[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 7051]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           TEXT OF AMENDMENTS

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  SA 4578. Mr. REID submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
him to the bill H.R. 2881, to amend title 49, United States Code, to 
authorize appropriations for the Federal Aviation Administration for 
fiscal years 2008 through 2011, to improve aviation safety and 
capacity, to provide stable funding for the national aviation system, 
and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as 
follows:

       At the appropriate place, add the following:

     SEC. 715. OVERFLIGHTS IN GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK.

       (a) 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 section 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.
       (b) Considerations.--
       (1) In general.--For purposes of determining whether 
     substantial restoration of the natural quiet and experience 
     of the Park has been achieved in accordance with subsection 
     (a), the Secretary of the Interior (in this section referred 
     to as the ``Secretary'') shall use--
       (A) 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
       (B) noise modeling science that is--
       (i) developed for use at the Park;
       (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.
       (2) 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--
       (A) making recommendations, developing a final plan, or 
     issuing regulations relating to commercial air tour 
     operations in the Park; or
       (B) determining under subsection (a) whether substantial 
     restoration of the natural quiet and experience of the Park 
     has been achieved.

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