WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe vowed Tuesday to fight a “terrible” proposal advanced by the U.S. Department of Transportation that would cut funding for small community air service by more than half – and begin requiring communities served under the Essential Air Service program to match a portion of federal funds as a condition of service.

Airports in Maine that could be affected include Augusta, Bar Harbor, Rockland and Presque Isle.

During a hearing of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation on Tuesday, Snowe demanded answers from Read van der Water, assistant secretary of transportation for aviation and international affairs at DOT, about a plan in the Bush administration’s fiscal year 2004 budget to cut funding for small community air service. Cutbacks in the program, she said, would severely hurt already-slowing economies and continue to decrease access to the national transportation system.

“Adequate, reliable air service to communities in rural areas is not simply a luxury or a convenience. It is an imperative,” said Snowe, a member of the committee. “I have serious concerns about the impact deregulation of the airline industry has had on small and medium-size cities in rural areas like Maine. The [General Accounting Office] has reported that small communities are facing increasingly difficult challenges not only in attracting new air service, but also in retaining their current service. It seems to me that we should not be cutting these vital programs, but rather should be working to increase available funding and making the programs more effective to serve more customers and communities.”

Snowe urged an increase in funding for the Small Community Air Service Program, which provides federal grants to small communities nationwide for proposals designed to improve air service or to encourage air carriers to lower fares, add new routes or deploy larger, faster aircraft.

Presque Isle, for example, received $500,000 in grant funding under the program to improve its air service by restoring direct Portland-to-Presque Isle air service.