WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao announced today that the U.S. Department of Transportation will award $5.2 million in airport safety and infrastructure grants to 13 airports in Idaho. This investment in Idaho’s airports is part of a $520.5 millionnational investment in America’s airports that was announced today by Secretary Chao.

“This $520.5 million in federal support to airports across the country will help to keep our nation’s airports in good shape and make air travel a better experience for passengers,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao.

With this announcement, the Trump Administration has invested a historic $11.42 billion in more than two thousand American airports across the United States for safety and infrastructure improvements since January 2017.

The airports receiving Airport Improvement Program grants in Idaho include:

• Boise Air Terminal/Gowen Field Airport—$300,000 to fund an airport related environmental assessment/plan/study  
• Buhl Municipal Airport—$600,000 to fund repairs to a taxiway and build a taxiway
• Cascade Airport—$78,300 to fund sealing the runway pavement surface and joints
• Driggs-Reed Memorial Airport—two separate grants, one for $100,000 to fund an airport related environmental assessment/plan/study and a second grant for $350,000 to fund sealing the taxiway, apron and runway pavement surface and joints
• Idaho County Airport—$300,000 to fund sealing the runway, taxiway and taxilane pavement surface and joints
• Friedman Memorial Airport—three separate grants, one for $75,000 to fund an airport-related environmental assessment/plan study; a second for $300,000 to fund a study; a third for $855,112 to fund sealing the taxilane and apron surface pavement joints and purchase snow removal equipment
• Mountain Home Municipal Airport—$150,000 to fund sealing the runway, taxilane, apron and taxiway pavement surface and joints     
• Orofino Municipal Airport—$319,500 to fund building and extending a safety area and remove obstructions
• Bear Lake County Airport in Paris—$300,000 for funding miscellaneous airport improvements and installing a runway vertical/visual guidance system
• Rexburg-Madison County Airport—$88,888 to fund snow removal equipment purchase         
• St. Maries Municipal Airport—$297,000 to fund runway repairs
• Joslin Field-Magic Valley Regional Airport in Twin Falls—$562,500 to fund updating the airport master plan or study
• Weiser Municipal Airport—$553,500 to fund installing a runway vertical/visual guidance system, repairing the runway lighting and installing airfield guidance signs           

The Administration not only supports infrastructure through funding – it is making it possible to deliver these much-needed improvements more quickly. The Department is working hard to streamline the approval process, cut unnecessary red tape and reduce unnecessary, duplicative regulations that do not contribute to safety.  

These investments and reforms are especially timely because the U.S. economy is surging. Employers have added more than 7 million jobs since January 2017. To kick off the new decade, a robust 225,000 American jobs were added in January 2020 and the unemployment rate is still a remarkable 3.6 percent—the lowest in 50 years.

Aviation is an important part of that growth. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. civil aviation supports more than 5% of U.S. gross domestic product; $1.6 trillion in economic activity; and nearly 11 million jobs.

“America’s airports provide a gateway to the world for our citizens while at the same time delivering first impressions of the United States to visitors from abroad,” said FAA Administrator Steve Dickson. “It’s in our national interest to make them the crown jewel in our transportation system. The Airport Improvement Program allows us to do just that.”