[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 224 (Monday, November 20, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 69846-69847]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-29622]



[[Page 69845]]

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Part IV





Department of Transportation





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Federal Aviation Administration



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14 CFR Part 93



Modification of the Dimensions of the Grand Canyon National Park 
Special Flight Rules Area and Flight Free Zones; Final Rule



Commercial Routes for the Grand Canyon National Park; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 224 / Monday, November 20, 2000 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 69846]]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 93

[Docket No. FAA-1999-5926]
RIN 2120-AG74


Modification of the Dimensions of the Grand Canyon National Park 
Special Flight Rules Area and Flight Free Zones

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Delay of effective date.

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SUMMARY: On April 4, 2000, the FAA published two final rules for Grand 
Canyon National Park (GCNP). One rule limited the number of commercial 
air tour operations in the GCNP Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA); the 
other modified the airspace of the SFRA. The Commercial Air Tour 
Limitations final rule was effective on May 4, 2000. The airspace 
modifications were scheduled to become effective December 1, 2000. On 
July 31, 2000, the United States Air Tour Association and seven air 
tour operators in GCNP requested a stay of the compliance date for the 
rules from the FAA. On October 11, 2000, the FAA published a denial of 
the stay request. On October 25, 2000, the Air Tour Providers filed 
with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals a Motion for Stay and Emergency 
Relief Pending Review of an Agency Order. On November 2, 2000, the FAA 
filed with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals its Opposition to 
Petitioners' Motion for Stay Pending Review and Notification of 
Administrative Stay of Route and Airspace Rules. This document delays 
the effective date of the Airspace Modification Final Rule so that the 
FAA may investigate further some new safety issues raised by the Air 
Tour Providers.

DATES: The final rule Modification of the Dimensions of the Grand 
Canyon National Park Special Flight Rules Area and Flight Free Zones, 
was issued on March 28, 2000, and published in the Federal Register on 
April 4, 2000 (65 FR 17735). It was scheduled to become effective on 
December 1, 2000. The FAA is delaying the effective date of the final 
rule until December 28, 2000. This action does not affect the 
Commercial Air Tour Limitations final rule that became effective May 4, 
2000.

ADDRESSES: You may view a copy of the final rules, Commercial Air Tour 
Limitations in the Grand Canyon National Park Special Flight Rules Area 
and Modification of the Dimensions of the Grand Canyon National Park 
Special Flight Rules Area and Flight Free Zones, through the Internet 
at: http://dms.dot.gov, by selecting docket numbers FAA-99-5926 and 
FAA-99-5927. You may also review the public dockets on these 
regulations in person in the Docket Office between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The Docket Office 
is on the plaza level of the Nassif Building at the Department of 
Transportation, 7th Ave., SW, Room 401, Washington, DC, 20590.
    As an alternative, you may search the Federal Register's Internet 
site at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su__docs for access to the final 
rules.
    You may also request a paper copy of the final rules from the 
Office of Rulemaking, Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence 
Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20591, or by calling (202) 267-9680.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Howard Nesbitt, Flight Standards 
Service (AFS-200), Federal Aviation Administration, Seventh and 
Maryland Streets, SW, Washington, DC 20591; Telephone: (202) 493-4981.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:   

Background

    On April 4, 2000, the Federal Aviation Administration published two 
final rules, Area and Flight Free Zones (Air Space Modification), and 
the Commercial Air Tour Limitation in the Grand Canyon National Park 
Special Flight Rules Area (Commercial Air Tour Limitation). See 65 FR 
17763; 65 FR 17708; April 4, 2000. The FAA also simultaneously 
published a notice of availability of Commercial Routes for the Grand 
Canyon National Park (Routes Notice). See 65 FR 17689, April 4, 2000. 
The Commercial Air Tour Limitations final rule became effective on May 
4, 2000. The Air Space Modification final rule and the routes set forth 
in the Routes Notice were scheduled to become effective December 1, 
2000. The effective date of the Air Space Modification final rule and 
the new routes was delayed to provide the air tour operators ample 
opportunity to train on the new route system during the non-tour 
season. The Final Supplemental Environmental Assessment for Special 
Flight Rules in the Vicinity of Grand Canyon National Park (SEA) was 
completed on February 22, 2000, and the Finding of No Significant 
Impact was issued on February 25, 2000.
    On May 8, 2000, The United States Air Tour Association and seven 
air tour operators (hereinafter collectively referred to as the Air 
Tour Providers) file a petition for review of the two final rules 
before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 
Circuit. The FAA, The Department of Transportation, the Department of 
Interior, the National Park Service and various federal officials were 
named as respondents in this action. On May 30, 2000, the Air Tour 
Providers filed a motion for stay pending review before the Court of 
Appeals. The Federal respondents in this case filed a motion for 
summary denial on grounds that petitioners had not exhausted their 
administrative remedies. The Court granted the federal respondents 
summary denial on July 19, 2000. The Grand Canyon Trust, the National 
Parks and Conservation Association, the Sierra Club, the Wilderness 
Society, Friends of the Grand Canyon and Grand Canyon River Guides, 
Inc. (The Trust) filed a petition for review of the same rules on May 
22, 2000. The Court, by motion of the federal respondents, consolidated 
that case with that of the Air Tour Providers. The Hualapai Indian 
Tribe of Arizona filed a motion to intervene in the Air Tour Providers 
petition for review on June 23, 2000. The Court granted that motion on 
July 19, 2000.
    On July 31, 2000, the Air Tour Providers filed a motion for stay 
before the FAA. Both the Hualapai Indian Tribe and the Trust filed 
oppositions to the Air Tour Providers' stay motion. On October 11, 
2000, (65 FR 60352) the FAA published a disposition of the stay 
request, denying the stay. On October 25, 2000, the Air Tour Providers 
filed a Motion for Stay and Emergency Relief Pending Review of an 
Agency Order with the Court of Appeals. The federal respondents filed 
their Opposition to Petitioner's Motion for Stay Pending Review and 
Notification of Administrative Stay of Route and Airspace Rules on 
November 2, 2000.

Agency Action

    The Air Tour Providers have raised some specific safety allegations 
about the routes in the Dragon Corridor (Green Route 2 and 2R), Zuni 
Point Corridor (Green 1; Black 1) and east of the Desert View Flight 
Free Zone (Black 2 and Green 3). These safety issues were not 
previously raised to the FAA and thus the FAA has not had the 
opportunity to investigate the merit of these allegations. The FAA 
takes these allegations very seriously and thus has sent out a group of 
FAA safety inspectors to verify the significance of these allegations. 
Based on the information obtained from these investigators, the FAA 
will determine how to best resolve any safety issues of

[[Page 69847]]

merit. The FAA will report its findings to the Court by November 28, 
2000. Because of the interrelationship between the new routes and the 
airspace changes adopted in the final rule, the FAA is delaying the 
effective date of the Airspace Modification until December 28, 2000. If 
the FAA determines that any of the safety issues raised by Petitioners 
have merit, then it will take the necessary steps to resolve them 
before making any of the routes effective and thus necessitating the 
implementation of the airspace modification final rule.

Immediate Effective Date

    The FAA finds that good cause exists under 5 U.S.C. 553(d) for this 
final rule to become final rule upon issuance. The FAA and NPS must 
implement new air tour routes, flight-free zones, and flight corridors 
at the same time in order to transition to a new operating environment 
in GCNP. The FAA has determined that because new safety concerns have 
been raised that need to be investigated further, it is paramount that 
their rule become effective immediately.

Economic Evaluation

    In issuing the final rule for the Modification of the Dimensions of 
the Grand Canyon National Park Special Flight Rules Area and Flight 
Free Zone, the FAA prepared a cost benefit analysis of the rule. A copy 
of the regulatory evaluation is located in docket Number 99-5926, 
Amendment No. 93-80. This delay of the effective date for the final 
rule will not affect that evaluation, although the delay in the 
implementation of the EFZs may be temporarily cost relieving for air 
tour operators.

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended, 
the FAA completed a final regulatory flexibility analysis of the final 
rule. This extended delay of the effective date will not affect that 
supplemental analysis.

Federalism Implications

    This amendment will not have substantial direct effects on the 
states, on the relationship between the national government and the 
states, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the 
various levels of government. Therefore, in accordance with Executive 
Order 12612, it is determined that this amendment would not have 
sufficient Federalism implications to warrant the preparation of a 
Federalism Assessment.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (the Act), 
enacted as Public Law 104-4 on March 22, 1995, requires each Federal 
agency, to the extent permitted by law, to prepare a written assessment 
of the effects of any Federal mandate in a proposed or final agency 
rule that may result in the expenditure of $100 million or more (when 
adjusted annually for inflation) in any one year by State, local, and 
tribal governments in the aggregate, or by the private sector. Section 
204(a) of the Act, 2 U.S.C. 1534(a), requires the Federal agency to 
develop an effective process to permit timely input by elected officers 
(or their designees) of State, local, and tribal governments on a 
proposed ``significant intergovernmental mandate.'' A ``significant 
intergovernmental mandate'' under the Act is any provision in a Federal 
agency regulation that would impose an enforceable duty upon State, 
local, and tribal governments in the aggregate of $100 million 
(adjusted annually for inflation) in any one year. Section 203 of the 
Act, 2 U.S.C. 1533, which supplements section 204(a), provides that, 
before establishing any regulatory requirements that might 
significantly or uniquely affect small governments, the agency shall 
have developed a plan, which, among other things, must provide for 
notice to potentially affected small governments, if any, and for a 
meaningful and timely opportunity for these small governments to 
provide input in the development of regulatory proposals. The FAA has 
determined that this rule will not impose any unfunded mandates.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 93

    Air traffic control, Airports, Navigation (Air).

Adoption of Amendments

    Accordingly, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) amends 14 
CFR part 93 as follows:

PART 93--SPECIAL AIR TRAFFIC RULES AND AIRPORT TRAFFIC PATTERNS

    1. The authority citation for part 93 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40103, 40106, 40109, 40113, 44502, 
44514, 44701, 44719, 46301.

Secs. 93.305 and 93.307  [Amended]

    2. Sections 93.305 and 93.307 published on December 31, 1996 (61 FR 
69330), corrected at 62 FR 2445 (January 16, 1997), and delayed at 65 
FR 5397 (February 3, 2000) and made effective December 1, 2000 in a 
rule published on April 4, 2000 (65 FR 17736) because effective 
December 28, 2000.


Secs. 93.301, 93.305, 93.307, 93.309  [Amended]

    3. The amendments to Section 93.301, 93.305, 93.307 and 93.309 
published on April 4, 2000 (65 FR 17736) now become effective on 
December 28, 2000.

    Dated: Issued in Washington D.C. on November 14, 2000.
Jane F. Garvey,
Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration.
[FR Doc. 00-29622 Filed 11-16-00; 10:18 am]
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