were authorized under the Federal Airport Aid Program from 1946 through 1970 and the Airport Development Aid Program from 1971 through 1981. During 1982 through 1997, more than $20.5 billion in grants was awarded to commercial service and general aviation airports under the current program, the Airport Improvement Program. About 45 percent of these grants, totaling almost $4.7 billion, was made to general aviation airports for airport development, including more than $800 million for land acquisition. While commercial airports provide scheduled airline passenger service, general aviation airports primarily serve noncommercial aviation traffic, including business and recreational aircraft. FAA’s Office of Airports administers the Airport Improvement Program and oversees both commercial and general aviation airports’ compliance with federal grant and land transfer requirements. In December 1997, FAA established an Airports Compliance Division within the Office of Airports in Washington, D.C. While 10 full-time compliance policy specialists are currently assigned to the Compliance Division to advise field offices on airport land and revenue issues, 23 field offices provide day-to-day oversight of about 2,000 general aviation airports that have received grant funds or land from the federal government. This oversight responsibility includes ensuring that the airports use airport land in accordance with federal statutes and regulations by monitoring airports’ activities and taking enforcement actions, when necessary. Enforcement begins with a formal notification to an airport of its noncompliance and can include such actions as withholding aviation grants or other transportation funds and filing a lawsuit. In order to receive federal grants, airports must certify that they will abide by the federal requirements contained in the grant agreements by providing written assurances pertaining to the airports’ operation and maintenance. For example, an airport must ensure that it will be available for public use and that airport users will be charged comparable fees. Generally, grant requirements remain in effect throughout the useful life of the facilities developed under the grant but do not exceed 20 years.However, for land acquired with grant funds, these requirements remain in effect as long as an airport is on the land. In addition to providing financial assistance, federal agencies can transfer deeds to federal land to airports. Since World War II, the federal government has transferred land that is considered excess to the federal government’s needs to about 350 general aviation airports under the Surplus Property Act. Land that is not excess to a federal agency’s current needs—called nonsurplus land—can also be transferred for airport purposes; about 100 general aviation airports have received nonsurplus land. Unlike financial grant obligations that are a part of a contract related to the operation and maintenance of airport facilities, the statutory authorities for the transfer of surplus or nonsurplus federal land place conditions on an airport owner’s title to the land. If these conditions are not met, title to the land may be reverted to (i.e., be reclaimed by) the federal government. Both financial grants and land transfers restrict the use of airport land and airport revenues to airport purposes. An airport purpose is any activity that involves, makes possible, is required for the safety of, or is otherwise directly related to the operation of aircraft, such as the use of aircraft hangars, repair facilities, or runways. An approved Airport Layout Plan reflects the agreement between FAA and the airport owner on the allocation of airport areas for specific operational and support functions. In general, land designated in the plan cannot be used, leased, or sold for purposes other than airport purposes without the consent of the Administrator of FAA. If the airport wishes to alter the use of any land designated in the plan—for city parks or departments or industrial parks, for example—FAA must agree that the land is not needed for present or foreseeable airport purposes and must grant permission regardless of whether the land was acquired by federal grant or land transfer or without federal assistance. If the altered use generates revenues, the airport must agree to reinvest the proceeds in the airport. With the consent (called a “release” of the land) of the Administrator, airport land not needed for aviation purposes may be sold or leased so that the airport can use the resulting revenues to support airport development, improvement, maintenance, and operations. FAA has released land from restrictions on its use for airport purposes at an estimated 205 airports since 1990. About 75 percent of these releases involved fewer than 20 acres of land, and about 50 percent involved fewer than 10 acres. Appendix I provides more information regarding our estimate of releases nationwide. Most releases we reviewed involved such issues as using unneeded land to generate revenues for the airport by developing an industrial park, for example, or by using the land as easements for roadways. If an airport has altered the use of (or sold) airport land without FAA’s authorization, the agency may require the airport to return the land to its former use and condition or approve the new use of the land after the fact. In general, all airport revenues must be expended for the airports’ operating expenses and other nonoperating expenditures, such as capital development. The purpose of the restriction on revenue uses is to prevent revenue losses or diversions by ensuring that airports receiving federal assistance use airport revenues for operation and development. The goal is to make airports as self-sustaining as possible and minimize the need for further federal assistance. Therefore, when FAA approves the use of land for nonairport purposes to generate revenues for an airport, its policy requires that the airport receive fair market value for the sale or lease of the land. Generally, if an airport sells or leases land for less than fair market value, the revenues are considered to be lost, or forgone. Revenues are considered to be “diverted” when an airport fails to use revenues generated from activities that take place on airport land for airport purposes. In addition, if an airport owner, typically a local government, uses airport land for nonairport purposes, such as for city parks or departments, and does not pay rent to the airport account, the revenues are also considered to be diverted from the airport. Since 1992, the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General has reported lost or diverted revenues of over $18 million at 11 general aviation airports. FAA closed eight of these cases involving about $15 million, as reported by the Inspector General—recovering $1.7 million in three cases. FAA officials noted that all cases were resolved with the Inspector General’s concurrence. To assist operators in avoiding revenue diversion, on February 16, 1999, FAA published a policy statement on the appropriate use of funds generated by airports. FAA’s new policy requires audits of some airports to determine if revenue diversion has occurred. In addition, the policy allows FAA to select airports to be audited where there are indications that revenue diversion may have occurred. According to an official in the Department of Transportation, this new compliance tool will allow FAA to target the airports most likely to have substantial revenue diversion—primarily commercial service airports. Only four FAA field offices have implemented internal controls to ensure that general aviation airports comply with federal requirements to use airport land for airport purposes. These offices use periodic self-certifications or limited on-site monitoring, and all the field offices rely primarily on third-party complaints to identify noncompliance. FAA headquarters staff cited an agencywide emphasis on voluntary compliance in the early 1990s and staffing reductions as reasons for not implementing FAA’s compliance policy. When airports are not monitored, the unauthorized use of airport land is more likely to occur and can lead to the loss or diversion of airport revenues and increased risks to aviation safety. Of the 23 FAA field offices that are responsible for monitoring general aviation airports’ compliance with federal requirements, only four—FAA’s field offices in Kansas City, Missouri; Renton, Washington; Denver, Colorado; and Helena, Montana—regularly monitor and document airports’ compliance with land-use requirements. Combined, these offices oversee 426—or 21 percent—of the approximately 2,000 general aviation airports that have received grant funds or land from the federal government. FAA’s compliance policy handbook—FAA Order 5190.6A, Airport Compliance Requirements—clearly requires field offices to monitor airports for compliance with federal requirements. This requirement serves as an internal control to provide assurance that the federal government’s investment in airports is protected from mismanagement, fraud, waste, and abuse. According to the handbook, FAA field offices must be continuously aware of which airports are not in compliance and conduct limited surveillance of each airport every 4 years to detect recurring deficiencies, system weaknesses, or individual abuses of federal requirements. The surveillance requirement may be met through site visits or by obtaining a written certification by the airport that it is complying with federal requirements. The handbook was last updated in 1990, and FAA officials said they are working on an update, as discussed below. The four field offices that meet FAA’s monitoring requirement did so by obtaining airport self-certifications. As required by the handbook, at least once every 4 years, the four offices require each airport to certify in writing that it is abiding by federal requirements. In addition, according to FAA officials, staff in the Renton, Helena, and Denver field offices occasionally review airports’ compliance with land-use requirements during on-site safety reviews, conducting 27 such on-site compliance inspections in 1998 (17, 7, and 3, respectively) out of about 350 airports they oversee. FAA headquarters staff cited an agencywide emphasis on voluntary compliance in the early 1990s and staffing reductions as reasons why field offices might choose not to implement FAA’s compliance policy. However, these reasons do not fully explain why the majority of FAA’s field offices chose not to monitor compliance. Despite an emphasis on voluntary compliance, the compliance handbook clearly states the requirement to have a monitoring system in place, as noted above. Furthermore, Airports Division staffing levels have not changed significantly since 1985 and have actually increased.