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U"(/U l.~ ~ l ny' 411 'jj`uVlti 4dib tiil'd3 }'t~~~~ 1 AN L,V(i t l' Ig'J Ut)2 commercial air tour overflight issues: 15SUCf.51; 7Tte mpact of low-level cnnuuereial .,ir t. curs vn natural quiet and visitor experience in :~rt:,in park areas (i.c.. those w~i[h features which am be viewed from the air) is one of the !~ithrsr-pndile as well as Otte of the must ~ onrp'c~ hnd cuntrnversiah resource issues in the ^:.,t;nnsl Park Service and the Department of thr Interior. Cotrunercial air tours are probably ~~:J~. ~connmi~ully viable over park areas with feau~res which are attractive from the air, s'u the l.~ohiem is. tv r significant extent, a selGlimitiur; one, in that it is unlikely that profitable tours an be ;lov.•n o•, er such sites as Lutculrt's 13oylwud Home or the ?roman Library, N.~~2t>j~~li~st: The National Park Se;t•ice i;, required by statute to protect park resources mintpairod .uu to provide quality experience= Cur current and future visitors. Our Objective with reg,+rd ro ronrn ercial air tour overflitdrts is to hrecettt or mitigate the adverse effects of such flights on nanirnl quiet and visitor experience ;n certain units of the National Park System. tigr~pround: The issue oi'commercial air toter overflights of national park units first attracted ~u r-~;r r~arionwi ie attention in ] 987, when U.S. Senator Jo1m McCain of Arizona authored Public i... w P.L.I 10091, National Parks Overflights \rt of 1487, Under P.L. 100-91, the NP5 and the 1~.1A were requited to work together to substantially restore natural quiet to the Grand Canyon. "11te Act led !o the initial rule for the park, which was soot replaced by SEAR 50-2, and e~aab!ished minimum al[ihades--2000 feet above ~otrnd level (AGL}--above Haleakala and }'o:mite. The .0.ct also required NPS M issue a Report to Congress on the effects ofoverfligtus. 14p'i--In December, Transportativtr Secretary Pena and hrterior Secretary Babbittjointly est. bushed an i.ueragency working group (IW'Gj to work on park overflight issues of mutual ~:oncern. The first priority of the group was to deal with ttlajor, high-profile problem areas, such .+s Grand Canyon and both of Hawaii's natioral parks. Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes. 494• •'n .tiny, ra•o Hawaiian air tour helicopters crashed intq the ocean the same day, one off tttai (with three fatalities) attd one off 1`7olokai. T7te FAA, which had already been sued by the 5~en2 Club Legal Defense Fund of Hawaii for failutg to take action with regard to noise attd ;r,fen issues, ht~plcmented an emergency ru]e (SEAR 71) for air tour operations over the islands. On Capitol Hi11 several bills were inuvduced which would regulate air tour overflights. Some, like that of Rep. Patsy Nitric of Hawaii, were narrow in scope ("protecting parks, sacred sites, etc., in r1;e State of F.awaii}, while others, such as the National Park Airspace Management Act of 1994, atrthored by Senator Daniel Akaka, of Hawaii, were broad, attempting to deal with erflights throughout Ute National Park System. Another approach, licensing air tour operators r. park concessionaires, was introduced by step. Pat ~'i`illiams of Montana. None of these bills er: pQssed, Chaint;,m Oberstar of the Aviation `ubconuttittee, House Contmetce Committee, t : 6enrirr~s or the issue of air tour uvertiights of park areas. NPS, short of staff and money fur ;Ire project, finally subtrtitted its Report to Congress. 945--Senator A kaka's bill was revised and reunrodu~ed. Confy'essrnan David Skaggs of -I-