FAA act includes port provision

President Donald Trump on Friday signed the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act, which includes a provision aimed at helping the Little Rock Port Authority.

The measure had passed in the Senate on Wednesday.

The law gives the FAA 30 days to brief congressional committees “on the agreement between the FAA and the Little Rock Port Authority to relocate the Little Rock Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range with Collated Tactical Air Control and Navigation.”

Economic development efforts at the port have been complicated by the location of a navigation aid that sits between two large parcels of Port Authority property.

“Because of where it’s located, it’s impeding development,” U.S. Sen. John Boozman, a Republican from Rogers, said.

With the navigation station moved, it will be easier to develop the 464 acres on either side of the device, officials say.

“That’s going to be great, in the future, for the Little Rock region,” Boozman said.

U.S. Rep. French Hill, a Republican from Little Rock, had championed the provision, Boozman added.

The navigational equipment is in a remote area between the port and David D. Terry Lock and Dam and southeast of Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field.

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