---
kind: "section"
citation: "14 C.F.R. § 170.13"
title: "14"
number: "170.13"
heading: "Airport Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) establishment criteria."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/14/170.13"
---

# §170.13. Airport Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) establishment criteria.

- (a) The following criteria along with general facility establishment standards must be met before an airport can qualify for an ATCT:
  - (1) The airport, whether publicly or privately owned, must be open to and available for use by the public as defined in the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982;
  - (2) The airport must be recognized by and contained within the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems;
  - (3) The airport owners/authorities must have entered into appropriate assurances and covenants to guarantee that the airport will continue in operation for a long enough period to permit the amortization of the ATCT investment;
  - (4) The FAA must be furnished appropriate land without cost for construction of the ATCT; and
  - (5) The airport must meet the benefit-cost ratio criteria specified herein utilizing three consecutive FAA annual counts and projections of future traffic during the expected life of the tower facility. (An FAA annual count is a fiscal year or a calendar year activity summary. Where actual traffic counts are unavailable or not recorded, adequately documented FAA estimates of the scheduled and nonscheduled activity may be used.)
- (b) An airport meets the establishment criteria when it satisfies [paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(5)](#a-1..a-5) of this section and its benefit-cost ratio equals or exceeds one. As defined in [§ 170.3](/cfr/14/170.3.md) of this part, the benefit-cost ratio is the ratio of the present value of the ATCT life cycle benefits (BPV) to the present value of ATCT life cycle costs (CPV).
- (c) The satisfaction of all the criteria listed in this section does not guarantee that the airport will receive an ATCT.

## Notes

### Authority

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40103-40107, 40113, 44502, 44701-44702, 44708-44709, 44719, 44721-44722, 46308.

### Source

Source: 56 FR 341, Jan. 3, 1991, unless otherwise noted.