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The experts from the C&S Companies and the law firm of Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell have joined forces to develop Navigating Section 163: A Guide to Facilitating Non-aeronautical Development at Your Airport, providing airport sponsors and their potential development partners the tools needed to navigate the complex new statutory requirements and realize the potential benefits under Section 163. 

Section 163 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 has prompted significant changes to the world of airport land use. For several generations, virtually any construction on an airport required review and approval by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which triggered environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Often the time and cost associated with the NEPA process led to many missed airport development opportunities. 

Section 163 reverses the prior expectation that almost all airport development is subject to FAA review and approval. Under the new law, FAA’s authority to regulate on-airport land use is limited to only development that affects the airfield and aircraft operations or implicates federal funding.   

C&S Companies and Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell designed a guide to help readers understand key issues and grasp the related regulatory implications for development on land owned and controlled by an airport. The Guide provides the unique opportunity to combine the legal expertise of Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell and the land use experience of C&S to position airports for success. The Guide provides a roadmap for airport sponsors who want to minimize potential barriers to on-airport development.

The Guide is available to the public and can be downloaded at www.section163.com.  

C&S Companies is a full-service planning, design, and construction firm headquartered in Syracuse, New York with 20 offices across the country and a diverse national aviation practice. The firm is a leader in aviation consulting and delivers industry-leading, cross-discipline solutions to airport partners of all sizes, including in the area of airport land use, development strategy and integrated planning. The firm also serves government, higher education, healthcare, industrial, private development, and other clients with all kinds of infrastructure planning, design, and construction projects.

Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell is a national law firm with a practice focused on solving problems that involve environmental, land use, public lands, transportation, and infrastructure law. The Firm’s airports practice is the largest in the country dedicated airport law. It is characterized by a comprehensive, creative, and strategic approach that comes from a deep understanding of the airport industry and from experience at more than 100 airports—from the largest fortress hubs in the world to small general aviation airports. Learn more about Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell at www.kaplankirsch.com.