U.S. Department ofTransportation Office of the Secretary ofTransportation


## SEP 11 2014 Mr. Thomas E. Mason President and CEO UT-Battelle P.O. Box 2008 Oak Ridge, TN 37831 Dear Mr. Mason: Assistant Secretary

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## u**~)** i200 New JerseyAvenue, SE Washington, DC 20590

Thank you for your letter, addressed to Secretary Foxx, supporting the proposal submitted by the Metropolitan Knoxville Airpmi Authority for a grant under the U.S. Department of Transportation's Small Community Air Service Development Program. Secretary Foxx asked that Irespond to you onhis behalf. The Small CommunityAir Service Development Program was established to help smaller communities address air service deficiencies, particularly issues related to high airfares and insufficient service. Under the statute, the Department may make a maximum of40 grant awards each year, although no more than four may be to communities in the same State. To provide communities with latitude in developing solutions to their air service deficiencies, the statute provides flexibility inthe types ofair service development projects that canbe funded. On June 30, the Department issued an order setting a deadline ofJuly 31 for applications. As these grant requests are pending before the Department, I cannot comment on the merits ofany particularproposal. I assure you, however, that the Department will give full and fair consideration to all proposals that have beenproperly filed. As is our standard practice, I am placing a copy ofyour letter and this response in Docket DOT-OST-2014-0113 as a contact outside the record ofthis matter. I appreciate your interest in this program. Sincerely yours,

Susan L. Kurland Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs

# ~ UT-BATTELLE P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6255 Phone: 865-576-2900 • Fax: 865-241-2967 • E-mail: masont@ornl.gov
August 25, 2014
The Honorable Anthony Foxx Secretary United States Depmiment ofTransportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE Washington, DC 20590 Docket DOT-OST-2014-0113 Dear SecretaryFoxx: Please allow me to offermy encouragement ofthe Department's approval ofthe application ofthe Metropolitan Knoxville Airpmi Authority (MKAA) and the Competitive Airfare Partnership (CAP) underthe 2014 Small Community Air Service Development Grant program. As the managing operator ofthe Department ofEnergy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and one ofthe largest employers in the region, UT-Battelle is routinely faced with payinghigher than average airline fares in the Knoxville market for the thousands offlights we book for ourbusiness and government traveler:s each year. Furthermore, ourcontinued success depends in part on the ability to translate the**rese~rch** and development we do into new products and companies that generate economicbenefit for the country. In order to deploy ourtechnology, it requires invesbnent bythe private sector. We hear often from small business owners and entrepreneurs that come to Oak Ridge to explore ourtechnology that it is expensive to get here. Approval ofthis grant application would be a tremendous show ofsupport from the Department as our community works to reducethe cost ofair travel in ourregion. Sincerely,

{/ Thomas E. Mason President and CEO TEM:kfi·



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