Map courtesy of FMAA The Federal Aviation Administration has suspended studies of the Friedman Memorial Airport Authority’s two preferred sites for a replacement airport, Site 10A and Site 12, above.
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An announcement from the Federal Aviation Administration that it has suspended work on a crucial document for a replacement airport has dealt a heavy blow to the process, airport officials and county commissioners said Tuesday.
In a letter to Friedman Memorial Airport Manager Rick Baird dated Aug. 22, Donna Taylor, manager of the Airports Division of the FAA's Northwest Mountain Region office in Seattle, stated that further work on an environmental impact statement for the project had been "indefinitely" suspended. Taylor stated that the suspension was due to "increased anticipated costs of the project and potential impacts to wildlife."
During a county meeting on Tuesday morning, Baird called the letter "very vague, but very clear."
The EIS was a report meant to address the impacts of building an airport on two potential sites: Site 10A, located east of state Highway 75 just north of the Lincoln County line, and Site 12, near the Blaine-Camas county line.
The report would have analyzed everything from floodplains and the economy to noise impacts, wildlife habitat and damage to historic sites.
Calls from the Idaho Mountain Express to Cayla Morgan, spokeswoman for the FAA's regional office, to ask whether other sites may still be considered were not returned by press time.
Plans for a replacement for Friedman Memorial Airport have been in development for nearly a decade. They were initiated after the FAA determined that Friedman did not comply with federal safety standards to handle certain types of aircraft, such as Horizon Air's Q400 passenger plane. Work on the draft EIS began in 2006 and was expected to be completed within two years.
Eventually, the FAA was set to release a draft on May 27, 2011, but delayed the report until "late summer or early fall" shortly before that date, saying more study on the wildlife impacts was needed. Another delay came in July, when the FAA released what Baird called a "vague" media advisory citing "financial and wildlife issues."
The phrasing of the last release was a red flag, Baird said Tuesday.
"This was the first time the word 'issues' was used," he said, adding that normally the FAA just says it needs more time for study.
The first of the recent delays, for example, said the FAA needed more time to complete a wildlife report that would consider the impacts of a new airport on 940 acres of sage grouse habitat.
The letter from Taylor this week blames the delay mostly on funding problems.
"We are concerned that this project may not be affordable for either FAA or the local community," Taylor wrote.
The Friedman Memorial Airport Authority issued a report to the FAA in June that asked the federal government to chip in more than the $162 million, or 50 percent of construction costs, that it typically contributes to airport construction.
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This, along with the recent upheaval on the federal level with FAA funding, may have spurred Taylor's comments.
"Considering uncertainties about our FAA grant program and the limited availability of local funds, we are unable to foresee sufficient federal funding that we believe would be needed to build a replacement airport," Taylor wrote.
Baird said the implications of the letter are still unclear.
"There are a lot of questions, and I don't know that I can handle those questions," Baird said Tuesday.
He said his calls to the FAA district office had not been returned.
"The FAA has kept us at arm's length during the entire EIS process," he said. "It would appear they have found significant problems with either of the sites."
Baird said that if that were the case, the Airport Authority would need to go back and reconsider other replacement airport sites and possible alternatives.
The replacement airport process has not been completely derailed, Baird said, but the community will need to consider alternatives to the previously preferred sites.
County Commissioner and Airport Authority board member Larry Schoen expressed shock regarding the letter and its implications on Tuesday.
"It's a bit of a bombshell," Schoen said. "[But] we're still committed to finding solutions to our air service challenges. That doesn't go away."
FAA Public Information Officer Mike Fergus said Tuesday that a media advisory and a list of frequently asked questions would be posted on the FAA's website by late Tuesday afternoon.
Commissioner and Airport Authority board member Tom Bowman said he would contact the FAA and attempt to schedule Taylor to speak at the authority's next meeting on Sept. 13.
A tête-à-tête among the board members and Taylor could help the authority figure out where to go from here, he said.
"The only thing we can really offer at this point is speculation," Bowman said.
Baird said he agreed, and hoped Taylor would be willing to meet with all stakeholders if she makes the trip.
"Somebody in the FAA needs to come here and tell us what this means," he said. "I doubt the FAQ are going to put to rest the concerns of the community."
Katherine Wutz: kwutz@mtexpress.com
