. "Appendix G: Federal Funding." Aviation Weather Services: A Call For Federal Leadership and Action. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 1995.
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Appendix G Federal Funding
Both the source and amount of funding for aviation weather services have a profound impact on aviation weather services and related research. The amount of funding defines the overall level of effort that federal agencies devote to aviation weather services. In addition, the distribution of funding defines which agencies have practical control over the specific aviation weather programs. As shown in tables G-1 and G-2, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Department of Defense (DoD) are the primary source of federal funding for aviation weather services and related research. Although the National Weather Service (NWS) provides many important services related to aviation, the FAA has specific agreements with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to reimburse it for most of the aviation-specific services and research that it provides. Similarly, NOAA pays the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to procure and launch meteorological satellites. During fiscal year 1995, such interagency transfers amounted to $79 million (from the FAA to NOAA) and $256 million (from NOAA to NASA).
TABLE G-1 Federal Budget Summary For Meteorological Services, Fiscal Year (FY) 1992–1996 (millions of dollars)a (Source: OFCM, 1992–1995)
a Funding for fiscal years 1992–1995 reflects congressionally appropriated funds. Funding for fiscal year 1996 reflects the amount requested in the President's fiscal year 1996 budget submission to Congress. Figures may not total due to rounding.
b These figures are not available because NASA does not break down fuming for meteorological services into application areas such as aviation.
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Appendix G
Federal Funding
Both the source and amount of funding for aviation weather services have a profound impact on aviation weather services and related research. The amount of funding defines the overall level of effort that federal agencies devote to aviation weather services. In addition, the distribution of funding defines which agencies have practical control over the specific aviation weather programs. As shown in tables G-1 and G-2, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Department of Defense (DoD) are the primary source of federal funding for aviation weather services and related research. Although the National Weather Service (NWS) provides many important services related to aviation, the FAA has specific agreements with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to reimburse it for most of the aviation-specific services and research that it provides. Similarly, NOAA pays the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to procure and launch meteorological satellites. During fiscal year 1995, such interagency transfers amounted to $79 million (from the FAA to NOAA) and $256 million (from NOAA to NASA).
TABLE G-1 Federal Budget Summary For Meteorological Services, Fiscal Year (FY) 1992–1996 (millions of dollars)a (Source: OFCM, 1992–1995)
FY 1992
FY 1993
FY 1994
FY 1995
FY 1996
FAA
All areas
$396
$349
$360
$426
$333
Aviation only
396
349
360
426
333
NOAA/NWS
All areas
826
870
1,090
1,084
1,218
Aviation only
35
36
50
36
36
DoD
All areas
665
523
506
504
464
Aviation only
192
362
329
326
296
NASA
All areas
7
7
8
4
4
Aviation onlyb
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Other Federal Agencies
All areas
14
18
20
20
19
Aviation only
0
0
0
0
0
Federal Government Total
All areas
$1,908
$1,767
$1,984
$2,038
$2,038
Aviation only
623
747
739
787
664
a Funding for fiscal years 1992–1995 reflects congressionally appropriated funds. Funding for fiscal year 1996 reflects the amount requested in the President's fiscal year 1996 budget submission to Congress. Figures may not total due to rounding.
b These figures are not available because NASA does not break down fuming for meteorological services into application areas such as aviation.
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TABLE G-2 Federal Budget Summary For Meteorological Research, FY 1992–1996 (millions of dollars)a (Source: OFCM, 1992–1995)
FY 1992
FY 1993
FY 1994
FY 1995
FY 1996
FAA
All areas
$28
$34
$26
$19
$23
Aviation only
28
34
26
19
23
NOAA/NWS
All areas
54
47
79
88
89
Aviation only
2
2
2
2
2
DoD
All areas
89
69
99
104
100
Aviation only
0
11
25
53
35
NASA
All areas
153
155
166
164
145
Aviation onlyb
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Other Federal Agencies
All areas
21
24
24
24
24
Aviation only
0
0
0
0
0
Federal Government Total
All areas
$346
$329
$393
$400
$381
Aviation only
30
46
63
73
59
a Funding for fiscal years 1992–1995 reflects congressionally appropriated funds. Funding for fiscal year 1996 reflects the amount requested in the President's fiscal year 1996 budget submission to Congress. Figures may not total due to rounding.
b These figures are not available because NASA does not break down funding for meteorological research into application areas such as aviation.
TABLE G-3 FAA Budget Summary, FY 1993–1996 (millions of dollars) (Source: FAA)
Fy 1993
FY 1994
FY 1995
FY 1996
Aviation Trust Fund Receipts
$6,100
$6,279
$6,509
$6,700*
Total Budget Authority
$8,910
$8,644
$8,644
8,380*
FAA Grants-in-aid
1,800
1,690
1,450
1,500*
Operations
4,530
4,580
4,591
4,704*
Facilities and Equipment
2,350
2,120
2,087
1,908*
Research, Engineering, and Development
230
254
259
268*
* Estimates
Unlike most federal agencies, the budget of the FAA is supported primarily by taxes levied directly on users of agency services (see Table G-3). In particular, the Aviation Trust Fund receives taxes collected on airline tickets, aviation fuel, air cargo, and international passenger departures. (During 1993, 88 percent of trust-fund receipts derived from the airline ticket tax.) The trust fund is then used to fund a portion of the FAA's activities as well as grants-in-aid to help pay for improvements in domestic airports and airways. However, trust-fund expenditures have not kept pace with receipts. Although the trust funds received $6.1 billion during fiscal year 1993, the government transferred $1.9 billion to the general treasury, leaving the trust fund with a net income of only $4.2 billion. In addition, in order to reduce the size of the federal budget deficit, the federal government has not authorized the expenditure of all funds collected by the trust fund. As of March 1995, this had produced an unexpended surplus of about $12 billion that could have been used to hasten improvements to air traffic management and aviation weather systems.
As shown in Table G-3, the FAA has been challenged in recent years by reductions in funding, but smaller budgets have not been accompanied by a lessening of the FAA's roles and missions. In order to accommodate these reductions, the FAA has responded by trying to eliminate funding for some functions (e.g., the Direct User Access Terminal Service, DUATS) and revising the way it provides others (e.g., the consolidation and modernization of its Flight Service Stations, FSSs). This has sometimes resulted in negative feedback from members of the public who use the services that the FAA provides, and the FAA has had to continue funding some services that it planned to discontinue (e.g., DUATS) and to modify proposed changes to other systems (e.g., FSSs).
Table G-4 illustrates how FAA expenses are allocated among its major facilities and user groups.
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TABLE G-4 The FAA's Allocated Costs of Providing Air Traffic Control Services to Various User Groups, Fiscal Year 1993 (millions of dollars) (Source: DOT, 1994)
Air Carrier
Air Taxi & Commuter
General Aviation
Military
Total
ARTCCs
$1,661
$447
$406
$606
$3,120 (50 %)
Facilities at Major Airportsa
1,191
678
350
330
$2,549 (41%)
Other Towers
16
21
150
25
$211 (3%)
FSSs
5
15
357
9
$385 (6%)
Total
$2,872 (46%)
$1,160 (19%)
$1,262 (20%)
$969 (15%)
$6,264 (100%
a This represents the cost of control towers and Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facilities at airports that have TRACONs. ''Other towers'' are towers located at airports without TRACONs.
References
DOT (Department of Transportation). 1994. Air Traffic Control Corporation Study—Report of the Executive Oversight Committee to the Department of Transportation. Washington, D.C.: DOT.
OFCM (Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology). 1992. The Federal Plan for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research, Fiscal Year 1993. Washington, D.C.: Department of Commerce.
OFCM. 1993. The Federal Plan for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research, Fiscal Year 1994. Washington, D.C.: Department of Commerce.
OFCM. 1994. The Federal Plan for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research, Fiscal Year 1995. Washington, D.C.: Department of Commerce.
OFCM. 1995. The Federal Plan for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research, Fiscal Year 1996. Washington, D.C.: Department of Commerce.
