U.S. Department of Transportation Office of the Secretary OfTransportation

The Honorable JeffBingaman United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator Bingaman: 

## JUL 

## 62012 1200 New Jersey Ave
.. S.E. Washington, DC 20590

Thank you for your letter supporting the proposal submitted by Los Alamos County for a grant under'the U:S. Department ofTransportatiun's Small Community Air·Service De..yelopment., 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. Underthe statute,the Department may make a maximum of40 grant awards each year, although no morethan 4 awards may be to cominunities in the same State. In orderto provide communities with latitude in developing solutions to their air service .deficiencies, the statute provides flexibility,in the types ofprojects tha.t can be funded. On May 15, the Department issued an orderrequesting that communities interested in receiving a grantthis year file their applications by June 11. As these grant requests are pending before the Department, I cannot comment onthe merits ofany particular proposal. I assure youthat the Department will give full and fair consideration to all proposals that have been-properly filed. As is our normal practice, I am placing a copy ofyour letter and this response in Docket DOT-OST-2012-0069 as a contact outside the record ofthis matter. I appreciate your interest in this program. Sincerely yours,

# ~~··· Aloha Ley Associate Director Small Community Program

" ...... _JEFF BINGAMAN NEW MEXICO 703 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON, DC 20510-3102 (202) 224-5521

.**~** IN NEW MEXICO-1-800-443-8658

, .,.. J'DP (202)224-1792 senatpr_blngaman@bmgaman senate gov



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Ms. Aloha Ley Associate Director Small Community Programs US Department ofTransportation 1200 NewJersey Avenue SE Washington, DC 20590 Dear Ms. Ley: June 8, 2012

I amwriting in support ofbos Alamos·county's application for a grant from the Small CommunityAir Service Development Program to secure replacement air service for their community. · For a number ofyears 'the County has worked to return scheduled air service to Los. Alamos Airport. The County has been without service·since 1996 and during that time air travelers have driven 2 hours to Albuquerque's Sunport to catch flights. The staffofLos. Alamos National Laboratory is quite dependent on ournation's air transportation system. With over 20,000 Laboratory passengers driving to Albuquerque each year to board aircraft at the Sunport

-- not to mention the many citizens and business travelers that make this same drive

-- it is apparent that an easier, more convenient way to get to Albuquerque would work to everyone's advantage.

.**~** ..**~...** . . 

## . The Small CommunityAir Service Development Program was developed to supportjust this sort ofendeavor. Simply stated, its charge is to assist small communities like Los Alamos secure or enhance their commercial air service by helping overcome the financial burden associated with initiating new service. I respectfully request your careful consideration ofthe SCASDP application from Los Alamos County.

ALBUQUERQUE 1505) 346-6601 FARMINGTON (505) 325-5030 Sincerely,

JeffBingaman United States Senator

LAS CRUCES 1575) 523-6561 J10SWELL 575)622-7113 SANTA FE !!'.C5) 988-6647