Section 328.19. Registration.

  1.  The department shall promulgate rules pursuant to the provisions of chapter 17A governing the issuance by the department of certificates of registration to all airports in this state which are open for use by the public and governing the annual renewal of those certificates. These rules shall require that an airport applying for a certificate of registration or for a renewal shall comply with minimum standards of safety as promulgated by the department, adopt safe air traffic patterns, and demonstrate that such air traffic patterns are safely coordinated with those of all existing airports and approved airport sites in its vicinity before the certificates of registration or certificate of renewal may be issued. Certificates of registration or renewal may be issued subject to any conditions the department deems necessary to carry out the purposes of this section. The department may, after notice and opportunity for hearing as provided in chapter 17A, revoke any certificate of registration or renewal, or may refuse to issue a renewal, when it determines:

  a.  That there has been an abandonment of the airport as such;

  b.  That there has been a failure to comply with the conditions of the registration or renewal thereof; or

  c.  That because of change of physical or legal conditions or circumstances the airport has become either unsafe or unusable for the aeronautical purposes for which the registration or renewal was issued.

  2.  The department shall promulgate rules pursuant to the provisions of chapter 17A governing the issuance by the department of certificates of airport site approval. These rules shall provide that any person or governmental subdivision desiring or planning to construct or establish an airport shall obtain a certificate of site approval prior to acquisition of the site or prior to the construction or establishment of the airport. The department shall charge a reasonable fee, based on the cost of a safety inspection of the site approval application, for the issuance of a certificate of site approval, and shall issue such a certificate if it finds:

  a.  That the site is adequate for the proposed airport;

  b.  That such proposed airport, if constructed or established, will conform to minimum standards of safety as promulgated by the department; and

  c.  That safe air traffic patterns are established for the proposed airport which are safely coordinated with the traffic patterns of all existing airports and approved airport sites in its vicinity.

  3.  A certificate of site approval shall remain in effect until a certificate of registration has been issued to an airport located on the approved site as provided in subsection 1, unless the department, after notice and opportunity for hearing, revokes the certificate of site approval upon a finding that:

  a.  There has been an abandonment of the site as an airport site;

  b.  There has been a failure within two years to develop the site as an airport, or to comply with the conditions of the approval; or

  c.  Because of change of physical or legal conditions or circumstances the site is no longer usable for the aeronautical purposes for which the approval was granted.

  4.  No certificate of site approval shall be required for the site of any existing airport.

  5.  In considering an application for approval of a proposed airport site or the issuance of an airport registration certificate under subsections 1 and 2, the department may, on its own motion or upon the request of an affected or interested person, hold a hearing as provided in chapter 17A.

[C31, 35, §8338-c2; C39, §8338.15; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §328.19]