[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 3 (Thursday, January 4, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 1006]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-33291]



  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 3 / Thursday, January 4, 2001 / 
Notices  

[[Page 1006]]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Commercial Routes for the Grand Canyon National Park

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice; delay of effective date.

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SUMMARY: On April 4, 2000, the FAA issued a Notice of Availability of 
commercial routes in the Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP) Special 
Flight Rules Area (SFRA) setting forth new routes available for GCNP. 
Additionally, on that same day, the FAA published a final rule 
modifying the airspace of the SFRA. The new routes and the Airspace 
Modification final rule are interrelated. Based on safety concerns for 
air tours in the east end of the GCNPSFRA expressed by air tour 
operators, the FAA delays the effective date of the route system until 
the issues in the east end of the GCNP SFRA are resolved. The FAA also 
publishes in this Federal Register a companion document delaying the 
effective date for the Airspace Modification final rule.

DATES: The Notice of availability for Commercial Routes for the Grand 
Canyon National Park was issued on March 28, 2000, and published in the 
Federal Register on April 4, 2000 (65 FR 17698). It was scheduled to 
become effective on December 1, 2000 and delayed until December 28, 
2000. The FAA is further delaying implementation of the routes until 
the issues are resolved.

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, the Modification of the Dimensions of the Grand Canyon 
National Park Special Flight 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 17736; 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 
17698, 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) filed a petition for review of the two final rules 
before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 
Circuit. This petition did not cover the Routes Notice. 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. The FAA stayed the routes and airspace until December 
28, 2000 so that it could investigate further some new safety 
allegations raised by the Air Tour Providers during the course of the 
litigation. The FAA has analyzed these safety issues and has determined 
that further modifications are necessary in order to address some 
safety problems identified by the Air Tour Providers.

Agency Action

    The Air Tour Providers' Motion, filed October 25, 2000, 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 understood by the FAA. The FAA has now had 
the opportunity to conduct an initial investigation of the east end 
route structure and has determined that there likely are some 
improvements that can be made to address concerns raised by the Air 
Tour Operators. Thus, the FAA is delaying the effective date of the new 
routes until the issues on the east end of the GCNP SFRA are resolved. 
The FAA intends the routes to be implemented by or before April 1, 
2001. Elsewhere in this Federal Register, the FAA also is delaying the 
effective date of the airspace changes adopted in the April 4, 2000 
final rule.
    The FAA notes that if the issues on the east end cannot be resolved 
by April 1, 2001, the FAA may implement the routes on the west end of 
the GCNP SFRA (Blue Direct North, Blue Direct South, Green 4, Blue 2 
and Brown routes) while maintaining the SFAR 50-2 route structure on 
the east end. The goal for a partial implementation also is spring 
2001.

    Dated: Issued in Washington, DC on December 22, 2000.
Jane F. Garvey,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 00-33291 Filed 12-28-00; 4:08 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-M