Panel approves update to airport zoning and clearinghouse language to include vertiports and heliports

Representative Miller told the Transportation A and B Subcommittee that House Bill 2266 updates state airport zoning statutes to include heliports and vertiports and adjusts language designating the Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics as the clearinghouse for new advanced transportation technologies.

"The first area that we're updating is the state's airport zoning statutes to include heliports and vertiports," Representative Miller said, adding the bill also updates clearinghouse language following recommendations from the Oklahoma Advanced Air Mobility strategy delivered the previous fall.

Committee members had no questions and moved quickly to a vote. The clerk recorded members voting in favor, and the transcript records a committee announcement that Representative Miller's bill passed with 8 ayes and 0 nays. The hearing did not include further detail on implementation, permitting changes, or funding implications.

The sponsor said the changes are intended to align statutory language with recent planning work and the state's designation of a clearinghouse to coordinate advanced air mobility technologies. No municipal or airport operators testified during the subcommittee hearing.