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The White House has identified Washington Dulles and Reagan National airports as federal assets that could be sold off.
The suggestion, put forward in the infrastructure plan unveiled by the Trump administration Monday, is in keeping with the administration’s broader recommendation that certain federal assets should be sold because they could be better managed at the state and local levels, or by a private entity.
“Providing federal agencies authority to divest of federal assets where the agencies can demonstrate an increase in value from the sale would optimize the taxpayer value for federal assets,” the administration said. “To utilize this authority, an agency would delineate how proceeds would be spent and identify appropriate conditions under which sales would be made. An agency also would conduct a study or analysis to show the increase in value from divestiture.”
Also listed as potential divestment targets are the George Washington Memorial and Baltimore-Washington parkways, among other federal holdings.
The long-awaited infrastructure proposal calls for $200 billion in federal expenditures. But the administration says it would spur $1.5 billion in new investment over 10 years, largely through the distribution of incentive grants to local and state governments as well as private concerns, and by streamlining regulatory reviews.
In keeping with that approach, the plan calls for easing oversight of non-aviation development projects at airports and for making it easier for airports to privatize.
However, airport industry advocates derided that the plan does not call for an increase in the cap on the passenger facility charge, which airports can levy on tickets to put toward construction projects.
Source: travelweekly.com
