SANDPOINT - A Sandpoint aerospace company's development of an aircraft modification that will increase aircraft fuel efficiency and reduce pollution has finally ascended above a morass of red tape.

The Federal Aviation Administration agreed last Thursday to assign a project number to the modification developed by Tamarack Aerospace Group, elevating it out a sequenced review process where the project had languished since February.

Tamarack officials decline to publicly elaborate on the nature of the modification at this time for proprietary reasons.

Those who have knowledge of Tamarack's efforts, however, contend the technology would be revolutionary for the aircraft industry.

The FAA's project sequencing is meant to spread out the workload of the agency so project reviews don't outstrip its resources. It can take six to 12 months for a sequenced project to be accepted by one of FAA's Aircraft Certification Offices.

"This process dramatically increases the time and cost for companies, and it is now impossible to hire based on predicted certification times," Tamarack President Nick Guida said in an Aug. 22 letter to U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho.

Tamarack currently employs 13 people and expects to grow to 300 employees over the next five years. But the FAA's system of project sequencing put those plans in an indefinite holding pattern.

Idaho's congressional delegation stepped in to persuade the FAA to lift Tamarack's project out of the regulatory ghetto.

There was also concern that Tamarack, an aircraft engineering and modification company which focuses on green technology and safety improvements for existing aircraft, would lay off employees or relocate to Canada.

"Aerospace and engineering jobs are among the highest paid positions in this North Idaho community, and the continued delay threatens the viability of this small aerospace company," Risch, U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo and Congressman Raul Labrador said in a Sept. 8 letter to FAA Administrator J. Randolph Babbitt.

State lawmakers and other officials also stepped up to bat for Tamarack.

Guida is grateful for the grassroots efforts of Susan and Kermit Kiebert, Gov. Butch Otter and Idaho's federal delegation for underscoring the importance of Tamarack's technology to the FAA.

"Our application for certification was elevated from nine months of delay notification to project assignment. Tamarack is now in a position to execute on its business plan, which calls for aggressive growth, creating well-paying jobs for our community," Guida said in a statement released on Monday.

Company officials said they were not seeking preferential treatment from FAA. The company wanted the agency to address the shortcomings of the sequenced review process.