BIDDEFORD — A nearly $1 million project to clear trees near Biddeford Municipal Airport may have to be scaled down because of a Federal Aviation Administration rule that project officials were not aware of until now.

In February 2015, the City Council approved the project after the FAA informed city officials that trees near the airport’s runway have grown taller than the height it considers safe.

Ninety percent of the project is being funded with federal dollars, while the state and city are each responsible for 5 percent of the costs.

Although much of the tree clearing was set to take place near the southwestern end of the runway, or Runway 6, trees on the northeastern end, known as Runway 24, were also going to be removed.

But Matt Caron and Stuart Moncrieff of Gale Associates, the engineering firm leading the project, told airport commissioners last week that they were recently told by the FAA that it won’t fund the Runway 24 tree clearing because the airport does not have the proper easements to clear enough trees to bring the entire aircraft approach zone on that end up to FAA standards.

Caron and Moncrieff said they were “surprised” by the news, but will continue to meet with FAA officials in hopes of convincing them to still fund the removal of whatever trees the airport has the right to clear.

“We feel that the safety (of the airport) can be enhanced if the FAA does allow work within the Runway 24 approach,” Moncrieff said. “Even though you can’t clear the whole approach, you can provide a significant enhancement to safety at the airport by removing those trees where you currently have the right to go in and do so.”

“It’s not a dead issue just yet,” Caron added.

If the FAA does not bend on the rule, Moncrieff said the city could attempt to fund the work itself and seek reimbursement from the FAA later. But that would likely come at “a big cost,” and it could be five years before the city gets its money back, he said.

Additionally, the airport would need to get easements or permission from 11 residential property owners to even start the project.

Moncrieff said the Runway 6 tree clearing is still on schedule, with a target start time of mid-January 2017.

— Staff Writer Angelo J. Verzoni can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].