LEONARDTOWN — St. Mary’s County Regional Airport is set to get a 12,000-gallon above-ground jet fuel tank built to carry sustainable aviation fuel, a move airport supporters say would make it the first airport in Maryland to sell jet fuel with carbon offsets.
The Commissioners of St. Mary’s County on Oct. 27 approved a memorandum of agreement with The Patuxent Partnership to receive the second part of a state bond bill grant for the project, $350,000 for the Jet A tank. No commissioner voiced opposition when the motion was called, and the board authorized the commissioner president to sign the agreement.
The tank is the latest piece of a push to turn the county’s small airfield into a stop for business and corporate aircraft. It follows this spring’s runway extension, which opened the airport to larger jets, and it arrives as a local aviation company says it plans to move workers from a newly acquired maintenance firm to the airport.
Fuel for a longer runway
Sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, is a biofuel made from sources other than petroleum. It can be blended with regular jet fuel, and the speakers at the meeting said it is fully interchangeable with conventional Jet A, so any jet that uses standard fuel can take it. Customers who buy it can claim carbon offsets, which public works officials said would appeal to corporations trying to cut their emissions.
Very few airports offer SAF right now, officials said, and having it on site would be “advantageous bringing people into the county,” particularly with the longer runway allowing more jet traffic.
The state request behind the money, filed in the General Assembly’s 2025 session as the St. Mary’s County Regional Airport Fuel Capacity Expansion bond initiative, sought $350,000 for The Patuxent Partnership, a nonprofit, to plan, design, build and equip the project. The form describes it as a SAF “farm” that would make St. Mary’s the first Maryland airport to offer the fuel and says 100% SAF can cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 94% compared with conventional jet fuel, depending on how it is made. It lists Bailey and Crosby as sponsors.
The commissioners approved part one of the grant last year for design, construction and the infrastructure needed to set the tank. Officials said this second award covers the remaining engineering and site work and is the final phase of the tank project. Asked whether a third part would follow, a public works official said no, though the airport expects to bring a new project forward next year.
Sized for a tanker truck
The tank will sit above ground because environmental rules have pushed airports away from in-ground fuel tanks, officials told the board. One commissioner asked whether 12,000 gallons would be enough. The answer turned on the delivery truck: a fuel tanker carries 8,000 gallons, so once the tank is drawn down to about 4,000 gallons, the airport can take a full truckload at any time.
That capacity matters more now than it did a year ago. In March, state and county leaders marked the end of a project that opened the airport to larger jets. The governor’s office said the runway grew from about 4,150 feet to more than 5,200 feet, enough for medevac flights, corporate jets and defense-related aircraft that the old runway could not handle. The state put nearly $1 million toward the project to unlock federal grants, and Maryland’s U.S. senators cited more than $22 million in federal investment.
More workers headed to the airport
The fuel item brought a longtime airport figure to the dais. A commissioner said he had asked Mr. Billman to attend after seeing him at the airport advisory board meeting the night before, saying he is “the reason we’re here,” and noting he started building at the airport about 40 years ago.
After the vote, Billman told the commissioners that his company, Research Engineering Development, had acquired Tilford Aviation, an aircraft maintenance firm he said has about 100 employees, a base in Hagerstown and several bases overseas. He said the company will keep the Hagerstown site for strategic reasons but plans to bring a lot of employees to the St. Mary’s County airport. The deal has been in the works since Oct. 1, he said, and the company hopes eventually to expand on the airport’s west end rather than use existing space.
He did not say how many jobs would move or when.
The airport has been a steady presence on the commissioners’ agenda this fall. Last week the board adopted terminal rental rules on a 4-1 vote after an earlier version was pulled over fees and flyers. The county’s 2026 State of the County video also highlighted the runway, and the neighboring AeroPark has been preparing for new hangars and road upgrades.
The commissioners did not set a date for the tank to be installed or for SAF sales to begin.
