U.S. Department of 

Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

Of Transportation 

The Honorable Tim Walz · 

U.S. House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

Dear Congressman Walz: 

JUL 6 2012 

1200 New Jersey Ave., S.E. 

Washington, DC 20590 

Thank you for your letter supporting the proposal submitted by the Rochester International 

Airport for a grant under the U.S. Department ofTranspe>rtation's Small Community Air Service 

Development Program. 

The Small Community Air Service Development Program was established to help smaller 

communities address air service deficiencies, particularly issues related to high airfares or 

insufficient service. Under the statute, the Department may make a maximum of 40 grant 

awards each year, although no more than 4 awards may be to communities in the same State. 

In order to provide communities with latitude in developing solutions to their air service 

deficiencies, the statute provides flexibility in the types of projects that can.be funded. 

On May 15, the Department issued an order requesting that communities interested in receiving a 

grant this year file their applications by June 11. As these grant requests are pending before the 

Department, I cannot comment on the merits of any particular proposal. I assure you that the 

Department will give full and fair consideration to air proposals that have been properly filed. 

As is our normal practice, I am placing a copy of your letter and this response in Docket 

· DOT-OST-2012-0069 as a contact outside the record of this matter. I appreciate your interest in 

this program. 

Sincerely yours, 

Aloha Ley 

Associate Director 

Small Community Program 
I 

 I 

 I 

I 

CAPITOL OFFICE: 

1722 LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING 

WASHINGmN, DC 20515 

(202) 225-2472 

MANKATQ OFRCE: 

227 EAST MAIN STP.EET 

SUITE 220. 

MANKATO, MN 56001 

(507) 388-2149 

ROCHESTER OFFICE: 

11301/z 7TH STREET NW, 

Sum 208 

ROCHESTER, MN 55901 

( 507) 201Hl643 

TOLL FREE#: 

{8771486-9259 

Ms. Aloha Ley 

.... 

TIMOTHY J. W ALZ 

CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES 

FIRST DISTRICT, MINNESOTA 

. w\VW.WALZ.HOUSE.GOV 

June 19, 2012 

Associate Director, Office of Aviation Analysis 

1200 New Jersey Ave SE · 

Washington, DC 20590 

Dear Ms. Ley, 

- ~ ·"'" ·,. 

AGRICULTURE 

Conservation, Energy, and Forestry 

General Farm Commodities and 

Risk Management 

TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE' 

Rail, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials 

Hig.hways and Transit 

VETERANS' AFFAIRS 

Disability Assistance and 

Memorial Affairs 

Economic Opportunity 

I am writing to express my support for the Rochester International Airport's application for the Small 

Community Air ServiC?e Development Grant (Docket DOT-OST-2012-0069; GRANT11156129). 

The Rochester International Airport intends to combine the $500,000 grant award with $200,000 in local 

non-airport funding from Rochester and $75,000 in marketing funding to recruit new critical air service 

to the region. Over. the past three years, the airport has experienced service reductions of up to thirtythree percent due to the Delta-Northwest Airlines merger despite significant population and economic . 

growth due in part tci the Mayo Clinic. 

It is my hope that the Rochester International Airport's Small Community Air Service Development 

Grant application will receive proper consideration and approval, so that the airport can expand their 

service a:hd meet the community's needs by further connecting a major international medical destination 

with the rest of the world. 

Thank you for your consideration and for your ongoing commitment to serving our country's small 

community airports. 

Sincerely, 

Tim Walz 

MEMBER OF CONGRESS 

TJW/ms 

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