I 112th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 4198 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 16, 2012 Mr. Gosar (for himself, Ms. Berkley, Mr. Franks of Arizona, Mr. Schweikert, Mr. Quayle, Mr. Heck, Mr. Amodei, and Mr. Flake) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To provide standards for determining whether the substantial restoration of the natural quiet and experience of the Grand Canyon National Park has been achieved and to clarify regulatory authority with respect to commercial air tours operating over the Park.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Grand Canyon Tourism Jobs Protection Act of 2012.

2.

Overflights in Grand Canyon National Park

(a)

Determinations with respect to substantial restoration of natural quiet and experience

(1)

In general

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for purposes of section 3(b)(1) of Public Law 100–91 (16 U.S.C. 1a–1 note), the substantial restoration of the natural quiet and experience of the Grand Canyon National Park (in this subsection referred to as the ‘‘Park’’) shall be considered to be achieved in the Park if, for at least 75 percent of each day, 50 percent of the Park is free of sound produced by commercial air tour operations that have an allocation to conduct commercial air tours in the Park as of the date of the enactment of this Act. (2)

Considerations

(A)

In general

For purposes of determining whether substantial restoration of the natural quiet and experience of the Park has been achieved in accordance with paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Interior (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall use— (i)the 2-zone system for the Park in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act to assess impacts relating to subsectional restoration of natural quiet at the Park, including— (I)the thresholds for noticeability and audibility; and (II)the distribution of land between the 2 zones; and (ii)noise modeling science that is— (I)developed for use at the Park, specifically Integrated Noise Model Version 6.2; (II)validated by reasonable standards for conducting field observations of model results; and (III)accepted and validated by the Federal Interagency Committee on Aviation Noise. (B)

Sound from other sources

The Secretary shall not consider sound produced by sources other than commercial air tour operations, including sound emitted by other types of aircraft operations or other noise sources, for purposes of— (i)making recommendations, developing a final plan, or issuing regulations relating to commercial air tour operations in the Park; or (ii)determining under paragraph (1) whether substantial restoration of the natural quiet and experience of the Park has been achieved. (3)

Continued monitoring

The Secretary shall continue monitoring noise from aircraft operating over the Park below 17,999 feet MSL to ensure continued compliance with the substantial restoration of natural quiet and experience in the Park. (4)

Day defined

For purposes of this subsection, the term day means the hours between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.