1. The state highways and transportation commission shall administer an aeronautics program within this state. The commission shall encourage, foster and participate with the political subdivisions of this state in the promotion and development of aeronautics. The commission may provide financial assistance in the form of grants from funds appropriated for such purpose to any political subdivision or instrumentality of this state acting independently or jointly or to the owner or owners of any privately owned airport designated as a reliever by the Federal Aviation Administration for the planning, acquisition, construction, improvement or maintenance of airports, or for other aeronautical purposes.
2. Any political subdivision or instrumentality of this state or the owner or owners of any privately owned airport designated as a reliever by the Federal Aviation Administration receiving state funds for the purchase, construction, or improvement, except maintenance, of an airport shall agree before any funds are paid to it to control by ownership or lease the airport for a period equal to the useful life of the project as determined by the commission following the last payment of state or federal funds to it. In the event an airport authority ceases to exist for any reason, this obligation shall be carried out by the governing body which created the authority.
3. Unless otherwise provided, grants to political subdivisions, instrumentalities or to the owner or owners of any privately owned airport designated as a reliever by the Federal Aviation Administration shall be made from the aviation trust fund. In making grants, the commission shall consider whether the local community has given financial support to the airport in the past. Priority shall be given to airports with local funding for the past five years with no reduction in such funding. The aviation trust fund is a revolving trust fund exempt from the provisions of section 33.080 relating to the transfer of funds to the general revenue funds of the state by the state treasurer. All interest earned upon the balance in the aviation trust fund shall be deposited to the credit of the same fund.
4. The moneys in the aviation trust fund shall be administered by the commission and, when appropriated, shall be used for the following purposes:
(1) As matching funds on an up to ninety percent state/ten percent local basis, except in the case where federal funds are being matched, when the ratio of state and local funds used to match the federal funds shall be fifty percent state/fifty percent local:
(a) For preventive maintenance of runways, taxiways and aircraft parking areas, and for emergency repairs of the same;
(b) For the acquisition of land for the development and improvement of airports;
(c) For the earthwork and drainage necessary for the construction, reconstruction or repair of runways, taxiways, and aircraft parking areas;
(d) For the construction, or restoration of runways, taxiways, or aircraft parking areas;
(e) For the acquisition of land or easements necessary to satisfy Federal Aviation Administration safety requirements;
(f) For the identification, marking or removal of natural or manmade obstructions to airport control zone surfaces and safety areas;
(g) For the installation of runway, taxiway, boundary, ramp, or obstruction lights, together with any work directly related to the electrical equipment;
(h) For the erection of fencing on or around the perimeter of an airport;
(i) For purchase, installation or repair of air navigational and landing aid facilities and communication equipment;
(j) For engineering related to a project funded under the provisions of this section and technical studies or consultation related to aeronautics;
(k) For airport planning projects including master plans and site selection for development of new airports, for updating or establishing master plans, airport layout plans, airport business plans, and strategic plans at existing airports;
(l) For the purchase, installation, or repair of safety equipment and such other capital improvements and equipment as may be required for the safe and efficient operation of the airport;
(m) If at least four million five hundred thousand dollars is deposited into the aviation trust fund in the previous calendar year, funds may be spent for the study or promotion of expanded domestic or international scheduled commercial service, the study or promotion of intrastate scheduled commercial service, the promotion of aviation in the state, or to assist airport sponsors participating in a federally funded air service program supporting intrastate scheduled commercial service, subject to the following provisions:
a. No more than two million dollars may be spent from the aviation trust fund for the purposes provided in this paragraph in any calendar year; and
b. The commission shall be required to expend at least four million dollars of the annual, calendar year deposits into the aviation trust fund for purposes other than the purposes described in this paragraph;
(2) As total funds, with no local match:
(a) For providing air markers, windsocks, and other items determined to be in the interest of the safety of the general flying public;
(b) For the printing and distribution of state aeronautical charts and state airport directories on an annual basis, and a newsletter on a quarterly basis or the publishing and distribution of any public interest information deemed necessary by the commission;
(c) For the conducting of aviation safety workshops;
(d) For the promotion of aerospace education;
(3) As total funds with no local match, up to five hundred thousand dollars per year may be used for the cost of operating existing air traffic control towers that do not receive funding from the Federal Aviation Administration or the United States Department of Defense, except no more than one hundred sixty-seven thousand dollars per year may be used for any individual control tower;
(4) As total funds with a local match, up to five hundred thousand dollars per year may be used for air traffic control towers partially funded by the federal government under a cost-share program. Any expenditures under this program require a nonfederal match, comprised of a ratio of fifty percent state and fifty percent local funds. No more than one hundred thousand dollars per year may be expended for any individual control tower.
5. In the event of a natural or manmade disaster which closes any runway or renders inoperative any electronic or visual landing aid at an airport, any funds appropriated for the purpose of capital improvements or maintenance of airports may be made immediately available for necessary repairs once they are approved by the commission. For projects designated as emergencies by the commission, all requirements relating to normal procurement of engineering and construction services are waived.
6. As used in this section, the term "instrumentality of the state" shall mean any state educational institution as defined in section 176.010 or any state agency which owned or operated an airport on January 1, 1997, and continues to own or operate such airport.