§ 471.3. Airport licensing.
(a) Authority. A person may not establish, maintain or operate an airport, or permit flight operations at an airport, unless authorized by the Bureau. This does not apply to an airport approved or maintained by the government of the United States, or to infrequent operations by helicopters or aircraft with characteristics permitting operation from sites not specially prepared therefore.
(b) Written authority required. Authority to establish, maintain or operate an airport will be provided in writing by the Bureau and will indicate whether the airport is public use, private use or otherwise restricted. An airport will be licensed by the ratings under § § 471.5 and 471.6 (relating to airport rating—excluding heliports; and heliport rating).
(1) Commercial operations (operation of aircraft for compensation or hire, including flight instruction, aircraft maintenance, sale of aircraft, parts and fuel) shall be limited to public use airfields, or private airports that meet or exceed criteria established for private group airports. (See Appendix A, Criteria E.)
(2) Private airport and private group operators are prohibited from selling fuel to the general public, and from performing flight instruction to the general public.
(c) Temporary licenses. A temporary license, public or private, may be issued by the Bureau for temporary operations or special occasions. An inspection fee of $25 will be charged for a temporary license.
(d) Waiver. The Bureau may issue a waiver for conditions not in compliance with criteria listed in Appendix A if control measures are put in place or if those conditions are deemed to not cause undue hazard to persons or property. Waivers may be temporary or permanent, depending on the situation and circumstances. Any conditions having a current waiver in force will be deemed to be in conditional compliance with this chapter.
(1) Waiver of criteria or requirements in this chapter will be in accordance with the following procedures.
(i) Requests for waivers must be in writing.
(ii) A sponsor shall request a waiver using forms and instructions provided by the Bureau, and available on the Department web site.
(iii) A separate request shall be submitted for each item for which waiver is requested, and the request for waiver will be posted on the Department web site.
(iv) Bureau staff will review each request and provide recommendation within 30 calendar days of receipt.
(v) Upon a Bureau staff recommendation of denial, the request will be forwarded to the Waiver Advisory Board (Advisory Board).
(A) The Advisory Board shall consist of five members appointed by the Secretary of the Department.
(B) Each Advisory Board member shall be either a certificated pilot, an accredited airport executive, a licensed professional engineer with experience in airport planning and design, or otherwise be an individual with a substantial aviation background.
(vi) The Advisory Board will review and analyze the waiver request and, within 75 calendar days of receipt of the request by the Advisory Board, provide a recommendation for disposition to the Bureau Director.
(vii) A denial of a waiver is subject to appeal under the appeal process described in § 471.9 (relating to appeal).
(2) The Bureau will also post the waiver procedures in this section on the Department web site.
(3) A nonexhaustive list of conditions for which the Bureau may grant a waiver is included in Appendix B.
(4) Waiver of criteria or requirements may not be inconsistent with the intent of this chapter.
(5) This chapter provides no authority for the Department to grant any waiver of local zoning or other municipal requirements.
(e) Change of ownership. A change of airport ownership requires a new license through the Bureau’s licensing process. Upon the change of ownership or status of an airport, a new license which includes prior waivers of nonstandard conditions, modifications of FAA standards, or determinations of no hazard, as applicable, will be issued provided that a review by the Bureau verifies that conditions at the airport have not significantly changed since the time the previous license and waivers were issued.
(f) Existing airport. An airport presently in existence and licensed under preexisting statutes and regulations is considered authorized.
(1) The Bureau may require an existing airport to correct or modify conditions which have arisen or significantly changed since the time any previous license or waiver was issued if they pose a significant threat to aviation safety.
(2) Determination that a condition poses a significant hazard to aviation safety will be based upon staff analysis by the Bureau after consultation with the Advisory Board.
(g) Suspension or revocation of license. The Bureau may revoke or suspend an airport license for reasonable cause, such as, but not limited to, failure to correct airport deficiencies, failure to cease unauthorized activities, or any violation of this chapter. See § 471.8 (relating to suspension, penalties and revocations).
(h) Zoning. Issuance of an airport license does not preempt requirements of local zoning authorities.
Source The provisions of this § 471.3 adopted October 1, 1968, effective October 1, 1968; amended October 3, 1986, effective October 4, 1986, 16 Pa.B. 3693; readopted July 20, 1990, effective July 21, 1990, 20 Pa.B. 3981; amended October 29, 2010, effective October 30, 2010, 40 Pa.B. 6273. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (289751) to (289752).
Notes of Decisions Personal Use Airfield
An airfield located on personal property and used only by the landowner for private, personal use, is not excluded from the definition of ‘‘airport.’’ Commonwealth v. Beam, 788 A.2d 357 (Pa. 2002).
Special Exception
The Zoning Hearing Board erred in granting a Fire Company’s request for a special exception conditioned upon future compliance with licensing requirements; the language of § 471.3(a), (h) and the Zoning Code of East Norriton Township, Pa. § 205-144 unequivocally and unambiguously require that licensure be a condition precedent to any action by the Board on an applicatioin for a special exception to construct and operate a heliport. Maher v. East Norriton Township Zoning Hearing Board, 764 A.2d 98 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2000).
Cross References This section cited in 67 Pa. Code § 471.2 (relating to definitions); and 67 Pa. Code § 471.4 (relating to licensing fees (private airports only)).
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