GREATER
ORLANDO
AVIATION
AUTHORITY
November
18,
2022
The
Hon.
Polly
E.
Trottenberg
Deputy
Secretary
U.S.
Department
of
Transportation
1200
New
Jersey
Ave
SE
Washington,
DC
20590
(Submitted
electronically
at
regulations.gov
)
Re:
Docket
DOT-OST-2022-0124
Dear
Deputy
Secretary
Trottenberg:
The
Orlando
International
Airport
(MCO)
is
under
the
jurisdiction
of
the
Federal
Aviation
Administration
(FAA)
as
an
element
of
the
national
aviation
system.
MCO
is
managed
and
operated
by
the
Greater
Orlando
Aviation
Authority
(GOAA).
In
July
2022,
the
FAA
announced
the
award
of
$50
million
to
GOAA/MCO
from
the
Bipartisan
Infrastructure
Law
(BIL)
Airport
Terminal
Program
(ATP)
for
the
expansion
of
MCO's
new
Terminal
C.
In
the
spirit
of
cooperation
and
with
the
FAA's
support,
GOAA
procured
and
entered
into
the
construction
contract
with
the
contractor
prior
to
November
10,
2022.
GOAA
and
the
FAA
are
currently
in
the
process
of
programming
the
grant
award
and
anticipate
the
fully
executed
grant
by
early
December.
The
goal
is
to
have
the
grant
fully
executed
(obligated)
before
December
31,
2022.
Quite
a
bit
of
planning
and
coordination
between
MCO/GOAA
and
the
FAA
occurred
between
the
announcement
in
July
and
the
anticipated
receipt
of
the
fully
executed
grant
in
December
and
we
are
on
track
for
a
successful
BIL-funded
project.
This
Notice
states
that
"for
DOT
awards
obligated
on
or
after
the
effective
date
of
the
final
waiver,
DOT
is
proposing
to
waive
the
construction
materials
requirements
for
any
contracts
entered
into
before
November
10,
2022."
The
bold
clause
creates
uncertainty
as
to
whether
a
construction
contract
entered
into
before
November
10,
2022
falls
within
the
purview
of
the
waiver.
For
simple
clarity,
GOAA
supports
the
comment
submitted
by
the
Airports
Council
International
(ACI),
requesting
that
the
waiver
be
extended
to
contracts
entered
into
on
or
before
March
10,
2023.
In
the
alternative,
the
waiver
should,
at
least,
extend
to
construction
contracts
entered
into
by
the
agency
on
or
before
November
10,
2022,
regardless
of
the
date
the
grant
is
considered
obligated.
Otherwise,
there
could
be
small
"loophole"
of
contracts
that
were
bid
and
executed
before
the
grant
funds
are
obligated
that
would
have
to
comply
with
the
requirement
for
construction
materials
-
even
though
it
was
not
in
effect
at
the
time
of
bidding
and
award.
In
that
case,
the
sponsor
would
have
to
wait
to
sign
the
grant
until
after
the
date
of
the
final
waiver,
a
date
which
is
outside
of
its
control
and
could
conceivably
be
after
the
December
31,
2023
date
that
the
grant
was
anticipated
to
be
obligated.
We
very
much
appreciate
the
DOT's
consideration
of
this
comment.
Sincerely,
-
c(te.triA4A_PA-,_
Kathleen
M.
Sharman
Chief
Financial
Officer
Orlando
International
Airport
One
Jeff
Fuqua
Boulevard,
Orlando,
Florida
32827-4399
407-825-2001
orlandoairports.net
