Today, the U.S. Senate passed the Federal Aviation Administration Air (FAA) Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act. The bill includes an amendment authored by U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) that would specifically require the FAA to consider the length of a state's construction season when reviewing and approving airport improvement grant projects. The Barrasso amendment would allow cold weather states like Wyoming to utilize the full construction season.
"Washington often has it backwards. You don't put a cold weather state project on the bottom of the pile and then approve it in the middle of the construction season. The current process wastes millions of taxpayer dollars. Wyoming's construction season generally starts in June and ends in early November.
"Providing more flexibility for cold weather states like Wyoming will save significant taxpayer dollars. My amendment will make it easier for our state to complete airport construction projects in one season instead of two seasons. This will help improve our airports' ability to help tourists and residents of Wyoming travel across our state and around the nation."
Senator Enzi cosponsored the amendment.