More Than $500,000 In Gants Awarded To PA County Airports

July 18, 2014
Beaver County Airport was awarded $376,041 to remove obstructions and acquire snow removal equipment. Zelienople Municipal Airport will get $150,417 to install visual glideslope indicators to assist pilots in landing.

July 17--Two local airports will receive more than $500,000 in state money for improvements, Gov. Tom Corbett announced Wednesday.

The Beaver County Airport in Chippewa Township was awarded $376,041 to remove obstructions and acquire snow removal equipment. Zelienople Municipal Airport in Franklin Township will get $150,417 to install visual glideslope indicators to assist pilots in landing.

The money is part of an $18 million state and federal investment to improve safety and operations at 35 airports in the state.

"Pennsylvania's public-use airports support more than 300,000 jobs," Corbett said in a news release. "When we expand a runway or make it safer to land at an airport, we ensure that they can meet business and community demands and continue supporting these jobs."

The state portion of funding -- $904,981 from PennDOT's aviation development program -- comes from the state's jet fuel tax and leverages $904,981 in local matching funds.

The program complements the new Multi-Modal Fund, created by Act 89, which dedicates $5 million to aviation in this fiscal year alone. In November, Corbett signed Act 89, a far-reaching transportation program that clears the way for significant investments in all transportation assets.

The Federal Aviation Administration is providing $17.1 million in grants through the block grant program, which is funded through taxes collected nationally on airline tickets, freight waybills, international departure fees and the sale of aviation fuel. Airports receive up to 90 percent of eligible project costs for projects included in Pennsylvania's 12-year transportation program.

Public-use airports in the state are eligible for the aviation development program. Airports eligible for the federal block grant program include: general aviation airports, designated reliever airports and non-primary commercial service airports (those with fewer than 10,000 annual passengers) that are part of the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems.

Copyright 2014 - Beaver County Times, Pa.