Later this year, the city of St. Clair, Mo., is hoping to shutter the St. Clair Regional Airport (K39). This follows a nearly decade-long battle that culminated in Congress taking the unusual step of passing a bill that released the city from its federal obligations related to the airport.
The city, calling it unprofitable, has sought since at least the mid-2000s to close the airport and use the 80-acre parcel of land for retail or other commercial development. But St. Clair had taken federal grants for the airport as late as 2006, making it beholden to federal grant assurance agreements stipulating that the airport cannot close without FAA approval.
After negotiations among city, state and federal authorities failed to produce the desired results, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) stepped in with a bill, S.2759, that releases those federal obligations, clearing a path for the city to close the airport. During the lame-duck congressional session in late 2014, Congress passed the bill into law. The airport is now undergoing an environmental assessment and could cease to exist within six months.
Congressional passage came over the objections of the general aviation community, which wrote to lawmakers, “We have serious concerns about closing and further limiting access to general aviation airports across the country, especially through legislation.” Sent by NBAA, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), National Air Transportation Association (NATA) and General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), the letter also pointed out that a process for closing airports, when applicable under current laws, already exists under grant assurance requirements. “This process exists, in part, to protect the federal investment in airports across the country,” the associations wrote.