FAA Policy on Favorable Airport Lease Terms for CAP Units - Help Airports Help CAP

CAP legal officers sometimes find themselves negotiating or reviewing leases for real property on airports. When that happens, they often find themselves trying to help the airport manager/authority find support in the regulations for the proposition that the airport can offer lease rates and/or other terms more favorable to CAP than might otherwise be available to tenants at the airport.

There is usually a scramble to find the reference, which is actually buried in an FAA policy published in 1999. So that you have the policy somewhere in your feed or e-mail archives, I provide the relevant parts of the policy here for your handy and convenient reference.

64 Fed. Reg. No. 30 at 7595, et. seq. (1999) [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-1999-02-16/pdf/FR-1999-02-16.pdf]

The FAA’s commentary preceding the policy statement appears at 7712:

"d. Civil Air Patrol Leases Reduced-rental leases, including nominal leases, to the Civil Air Patrol/ United States Air Force Auxiliary (CAP) at a number of airports have also been criticized in OIG audits. As a result of this criticism, some airport operators have been seeking higher rents from the CAP when leases have come up for renewal.

In its comments, the CAP contends that the current standard airport industry practice of permitting CAP use of airport property for a nominal rent confers substantial benefits to the airport and, in general, to the aviation community. The CAP, therefore, requests that a policy be adopted which would formally permit CAP units to continue to occupy facilities on federally obligated airports at a nominal rent, whether under formal lease arrangements, or otherwise, at the discretion of the airport owner/operator.

The Final Policy: The Final Policy permits reduced rental rates and fees to CAP units operating at the airport, in recognition of the benefits to the airport and benefits to aviation similar to those provided by not-for-profit aviation museums and aeronautical secondary education programs. As with other not for profit-aviation entities, the reduction must be reasonably justified by benefits to the airport or to civil aviation. In-kind services to the airport and airport users may be considered in determining the benefits that the CAP unit provides. In addition, this treatment of the CAP, which has been conferred with the status of an auxiliary to the United States Air Force, is not identical to the treatment provided to military units in the Final Policy, as discussed below, but is consistent with that treatment.

The reduced rental rates and fees are available only to those CAP units operating aircraft at the airport. For CAP units without aircraft, a presence at the airport is not critical. The airport operator can accommodate those CAP units with property that is not subject to Federal requirements on maintaining a self-sustaining rate structure, without compromising the effectiveness of the CAP units. Of course, if such units provide in-kind services that benefit the airport, the value of those services may be recognized as an offset to FMV rates.

The Final Policy permits but does not require nominal rental rates. The airport operator is free to treat a qualified not for-profit aeronautical CAP lease as it would any other aeronautical activity in setting rental rates and other fees to be paid by the education program.”

The Final Policy provides as follows in Sec. VII(E) at 7721.

“E. Use of Property by Not-for-Profit Aviation Organizations

1. An airport operator may charge reduced rental rates and fees to the following not-for-profit aviation organizations, to the extent that the reduction is reasonably justified by the tangible or intangible benefits to the airport or to civil aviation:  . . . c. Civil Air Patrol units operating aircraft at the airport . . .”

Have fun and work collaboratively with the administrative and technical heroes who are our friendly local airport managers/authorities. They are the best of us. Whenever possible, help them help CAP.