114 STAT. 80 PUBLIC LAW 106-181—APR. 5, 2000 "(A) IN GENERAL.— Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, the Secretary may provide grants under this subchapter to not more than two airport sponsors for the construction of a low-level activity visual flight rule (level 1) air traffic control tower, as defined by the Secretary. "(B) ELIGIBILITY.— A sponsor shall be eligible for a grant under this paragraph if— "(i) the sponsor would otherwise be eligible to participate in the pilot program established under paragraph (3) except for the lack of the air traffic control tower proposed to be constructed under this subsection; and "(ii) the sponsor agrees to fund not less than 25 percent of the costs of construction of the air traffic control tower. "(C) PROJECT COSTS.— Grants under this paragraph shall be paid only from amounts apportioned to the sponsor under section 47114(c)(1). "(D) FEDERAL SHARE.— The Federal share of the cost of construction of an air traffic control tower under this paragraph may not exceed $1,100,000. ". SEC. 132. INNOVATIVE USE OF AIRPORT GRANT FUNDS. (a) IN GENERAL. — Subchapter I of chapter 471 is amended by adding at the end the following: "§ 47135. Innovative financing techniques "(a) IN GENERAL.— The Secretary of Transportation may approve applications for not more than 20 airport development projects for which grants received under this subchapter may be used for innovative financing techniques. Such projects shall be located at airports that each year have less than.25 percent of the total number of passenger boardings each year at all commercial service airports in the most recent calendar year for which data is available. "(b) PURPOSE.— The purpose of grants made under this section shall be to provide information on the benefits and difficulties of using innovative financing techniques for airport development projects. " (c) LIMITATIONS.— "(1) No GUARANTEES. — In no case shall the implementation of an innovative financing technique under this section be used in a manner giving rise to a direct or indirect guarantee of any airport debt instrument by the United States Government. "(2) TYPES OF TECHNIQUES.— In this section, innovative financing techniques are limited to— "(A) payment of interest; "(B) commercial bond insurance and other credit enhancement associated with airport bonds for eligible airport development; "(C) flexible non-Federal matching requirements; and "(D) use of funds apportioned under section 47114 for the payment of principal and interest of terminal development for costs incurred before the date of the enactment of this section.".
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