U.S. Deportment of 

Transportation 

Otftee of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

The Honorable Peter DeFazio 

U.S. House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

Dear Congressman DeFazio: 

NOV 1 7 2011 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Thank you for your letter supporting the application submitted by the Southwest Oregon •,_._I 

Regional Airport for a grant under the Small Community Air Service Development Program. 

On September 27, following a fair and open competitive review, the U.S. Department of 

Transportation (DOT) announced its grant selections, including an award to the Southwest 

Oregon Regional Airport. 

As you may know, the Small Community Program began in 2002 to help smaller communities 

address air service deficiencies, particularly issues related to high airfares and insufficient levels 

of air service. The Department had up to $15 million available for Fiscal Year 2011 grant 

awards. Under the statute, DOT may use funds to make a maximum of 40 grant awards each 

year, although no more than 4 may be in the same State. This year, the Department received 70 

grant applications from communities in 34 States, collectively seeking more than $36 million in 

Federal assistance, considerably more than could be accommodated under the statute. As noted 

above,. the Southwest Oregon Regional Airport was among the 29 communities selected to 

receive a grant for Fiscal Year 2011. 

As is our normal practice, I am placing a copy of your letter and this response in Docket DOTOST-2011-0119. A copy ofOrder-2011-9-16 may be obtained at the Federal Docket 

Management System (FDMS) Web site, which is www.regulations.gov. Entering "2011-9-16" 

into the field marked "Enter Keyword or ID" provides access to the full document. 

I appreciate your interest in this program. If I can provide further information or assistance, 

please feel free to call me. 

Sincerely yours, 

Aloha Lev 

Associate Director 

Small Community Program 
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September 22, 2011 

Aloha Ley, Associate Director 

Small Community Air Service Development Program 

United States Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

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defazio.house.gov 

Please note my support for the application submitted by the 

Southwest Oregon Regional Airport's (OTH) for a 2011 Small Community Air 

Service Development Program grant. Funds from this grant will help 

support new air service to the Salt Lake City hub. 

This OTH is a critical economic and transportation link for 

Southwest Oregon residents who otherwise would have to drive several 

hours to access a commercial airport. It has effectively used previously 

awarded Small Community Air Service grants to support the launch of 

service between North Bend/Coos Bay, Oregon, and San Francisco on United 

Express. That service thrived this summer with the addition of a third 

flight per day on the market's first jet, launched in June 2011. 

The OTH has now secured a local cash match of $180,000, or 23 

percent of the total project cost of $780,000, to support the addition of 

SkyWest Airlines/Delta Connection service to the Salt Lake City hub. The 

service is targeted to launch in May 2012. This grant award would ensure 

the airport could support this service. 

Please give this request full and fair consideration. 

:knf 

Sincerely, 

PETER DeFAZIO 

Member of Congress