FAA grants Santa Clara County's request for delay
It’s been over seven months since the FAA determined that Santa Clara County’s 2022 ban on the sale of 100LL aviation fuel violated the California county’s federal grant obligations. AOPA raised concerns over deliberate delay tactics by the county and the FAA’s slow response.
On March 24, the FAA announced its long-awaited decision on the 2022 Part 16 complaint against Santa Clara County filed by AOPA, along with local pilots and aviation businesses. The FAA ordered the county to submit a corrective action plan (CAP) within 30 days, and further directed that the plan include the removal of the countywide ban on the acquisition, storage, and sale of 100LL fuel at the two county-operated airports: Reid-Hillview of Santa Clara County Airport and San Martin Airport.
In July, the county submitted a revised draft of the CAP to the FAA. Despite having the draft for three months, the FAA did not respond or request clarification until October, at which point the county requested an additional 90-day extension.
AOPA filed an opposition to the extension request on October 27, alleging that the county’s repeated requests for delay show its intent to avoid complying with FAA grant assurance obligations. Additionally, the opposition states that AOPA and the other complainants have yet to receive any assurance that the CAP is “probable or even possible,” and continues to call out that the “Respondent County is achieving through delay what grant assurance obligations prohibit.”
The FAA granted the county’s request for extension on October 30. Despite AOPA requests to the county and FAA, complainants were not provided with a copy of the proposed corrective action plan; however, neither the FAA nor the county is obligated to provide it. It is AOPA’s opinion that the repealing and reversing of the actions that banned the availability of 100LL at the airports should not take this much time to negotiate.
