Legislative and Policy Analysis
Section 40010: Treatment of unobligated funds for alternative fuel and low-emission aviation technology
Executive Summary
Section 40010 rescinds unobligated balances from the Inflation Reduction Act’s Alternative Fuel and Low-Emission Aviation Technology Program, implemented by the Federal Aviation Administration as the Fueling Aviation’s Sustainable Transition, or FAST, grant program.[1]
The original program made $297 million available to the Department of Transportation for sustainable aviation fuel grants, low-emission aviation technology grants, and program administration and oversight.[2] FAA later announced $291 million in FAST awards, consisting of $244.5 million for sustainable aviation fuel projects and $46.5 million for low-emission aviation technology projects.[3] The remaining $5.94 million was the original administrative and oversight set-aside.[2]
The key correction is that the public record does not support treating $210 million as a clean, verified unobligated balance remaining after the FAA award announcement. CBO’s enacted-law workbook reports a $210 million budget authority effect for Section 40010, and Climate Program Portal reports a $210 million rescission amount for this program, but FAA and IRA Tracker both indicate that the grant awards had been made or implemented before the rescission.[3][4][5] Therefore, this analysis reports the $210 million figure as a public budget-score or rescission-tracker figure, not as a verified project-level unobligated balance.
What Section 40010 Actually Does
Section 40010 rescinds unobligated balances from amounts made available by section 40007(a) of title IV of Public Law 117-169, the Inflation Reduction Act.[1] Section 40007(a) originally appropriated $297 million to the Department of Transportation for the Alternative Fuel and Low-Emission Aviation Technology Program, which FAA implemented as the FAST grant program.[2]
The original affected funding streams were:
| Program or activity | Original amount | What the money supports | Public obligation or award status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sustainable aviation fuel projects | $244.53 million | Projects relating to the production, transportation, blending, or storage of sustainable aviation fuel. | FAA announced $244.5 million for 22 SAF projects in August 2024.[3] |
| Low-emission aviation technology projects | $46.53 million | Projects relating to low-emission aviation technologies. | FAA announced $46.5 million for 14 technology projects in August 2024.[3] |
| Grant awards and oversight | $5.94 million | DOT administration, award management, and oversight of the grant program. | Not included in FAA’s $291 million grant-award announcement; IRA Tracker describes this as the administrative amount.[2][5] |
| Total original appropriation | $297 million | Competitive grants and oversight for alternative fuel and low-emission aviation technology. | FAA announced $291 million in awards; $5.94 million was administrative and oversight funding.[2][3][5] |
The unobligated-balance question cannot be resolved by subtracting one public headline number from another. The public sources show three different categories:
| Category | Amount | What the source says | Correct interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original statutory appropriation | $297 million | IRA section 40007 made this amount available to DOT for grants and oversight.[2] | Total original funding pool. |
| FAA announced grant awards | $291 million | FAA announced $291 million in FAST awards in August 2024.[3] | Public award announcement for project funding, not including the $5.94 million administrative set-aside. |
| Administrative and oversight set-aside | $5.94 million | Original funding line for DOT grant award administration and oversight.[2] | Administrative funding separate from the $291 million in project awards. |
| CBO enacted-law budget authority effect | $210 million | CBO’s enacted-law workbook for Public Law 119-21 lists a $210 million budget authority effect for Section 40010.[4] | A budget-score figure for the rescission, not a public project-level allocation table. |
| Climate Program Portal rescission tracker | $210 million | Climate Program Portal lists $210 million for Alternative Fuel and Low-Emission Aviation Technology and attributes its table to CBO estimates.[6] | Public rescission-tracking figure, but not a grant-by-grant accounting of unobligated funds. |
The apparent conflict is this: the program had $297 million in total original funding, FAA publicly announced $291 million in project awards, and IRA Tracker describes implementation at the end of the Biden Administration as complete, while CBO and Climate Program Portal report a $210 million rescission or budgetary effect for Section 40010.[3][4][5][6] Those figures should not be forced into a single arithmetic explanation without budget-execution records.
The corrected conclusion is:
- The original program total was $297 million.[2]
- FAA announced $291 million in project awards.[3]
- The remaining $5.94 million was the original administrative and oversight funding line.[2]
- CBO and Climate Program Portal report a $210 million rescission or budget authority effect for Section 40010.[4][6]
- Public sources do not clearly show that $210 million was unobligated after accounting for the FAA-announced awards.
- Public sources do not provide a project-level table showing which FAST grants, grant portions, or administrative balances were actually rescinded.
For that reason, the section’s legal effect is clear, but the project-level financial effect is not fully transparent. Section 40010 cancels unobligated balances from the FAST funding stream. However, the public record does not yet reconcile CBO’s $210 million score with FAA’s $291 million award announcement and IRA Tracker’s statement that implementation was complete.[3][4][5]
The records needed to resolve the discrepancy are FAA grant agreements, obligation dates, award amendments, DOT budget execution reports, OMB apportionment records, Treasury account data, and USAspending.gov obligation or deobligation records.
Legislative Mechanism
Section 40010 is a rescission provision. It cancels remaining budget authority rather than rewriting program eligibility rules, emissions standards, grant selection criteria, or recipient obligations.
The mechanism is:
- Congress identifies the original funding source: section 40007(a) of Public Law 117-169.
- Congress limits the affected money to unobligated balances.
- Congress rescinds those balances, removing their availability for future DOT or FAA obligation.
- DOT, FAA, OMB, and Treasury implement the rescission through budget execution controls, account adjustments, and updated spending plans.
Because the rescission applies only to unobligated balances, it should not be read as automatically clawing back every announced FAST award. At the same time, the publicly reported $210 million budget-score figure should not be treated as a grant-by-grant unobligated balance without supporting obligation records.[4]
Expenditure Tracking and Reporting Protocol
Section 40010 involves a federal financial flow because it rescinds unobligated budget authority from the FAA-administered FAST grant program. The relevant program is DOT and FAA implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act Alternative Fuel and Low-Emission Aviation Technology Program.[2][3]
The central tracking problem is that public program announcements and public budget scoring are not using the same categories.
| Tracking question | Public answer | Source | Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| How much was originally appropriated? | $297 million | IRA Tracker summary of IRA section 40007 | Clear program total.[2] |
| How much was announced for project awards? | $291 million | FAA August 2024 award announcement | Clear announcement total, but announcement alone does not show obligation timing.[3] |
| What happened to the remaining original funds? | $5.94 million was for grant award administration and oversight | IRA Tracker summary | Does not show how much of the administrative set-aside was obligated before rescission.[2] |
| What budget effect is publicly reported for Section 40010? | $210 million | CBO workbook and Climate Program Portal | Public score or tracker figure, but not reconciled to grant-level records.[4][6] |
| Which specific awards were affected? | Not clear from public summary sources | FAA, CBO, IRA Tracker, Climate Program Portal | Requires grant agreements and obligation records. |
The likely reporting protocol is:
| Reporting actor | Likely reporting channel | What should be checked |
|---|---|---|
| FAA program office | FAST grant files, award records, grant amendments | Whether each announced award had a signed grant agreement, what amount was legally obligated, and whether any award portion was later canceled or deobligated. |
| DOT budget office | Agency budget execution and financial statements | How much FAST budget authority was unobligated at rescission and how it was recorded. |
| OMB | Apportionment and budget execution controls | Whether FAST balances were apportioned, withheld, withdrawn, or canceled. |
| Treasury | Account-level budget authority and outlay reporting | Whether canceled budget authority and related outlay changes appear in Treasury account data. |
| USAspending.gov | Award-level grant obligation data | Whether individual FAST obligations, amendments, deobligations, or outlays are visible by recipient and award number. |
| CBO | Enacted-law cost estimate and workbook | Budget authority and outlay scoring for the rescission. |
| DOT Inspector General and GAO | Oversight reports, if issued | Whether implementation created award cancellations, delayed obligations, or oversight concerns. |
flowchart TD
A[IRA funding] --> B[DOT and FAA]
B --> C[FAST project awards]
B --> D[Admin oversight funds]
C --> E[Grant agreements]
E --> F[Legal obligations]
B --> G[Unobligated balances]
G --> H[Section 40010 rescission]
H --> I[CBO score]
H --> J[OMB controls]
H --> K[Treasury records]
F --> L[USAspending data]
I --> M[Public budget view]
J --> M
K --> M
L --> N[Project level view]
Public tracking is likely to be incomplete at the project level. CBO provides a public budget-score figure for Section 40010, and Climate Program Portal reports a matching $210 million program rescission figure.[4][6] FAA provides award and project descriptions, and IRA Tracker reports that FAA awarded $291 million while the remaining $5.94 million was administrative.[3][5] But none of these public summaries fully reconcile award announcements, legal obligations, administrative set-asides, deobligations, and rescinded unobligated balances.
Day-to-Day Government Process Changes
For FAA and DOT staff, Section 40010 likely changes day-to-day work in several ways.
First, FAA and DOT budget officials must identify the actual unobligated FAST balances and cancel them in budget execution records. This requires reconciling award announcements, signed grant agreements, obligation dates, administrative set-asides, and any later award amendments.
Second, program staff must determine whether any announced or selected projects had unobligated portions. If an award had been announced but not fully obligated, the relevant unobligated funds may no longer be available.
Third, FAA grant managers may need to notify applicants, selected recipients, or awardees about funding status changes, delayed execution, reduced scope, or cancellation where unobligated balances were expected to support future work.
Fourth, oversight staff may have fewer administrative funds available for award management if any part of the original $5.94 million administrative set-aside remained unobligated and was rescinded.
The practical administrative burden is therefore not only canceling a balance. It is reconciling public award announcements against formal obligations and explaining why CBO’s budget-score figure, FAA’s award announcement, and IRA Tracker’s implementation summary do not line up in a simple way.
Effects on Consumers
The direct consumer impact is limited because Section 40010 does not regulate airline ticket prices, passenger rights, airport fees, or consumer aviation services directly.
The indirect consumer impact is more important. Sustainable aviation fuel and low-emission aviation technologies are intended to reduce lifecycle aviation emissions, improve fuel efficiency, and support longer-term decarbonization of air travel.[3] Rescinding unobligated FAST budget authority may slow or reduce support for projects that would have expanded sustainable aviation fuel supply chains, storage, blending, testing, or technology demonstrations.
For passengers, the effects are unlikely to appear immediately as a discrete fee or ticket-price change. Instead, the impact is more likely to show up through slower deployment of lower-emission aviation fuels and technologies, fewer supported demonstration projects, and reduced public investment in aviation decarbonization infrastructure.
Effects on Businesses
The business impact falls mainly on firms and institutions in the aviation fuel, airport, aerospace, and clean-technology ecosystem.
Potentially affected entities include sustainable aviation fuel producers, fuel logistics companies, airport sponsors, air carriers, aircraft and component manufacturers, universities, research institutions, technology developers, and nonprofits. The FAST program’s eligible entities included state and local governments, corporate entities, fuel and hydrogen producers, technology developers and manufacturers, educational institutions, and nonprofits.[2]
For businesses that had already secured legally binding grant obligations, the section may have limited direct effect unless grant administration or future phases depended on unobligated balances. For businesses with announced but not fully obligated awards, pending applications, expected follow-on funding, or planned project phases, the rescission could reduce available federal support.
The unresolved public accounting issue matters for businesses. FAA’s public materials show $291 million in announced awards, while CBO and Climate Program Portal report a $210 million budget-score or rescission-tracking figure for the same statutory funding source.[3][4][6] Businesses, state and local agencies, and airport sponsors therefore need award-level grant records, not only public summaries, to determine whether a specific project was affected.
Environmental and Climate Impact
Section 40010 likely has a negative environmental and climate impact relative to the Inflation Reduction Act baseline to the extent it removes remaining unobligated federal support for aviation decarbonization.
The original FAST program was designed to support projects that produce, transport, blend, or store sustainable aviation fuel and projects that develop, demonstrate, or apply low-emission aviation technologies.[2] FAA described the 2024 awards as part of an effort to support net-zero aviation greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.[3]
The climate impact depends on which projects or award portions lost funding and whether they can proceed without federal support. If rescinded funds would have supported infrastructure for sustainable aviation fuel production, blending, or storage, the rescission could slow expansion of SAF availability. If the rescinded funds would have supported low-emission aircraft technologies, the rescission could delay demonstrations or deployment pathways for efficiency improvements and emissions reductions.
Because aviation is difficult to decarbonize, even relatively small grant programs can matter if they support early supply-chain capacity, certification, demonstration, or infrastructure. However, the public record does not yet identify exactly which projects or portions of projects were affected by the Section 40010 rescission.
Impact Summary
Section 40010 cancels unobligated balances from the FAST program, but the public accounting must be stated carefully. The original program total was $297 million. FAA announced $291 million in project awards. The remaining $5.94 million was administrative and oversight funding. CBO and Climate Program Portal report a $210 million budget-score or rescission-tracking figure for Section 40010.[2][3][4][6]
The corrected treatment is to report all of those figures without pretending they reconcile cleanly. The public record does not support a confident statement that $210 million was the project-level unobligated balance remaining after FAA’s award announcement. The better conclusion is that Section 40010’s legal effect is clear, but the specific affected awards and balances are not publicly itemized.
Project-level effects require FAA grant agreements, DOT budget execution records, OMB apportionment materials, Treasury account data, and USAspending.gov obligation records.
Key References and Sourcing
| Source | Relevance |
|---|---|
| Public Law 119-21 | Primary enacted law containing Section 40010 and the rescission of unobligated balances. |
| IRA Tracker, IRA Section 40007 – Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grant Program | Summarizes the original $297 million FAST appropriation, the three funding lines, eligibility, availability through September 30, 2026, and rescission status. |
| Federal Aviation Administration, FAST Awards Announcement | Documents FAA’s August 2024 announcement of $291 million in FAST awards, including $244.5 million for SAF projects and $46.5 million for low-emission aviation technology projects. |
| Congressional Budget Office, Estimated Budgetary Effects of Public Law 119-21 | Provides the enacted-law budget estimate and workbook used for the Section 40010 budgetary score. |
| Federal Aviation Administration, FAST Grants | Provides FAA’s current FAST program page, including its description of listed awards as executed FAST projects and its statement that no additional FAST funding opportunities are planned. |
| Climate Program Portal, How much was cut? | Provides a public climate-program rescission table listing $210 million for Alternative Fuel and Low-Emission Aviation Technology and discussing uncertainty around announced or awarded funds versus obligations. |
[1] Public Law 119-21, “An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14,” Section 40010, https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-119publ21.
[2] IRA Tracker, “IRA Section 40007 – Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grant Program,” original program funding lines, eligibility, availability, and rescission status, https://iratracker.org/programs/ira-section-40007-sustainable-aviation-fuel-grant-program/.
[3] Federal Aviation Administration, “Biden-Harris Administration Announces Nearly $300 Million in Awards for Sustainable Aviation Fuels and Technologies as part of Investing in America Agenda,” August 16, 2024, https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/biden-harris-administration-announces-nearly-300-million-awards-sustainable-aviation-fuels.
[4] Congressional Budget Office, “Estimated Budgetary Effects of Public Law 119-21, to Provide for Reconciliation Pursuant to Title II of H. Con. Res. 14, Relative to CBO’s January 2025 Baseline,” enacted-law workbook, Section 40010, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61570.
[5] Federal Aviation Administration, “FAST Grants,” current program page describing listed awards as executed FAST projects and stating that FAA is not planning additional FAST funding opportunities, https://www.faa.gov/about/officeorg/headquartersoffices/apl/fast-grants.
[6] Climate Program Portal, “How much was cut?,” table listing $210 million in rescinded funding for Alternative Fuel and Low-Emission Aviation Technology and discussing uncertainty around announced or awarded funds versus obligations, July 15, 2025, https://climateprogramportal.org/2025/07/15/how-much-was-cut/.
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