PORT ANGELES – The recent passage of the FAA’s Reauthorization Act in Washington, DC will probably go unnoticed to most people but, here in Clallam County, the Port of Port Angeles is celebrating. That’s because a portion of the bill, called the Airport Improvement Program, has a new amendment that will change the way the FAA looks at small airports like Fairchild, and in turn the amount of funding available to maintain them.

It all comes down to how the FAA determines runway length. Fairchild has a 5,000-foot runway, but the FAA only recognizes 3,850 of it because of what it considers the actual landing and take-off zone. With the change, the FAA must consider community emergency and medical response needs in their planning and funding for an airport.

Here’s Port of Port Angeles Executive Director Karen Goschen.