Alaska Administrative Code
Title 17 - Transportation and Public Facilities
Chapter 45 - Rural Airports
Article 9 - Miscellaneous Provisions
17 AAC 45.990 - Definitions

Universal Citation: 17 AK Admin Code 17 AAC 45.990

Current through August 30, 2024

In this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise,

(1) "air carrier" means a person engaged in the transportation of passengers or cargo in air commerce for compensation;

(2) "air freight forwarding" means

(A) accepting or consolidating goods or property for delivery to an air carrier for transport as cargo; and

(B) receiving cargo from an air carrier for surface delivery to or pick-up by the cargo consignee;

(3) "aircraft" has the meaning given in AS 02.15.260;

(4) "aircraft maintenance and repair" means those activities described under 14 C.F.R. Part 43, as amended as of January 1, 2007;

(5) "aircraft operation"

(A) means the fuel powered or electrically powered rotation of an aircraft engine installed in or on an aircraft, as well as the movement of an aircraft under its own power;

(B) includes testing, run-up, taxiing, take-off, landing, and all other activity of an aircraft from the start of the first propeller, rotor, turbine, or engine until all propeller, rotor, turbine, or engine rotation ceases;

(6) "airport"

(A) has the meaning given in AS 02.15.260, but excludes airports that are not owned, operated, or otherwise controlled by the department;

(B) does not include the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and the Fairbanks International Airport;

(7) "airport form" means a written form that the department has prepared for use under this chapter;

(8) "airport manager" means

(A) for a specific airport, a person designated under 17 AAC 45.010(a) to carry out functions and responsibilities under this chapter relating to maintenance and operation of the airport and that person's substitute or designated representative;

(B) the department, if no person is designated to supervise maintenance and operation at the airport;

(9) "airport parking service"

(A) means the activity of providing vehicle parking for airport users or visitors;

(B) does not include the incidental provision of vehicle parking by a business or activity for users of or visitors to that business or activity only;

(10) "airworthy" means the condition of an aircraft that is legally authorized and mechanically capable of flight through the air;

(11) "appraisal" means an unbiased estimate, prepared using methods generally accepted in the professional appraisal industry, of, the nature, quality, dollar value, or utility of an interest in, or aspect of, identified real estate and related personal property, or of a legal right or privilege;

(12) "apron" means that portion of an airport designed, constructed, or designated by the department for the parking, loading, and unloading of aircraft;

(13) "assigned space"

(A) means a specific location at an airport that the department designates for use by a person who applies for, pays the applicable fee for, and receives a department-issued permit under 17 AAC 45.500 - 17 AAC 45.590 for the parking of that person's aircraft;

(B) does not include an aircraft parking space on a premises or at a department-owned or operated seaplane float facility, in a transient aircraft fee parking area, or in an open parking area;

(14) "assigned-space aircraft parking" means either

(A) a program under which aircraft that are based at an airport but not parked on a premises are allowed to be parked on the airport only on an aircraft parking space the department has expressly assigned for that aircraft under 17 AAC 45.500 - 17 AAC 45.590; or

(B) the parking of an aircraft in an assigned space;

(15) "assignee" means a person who receives an interest under an assignment of a lease or concession;

(16) "assignment"

(A) means the transfer to another person of all or part of the interest of a lessee or concessionaire in a lease or concession;

(B) includes a transfer of a controlling interest in a lessee or concessionaire, including transfer of controlling interest through a merger, consolidation, or increase of any ownership interest to a majority interest;

(17) "assignment for security purposes" means an assignment that grants an interest in a lease or concession, including improvements, as collateral to a creditor to ensure payment or performance of a debt, loan, or other obligation of the lessee or concessionaire;

(18) "assignor" means a lessee or concessionaire that is the grantor in an assignment;

(19) "auction documents" means the instructions to bidders, bidder qualifications, auction procedures, and other documents issued to interested parties under 17 AAC 45.333, including any addenda or other amendments issued after earlier auction documents are made available;

(20) "aviation fuel" means any petroleum distillate or other product manufactured, distributed, or sold for use as a propellant for aircraft engines, including aviation gasoline, turbine fuel, and automotive gasoline when used in an aircraft;

(21) "base of operations" means each of the following:

(A) the location
(i) at which an aircraft spends the greatest time not in flight on an annual basis; and

(ii) for a float-equipped aircraft, at which the aircraft spends the greatest time not in flight either on an annual basis or during the period the airport float facility is unfrozen and open for use;

(B) each airport that is the primary location at which a commercial aviation business does one or more of the following:
(i) maintains and repairs aircraft during its aircraft operation season;

(ii) maintains and repairs aircraft on an annual basis;

(iii) conducts its greatest number of operations;

(iv) conducts its greatest dollar volume of transactions with customers of the business;

(22) "bid documents" means the invitation to bid, instructions to bidders, bid forms, and other documents issued to interested parties under 17 AAC 45.303, including any addenda or other amendments issued after earlier bid documents are made available;

(23) "bonus bid" means an offer of a one-time payment, in addition to rent or other fees, offered by a bidder or proposer in response to a competitive solicitation under this chapter;

(24) "building lease"

(A) means a lease of all or a portion of a structure owned by the state, including space in a department-operated terminal building;

(B) includes a lease that grants a right to use or occupy land along with all or part of a structure;

(25) "calendar year" means the period from January 1 through December 31 of each year;

(26) "certified activity report" means a report of gross sales, fuel deliveries, passenger and cargo volumes, number of landings, CMGTW, or other information that a lessee, permittee, concessionaire, aircraft operator, or other airport user must submit to the department and certify as true and correct;

(27) "CMGTW" means the certificated maximum gross takeoff weight of an aircraft as established by the FAA;

(28) "commercial aviation business"

(A) means a person or enterprise that holds itself out to carry passengers or cargo by aircraft, to perform other aerial services, or to provide aircraft for hire, rent, or lease, either for compensation or in connection with other compensated services;

(B) includes
(i) a scheduled passenger or cargo air carrier;

(ii) an air taxi or other contract or charter air transportation provider, including a service that operates an aircraft in flight-seeing or photographic tours, fishing or hunting guiding, fish spotting or counting, or aerial photography or mapping service;

(iii) an operator of aircraft to provide transportation to or from a hotel, motel, lodge, commercial or work camp, work site, or other place of employment or public accommodation under an arrangement or understanding with the operator of that facility or activity;

(iv) an aircraft leasing and rental business;

(29) "commercial fueling service"

(A) means the selling or offering for sale of fuel, fuel storage services, fuel delivery services, or fuel dispensing services;

(B) does not include self-fueling;

(30) "commercial passenger vehicle"

(A) means a taxicab, limousine, van, bus, motor coach, shuttle, or other motor vehicle used to transport passengers for compensation;

(B) includes a vehicle used
(i) to transport passengers as part of a pre-ticketed tour or excursion; or

(ii) as a "courtesy car" that is owned or operated by a hotel, motel, lodge, other place of public accommodation, or other business and used to transport guests or customers of that business to or from an airport;

(C) does not include a vehicle operated by
(i) a commercial air carrier only to transport the air carrier's employees;

(ii) a vehicle rental business;

(iii) a valet parking service or airport parking service;

(31) "commissioner" means the commissioner of the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities or the commissioner's designated representative for a specified function;

(32) "competitive solicitation" means the process of making a lease, permit, concession, parcel of real property, fixture, or item of personal property available by issuing bid documents, auction documents, or proposal documents;

(33) "concession" means a written agreement with the department, whether in the form of a permit, land lease, building lease, or other agreement, that authorizes the holder of the agreement to operate a non-aeronautical use business on an airport or to derive business from the airport and that requires the holder to pay the department on a basis other than land or building rent only;

(34) "concessionaire" means the operator of a concession and the operator of a subconcession;

(35) "contamination" means the unpermitted presence of any released hazardous substance;

(36) "control device" means a sign, signal, marking, barrier, or other device designed to regulate conduct or activity on an airport and erected or placed by authority of the department;

(37) "courtesy car" has the meaning given in AS 02.15.095;

(38) "deliver" or "delivered" means to provide to or provided to, by hand-delivery, by electronic mail, or by facsimile transmission;

(39) "department" means the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities; unless the context requires otherwise, where an action is to be taken by or an authorization is to be requested from the department; "department"

(A) means any person, whether an employee of the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities or other person, who is designated under 17 AAC 45.010(a) to carry out functions and responsibilities under this chapter relating to leasing and property management or any other applicable function or responsibility relating to an airport; and

(B) may include an airport manager when a person described in (A) of this paragraph delegates one or more of that person's functions or responsibilities to the airport manager;

(40) "engine run-up" means operation of an aircraft engine, except in direct connection with a flight arrival or departure, for the purposes of maintenance, repair, and testing;

(41) "environmental assessment" means an assessment of property, prepared in a manner consistent with generally accepted professional practices, that is supported by reports and tests that determine the environmental condition of property and the presence, type, concentration, and extent of any hazardous substance in, on, or under the surface of the property;

(42) "environmental law"

(A) means any federal, state, or local statute, regulation, ordinance, code, permit, order, decision, or judgment from a governmental entity relating to environmental matters, including littering and dumping;

(B) includes 42 U.S.C. 7401 - 7671 q (Clean Air Act); 33 U.S.C. 1251 - 1387 (Federal Water Pollution Control Act); 42 U.S.C. 6901 - 6992 k (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act); 42 U.S.C. 9601 - 9657 (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act); 49 U.S.C. 5101 - 5127 (Hazardous Materials Transportation Act); 15 U.S.C. 2601 - 2692 (Toxic Substances Control Act); AS 46 (Alaska Water, Air, Energy, and Environmental Conservation Acts); and the provisions of 18 AAC (Environmental Conservation), implementing AS 46;

(43) "exclusive right" means the department's grant of a lease, permit, or concession that authorizes a person to exercise a specific right, use, or privilege on an airport to the exclusion of all other persons;

(44) "FAA" means the Federal Aviation Administration;

(45) "fair market rent" means the periodic rental payment, in dollars, that a property, right, or privilege would most probably bring in a competitive and open market under all conditions necessary for an equitable rental transaction, the property owner and tenant each acting willingly, prudently, knowledgeably, and at arm's length;

(46) "first amendment activity" means

(A) the dissemination of information and the expression of ideas to the general public by speech, written materials, photographs, demonstrations, or other means; and

(B) the collection of information or donations from the general public;

(47) "fuel" means any motor fuel or liquid heating fuel including gasoline, aviation gasoline, jet fuel, diesel fuel, kerosene, propane, and liquid natural gas;

(48) "fueling" means delivering or dispensing fuel, de-fueling, and refueling or any other transfer of fuel on airport property;

(49) "government agency" includes the United States, the state, and political subdivisions of the state;

(50) "ground handling" means services, other than aircraft mechanic services, provided to an aircraft operator at an airport, including such services as aircraft servicing to return the aircraft to flight, loading and unloading of passengers, mail, or freight and other ramp services;

(51) "ground handling agreement" means an agreement between a leaseholder or permittee and an aircraft operator for the leaseholder or permittee to provide ground handling services to an aircraft operator;

(52) "hazardous substance" means a substance that is defined under an environmental law as hazardous waste, hazardous substance, hazardous material, toxic, pollutant, contaminant, petroleum, petroleum product, or oil;

(53) "heavy aircraft" means an aircraft that has a CMGTW of 6,000 pounds or more;

(54) "holdover" means the state or action of continued occupancy of a premises by the lessee, permittee, or concessionaire after the date of expiration of the lease, permit, or concession when the department has not directed the lessee, permittee, or concessionaire to vacate the premises upon expiration of the lease, permit, or concession, and continued occupancy is in accordance with the terms of the lease, permit, or concession;

(55) "investment"

(A) means an expenditure of funds to improve or remediate a premises;

(B) does not include funds provided or reimbursed by an independent third-party that the lessee, permittee, or concessionaire is not obligated to repay;

(56) "land lease"

(A) means a lease of state land managed as part of an airport and under which the lessee owns and retains, or covenants to construct certain privately-owned permanent improvements on the land according to specification and to maintain the improvements during the term of the lease;

(B) does not include a grant of a right to use or occupy a state-owned building;

(57) "lease" means a written agreement that creates a relationship between the department, as landlord, and a person, as tenant, and that grants to the tenant the possession of airport land or building space for a determined period of time;

(58) "lessee"

(A) means a person legally competent to enter into contracts and who enters into a lease with the department; in regard to regulation of conduct and compliance with this chapter;

(B) includes each sublessee;

(59) "lessor" means the department acting in the department's capacity as grantor of a lease on airport property;

(60) "light aircraft" means an aircraft that has a CMGTW of less than 6,000 pounds;

(61) "local government" means a municipality in this state and an entity recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs as a tribal government located in this state;

(62) "mail" means to send by first class or higher priority service using the United States Postal Service, or a comparable level of delivery service using a nationally recognized private carrier of correspondence and other communications;

(63) "mailing" means when the post office or private carrier takes possession of the item mailed;

(64) "manager" means airport manager;

(65) "material amendment"

(A) means a written change to a lease, easement, right-of-way, concession, or permit that alters its terms to an important extent, as determined by the department in light of the circumstances, including an increase in the size of or a reconfiguration of the premises, an extension of the term, or a change in the authorized use of the premises;

(B) does not include an adjustment to rental or fee rates or charges under 17 AAC 45.295 or 17 AAC 45.297 or a change in the configuration or size of a premises that results from a minor boundary survey adjustment;

(66) "materially contribute to" means to play a substantial role in causing or increasing the release or migration of a hazardous substance in a reportable quantity as defined under an applicable environmental law;

(67) "minor informalities" means matters of form rather than substance, errors when the intended meaning is evident from the bid or proposal document, or insignificant matters that have a negligible effect on price, quantity, quality, delivery, or contractual conditions and that can be waived or corrected without unfair prejudice to other bidders or proposers;

(68) "mobile fuel tank" means a truck or trailer with a mounted container designed or used for holding, transporting, or dispensing fuel;

(69) "nonresponsive" means a bid or proposal that does not conform in all material respects to the requirements of the bid documents, auction documents, or proposal documents;

(70) "open parking"

(A) means the parking of aircraft in an area on an airport that the department has designated for aircraft parking and that the department has not designated for assigned-space aircraft parking under 17 AAC 45.500 - 17 AAC 45.590 or for transient aircraft fee parking under 17 AAC 45.600;

(B) does not include aircraft parking on a premises;

(71) "operator," with respect to an aircraft,

(A) means any person or enterprise for which the aircraft is operated, as well as any person in actual control of the aircraft during aircraft operation;

(B) does not include a person or enterprise who only receives charter or common carrier services of an aircraft;

(72) "permanent fuel storage tank" means a container designed and constructed for storing fuel and either installed underground or installed above ground and fixed to a concrete or piling foundation anchored in the ground;

(73) "permanent improvement"

(A) means a fixed addition or change to land that is not temporary or portable;

(B) includes a building, building addition, a well associated with a building, and a fuel tank of not less than 1,000 gallons capacity and affixed to a permanent foundation;

(C) does not include
(i) site development work;

(ii) site development materials; and

(iii) items of ordinary maintenance, such as glass replacement, painting, roof repairs, door repairs, plumbing repairs, floor covering replacement, or pavement patching;

(74) "permit" means a written, revocable authorization or license that the department issues to allow a person to perform an act or conduct an activity on an airport;

(75) "permit cycle" means the period during which an assigned-space permit issued under 17 AAC 45.500 - 17 AAC 45.590 is effective;

(76) "permittee" means a person who enters into a permit agreement with the department;

(77) "person" has the meaning given in AS 01.10.060;

(78) "premises" means land area, space in a state-owned building, and other state-owned or managed space, facilities, and improvements that are the subject of a lease, permit, or concession;

(79) "proposal documents" means the request for proposals, instructions to proposers, proposal forms, and other documents issued to interested parties under 17 AAC 45.354, including any addenda or other amendments issued after earlier proposal documents are made available;

(80) "'regional director" means the chief department officer for each administrative region of the department or a department employee to whom the chief officer for the region has delegated applicable authority;

(81) "release" has the meaning given in AS 46.03.826;

(82) "remaining useful life" means the period during which an existing building or structure, considering its age and condition, with normal wear and tear and prudent, cost effective maintenance and without major repairs or replacements can reasonably be expected to continue to perform fully the function for which it was designed or intended;

(83) "responsible," when used in regard to contamination, means having materially contributed to the contamination, having assumed liability under an assignment, or being otherwise liable for the contamination by law or contract;

(84) "responsive bidder" or "responsive proposer" mean a bidder or proposer who has submitted a bid or proposal that conforms in all material respects to the requirements of the bid documents, auction documents, or proposal documents;

(85) "restricted area" means those areas of an airport, building, or facility to which access is limited or controlled access under 17 AAC 45.060;

(86) "runway" means that portion of an airport constructed or designated for the take-off and landing of aircraft;

(87) "rural airport" means an airport owned or operated by the department other than the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and the Fairbanks International Airport;

(88) "Security Identification Display Area (SIDA)" means a portion of a restricted area on an airport within which the airport manager designates under 17 AAC 45.060(a) that the provisions of 17 AAC 45.060(d) apply;

(89) "self-fueling" means the dispensing of fuel to an aircraft or vehicle for use by the aircraft or vehicle using fueling apparatus owned or leased by the owner or operator of the aircraft or vehicle;

(90) "site development" and "site development work"

(A) mean activities to prepare land for construction of a building or other structure or to provide a firm surface on which to operate a vehicle or aircraft;

(B) include efforts to clear, muck, grub, and fill part or all of a site; installation of a septic system or other waste storage or disposal facilities; and demolition and removal of previous improvements to prepare a site for redevelopment;

(91) "site development materials" means materials used for site development, including geotextile, fill, gravel, paving, and pavement reinforcement materials;

(92) "sublease"

(A) means a transaction or agreement under which a lessee or concessionaire leases, rents, or otherwise grants occupancy rights to all or a portion of a premises or improvements on a premises;

(B) includes a sub-sublease;

(C) does not include the assignment of a lease or concession;

(93) "sublessee"

(A) means a person who leases, rents, or otherwise receives occupancy rights from a sublessor under a sublease;

(B) includes a sub-sublessor;

(94) "sublessor"

(A) means a person who leases, rents, or otherwise provides occupancy rights to a sublessee under a sublease;

(B) includes a sub-sublessor;

(95) "successive lease" means a new land lease that begins immediately upon the expiration of a previous lease or holdover with the same lessee and that covers substantially the same premises as the previous lease;

(96) "taxiway" means a portion of an airport constructed or designated on an airport by the department for operation of aircraft moving on the ground between and among premises, aprons, and runways;

(97) "temporary fuel storage" means the storage of fuel in a barrel, bladder, or other portable container, but not in a mobile fuel tank;

(98) "threshold" means a line established by the department on the airport layout plan to identify the beginning of the runway area that is available and suitable for the landing of aircraft;

(99) "transient aircraft" means an aircraft that is located at an airport other than the airport at which the aircraft spends the greatest amount of time on the ground on an annual basis;

(100) "transient aircraft fee parking" means the parking of transient aircraft in an area designated by the department for that purpose under 17 AAC 45.600 or in an assigned space made available under 17 AAC 45.530(c);

(101) "TSA" means the United States Transportation Security Administration and any other federal agency or successor federal agency responsible for airport or aviation security;

(102) "valet parking service" means the activity of providing or offering to provide vehicle parking for airport users or visitors and in which the parking service

(A) parks or otherwise drives or offers to drive a customer's vehicle; or

(B) offers or arranges for transportation of an airport user or visitor between the parking location and a location on the airport;

(103) "vehicle" means a motorized device, other than an aircraft, upon or by which a person or property may be transported or drawn;

(104) "vehicle rental business" means the activity of renting or leasing or offering to rent or lease vehicles for use by others and that

(A) operates on an airport; or

(B) derives business from an airport and picks up, offers to pick-up, or arranges for pick-up of customers at the airport.

(105) "aeronautical use"

(A) means any airport land use activity that involves or is directly related to the operation of aircraft;

(B) includes
(i) any activity that makes the operation of aircraft possible and safe;

(ii) any service that is located on the airport and that is directly and substantially related to the movement of passengers, baggage, mail, and cargo by aircraft on the airport;

(106) "non-aeronautical use" means any airport land use, business, service, or function that is not an aeronautical use;

(107) "special event"

(A) means a short-term private, public, or non-profit activity
(i) not already permitted under the terms of a lease, permit, or concession; and

(ii) that requires use of the airport for aeronautical or nonaeronautical activity;

(B) includes
(i) aeronautical or non-aeronautical activity for civic, charitable, educational, religious, not-for-profit, or similar purposes; or

(ii) activity of any sort that creates safety concerns or has the potential to disrupt normal or customary airport operations or activities.

A list of all department-operated airports and the administrative region of the department responsible for each airport, the address for persons designated to carry out the functions and responsibilities of the department for the airports in each administrative region of the department, and the name and address of the airport manager designated for each airport operated by the department are available through the commissioner's office at the address set out in the editor's note following 17 AAC 45.005. Each airport's layout plan is available from the airport manager responsible for the airport or from the department.

As of Register 217 (April 2016), the regulations attorney under AS 44.62.125(b)(6) reorganized definitions in 17 AAC 45.990 to put them in alphabetical order, regardless of when each of them was adopted.

Authority:AS 02.15.020

AS 02.15.060

AS 02.15.090

AS 02.15.200

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Alaska may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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