Washington Headquarters Press Release

FAA Releases Record of Decision for St. George Airport Replacement

Regional jets and other new air service may soon be able to serve fast-growing St. George, UT now that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has selected a replacement airport as the best alternative after completing an exhaustive environmental impact analysis.

In its Record of Decision (ROD), the FAA found that the city’s proposal to build a replacement airport with a 9,300-foot runway on 1,300 acres, approximately five miles from downtown St. George, met all applicable environmental and safety guidelines.  The agency also concluded that the airport project would not have an adverse affect on local parks.

St. George, a primary non-hub airport, is one of the airport projects selected for “environmental streamlining” under an executive order issued by President Bush in 2002 that streamlines the decision-making process for major transportation projects.

“Ensuring that this community has the transportation system it needs to keep pace with the region’s growth is critical,” said FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey.  “This project will greatly improve the level of passenger service to the community.”

The FAA carefully considered all comments submitted prior to issuing its decision.  The ROD outlines actions the city of St. George will need to accomplish as well as responses to comments received on the Final Environmental Impact Statement.

The ROD will be available for public review beginning August 25, 2006, during normal business hours at the following locations:

• FAA Northwest MountainRegion Headquarters, 1601 Lind Avenue, SW, Suite 315, Renton, WA 98057-3356, (425) 227-2611
• FAA, Denver Airports District Office, 26805 East 68th Avenue, Suite 224, Denver, CO 80249-6361, (303) 342-1252
• St. George Municipal Building, 175 East 200 North, St. George, UT 84770, (435) 634-5800
• St. George Airport, 620 S. Airport Road, St. George, UT  84770, (435) 634-5822.
• Zion National Park Headquarters, Springdale, UT 84767-1099
• Cedar City Library, 303 North 100 East, Cedar City, UT  84720
• Hurricane Valley Branch, 36 South 300 West, Hurricane, UT  84737
• Santa Clara Branch, 1099 North Lava flow Drive, St. George, UT  84770
• Springdale Branch, 898 Zion Park Blvd, Springdale, UT  84767-0509
• WashingtonCounty, 50 South Main, St. George, UT  84770
• Salt Lake City– Main Library, 210 E 400 S., Salt Lake City, UT  84111
• Kanab City Library – 374 N. Main Street, Kanab, UT  84741
• Las Vegas – Main Branch, 2300 Civic Center Drive, North Las Vegas, NV  89030
• Los AngelesCountyLibrary – Main Branch, 12700 Grevillea Avenue, Hawthorne, CA  90250
• Flagstaff Coconino County– Main Library, 300 W. Aspen Avenue, Flagstaff, AZ  86001

An electronic copy of the ROD will be available on the project web site at:  http://www.airportsites.net/sgu-eis, beginning August 21, 2006.