49 U.S.C. § 44513 — Regional centers of air transportation excellence

(a) General Authority.— The FAA Administrator may give grants to colleges and universities to set up and run regional centers of air transportation excellence. These centers must be spread around the country in a geographically fair way.

(b) Responsibilities.— (1) Each center must: (A) research (i) airspace and airport planning and design; (ii) ways to increase airport capacity; (iii) how humans perform in the air transportation environment; (iv) aviation safety and security; (v) the supply of trained air transportation workers, including pilots and mechanics; and (vi) other issues tied to building and keeping a safe, efficient air transportation system; and (B) explain, publish, and share the results of that research. (2) In doing this research, a center may contract with nonprofit research organizations and other qualified people.

(c) Applications.— A college or university that wants a grant may apply to the Administrator. The application must follow the form and content rules the Administrator sets by regulation.

(d) Selection Criteria.— The Administrator picks grant recipients based on: (1) how well the applicant's state's needs represent the region's need for better air transportation services and facilities; (2) the research and outreach resources the applicant can bring to this work; (3) the applicant's ability to lead on solving both long-term and immediate air transportation problems, nationally and regionally; (4) whether the applicant already has an established air transportation program; (5) the applicant's proven ability to share air transportation research and education through statewide or regionwide continuing education; and (6) the specific projects the applicant plans to carry out with the grant.

(e) Expenditure Agreements.— A grant can only be given in a year if the recipient agrees to keep spending its own money — from all other sources — on running the center and its research at least at the average level it spent in the two fiscal years right before November 5, 1990.

(f) Government's Share of Costs.— The federal government's share of a center's costs — setting it up, running it, and its related research — cannot go over 50 percent. The Administrator may raise that to as much as 75 percent for a fiscal year if the Administrator decides a center could not do its authorized work without the extra money.

(g) Allocating Amounts.— The Administrator must divide up the money for this section in a geographically fair way.

(h) Annual Report.— Each year, when the President submits the budget, the Administrator must send the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation a report listing: (1) the research projects each center started in the past year; (2) how much funding each project got, and where the money came from; (3) which institutions took part in each project and their share of the funding; and (4) how much cost-sharing each project involved.