
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 3, 1994                   TAG: 9402030161
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Journal of Commerce
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

$259 MILLION IN AIRPORT FUNDS DIVERTED

Since 1982, several major airport authorities may have improperly funneled some $259 million in federal airport funds to non-airport use, according to a House Appropriations Committee staff report released Wednesday.

The study found a diversion total of roughly $900 million over the period, but the Transportation Department said about $641 million of those diversions were proper.

Rep. Bob Carr, D-Mich., chairman of the committee's Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, criticized the Federal Aviation Administration's oversight and enforcement of the 1982 statute requiring federal airport funds to be used strictly for airport purposes.

Since 1982, over $14.5 billion in grants has been awarded for 14,000 airport projects.

by CNB