[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 103 (Tuesday, May 31, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30992-30993]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-10684]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Membership in the Grand Canyon Working Group of the National 
Parks Overflights Advisory Group

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: By Federal Register notice published on March 30, 2005, the 
National Park Service (NPS) and the Federal Aviation Administration 
(FAA), announced the establishment of a Grand Canyon Working Group 
within the National Parks Overflights Advisory Group (NPOAG) and asked 
interested persons to apply for membership on the new Working Group. 
This notice informs the public of the persons selected for the Grand 
Canyon Working Group and the date and location of the first meeting.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lynne Pickard, Senior Advisor for 
Environmental Policy, Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence 
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20591, telephone (202) 267-3576, 
[email protected], or Karen Trevino, National Park Service, Natural 
Sounds Program, 1201 Oakridge Dr., Suite 350, Ft. Collins, CO 80525, 
telephone (970) 225-3563, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The National Parks Overflights Act of 1987 (Pub. L. 100-91) 
requires actions by the Department of the Interior/National Park 
Service (DOI/NPS) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to 
provide for substantial restoration of the natural quiet and experience 
of the Grand Canyon National Park and for protection of public health 
and safety from adverse effects associated with aircraft overflights.
    The NPS and the FAA are committed to the joint Federal leadership 
necessary to complete this task with the participation of stakeholders, 
including tribal governments. The NPS and the FAA have engaged the U.S. 
Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution and Lucy Moore 
Associates to assist the agencies and stakeholders in developing a 
final overflights plan that will meet the goals and receive broad 
support.
    The National Parks Overflights Advisory Group (NPOAG) is an 
appropriate forum for bringing agencies, tribal governments, aviation 
and environmental interests together to address this issue. The NPS and 
the FAA, as required by the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 
2000, established the NPOAG in March 2001. By FAA Order No. 1110-138, 
signed by the FAA Administrator on October 10, 2003, the NPOAG became 
an Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC). The NPOAG is comprised of a 
balanced group of representatives of general aviation, commercial air 
tour operations, environmental concerns, and Native American tribes. It 
provides

[[Page 30993]]

advice, information, and recommendations to the FAA Administrator and 
NPS Director with respect to commercial air tour operations over and 
near national parks and abutting tribal lands. The Administrator and 
Director may also request the NPOAG's advice and recommendations on 
safety, environmental, and other issues related to commercial air tour 
operations over a national park or tribal lands.

Structure of the Grand Canyon Working Group

    The Grand Canyon Working Group will be comprised of 20 members to 
assure a representative and balanced group of agency, tribal, 
environmental, recreation, and aviation interests. The Working Group 
will be co-chaired by a representative of the NPS and a representative 
of the FAA, and will be facilitated by Lucy Moore Associates, a third-
party neutral contracted through the U.S. Institute for Environmental 
Conflict Resolution. The Working Group will address issues related to 
Grand Canyon overflight noise; seek meaningful, realistic and 
implementable solutions; and achieve as much consensus as possible on 
an overflights plan among the multiple interests that have a stake in 
this issue.
    The Working Group will be a self-contained group within the NPOAG 
that will report simultaneously to the NPOAG, the NPS, and the FAA. The 
Working Group will have specific responsibility for Grand Canyon 
overflight matters, including but not limited to:
     Review of the overflights noise analysis in order to have 
confidence in the approach and results.
     Recommendations for a final overflights plan that provides 
for the substantial restoration of natural quiet and experience of the 
Grand Canyon National Park, including routes or corridors for 
commercial air tour operations that employ quiet aircraft technology, 
and for protection of public health and safety from adverse effects 
associated with aircraft overflights.
     Participation in the development of aviation regulations 
necessary to implement the recommendations.

Date and Location of First Working Group Meeting

    The first Working Group will be held July 13-14, 2005 in Flagstaff, 
Arizona at Thornager's/The Kilted Cat, 2640 West Kiltie Lane, telephone 
(928) 774-8583. The meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m. on July 13 and end 
at 5 p.m. on July 14. An agenda will be distributed to Working Group 
Members and posted on the Grand Canyon Overflights web site (http://overflights.faa.gov) in advance of the meeting. The meeting is an open 
meeting. Anyone may attend as an observer. Business will be conducted 
by the Working Group, facilitated by Lucy Moore and supported by NPS 
and FAA staff. Observers will not participate in the Working Group's 
discussions, but will be afforded an opportunity during the meeting to 
ask questions and provide comments. The Working Group is anticipated to 
meet quarterly and to review and exchange information and views between 
meetings via mail, telephone, and Email. Meetings will be held within 
reasonable geographic proximity to the Grand Canyon to minimize travel 
time and expenses of most participants.
    The Working Group may be convened for approximately 3 years, 
assuming the need for aviation rulemaking activity and accompanying 
National Environmental Policy Act review following the Working Group's 
recommendations. The final overflights plan shall ensure that the 
restoration of natural quiet required by the National Parks Overflights 
Act is completed no later than April 22, 2008, in accordance with the 
Presidential memorandum of April 22, 1996.

Working Group Members

    On March 30, 2005, the FAA and the NPS published a notice in the 
Federal Register asking interested persons who met the qualifications 
requirements to apply for membership in the Working Group. The number 
of qualified applicants exceeded the number of seats allocated for the 
Working Group, making the selection process a challenging one. Members 
have been selected to provide a balanced group of key interests. The 
persons selected for membership are Ms. Katherine Andrus (Air Transport 
Association), Mr. Bill Austin (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), Mr. 
Alan Downer (Navajo Nation), Mr. Mark Grisham (Grand Canyon River 
Outfitters Association), Mr. Elling Halvorson (Papillon Airways), Mr. 
Dick Hingson (Grand Canyon Trust and National Parks Conservation 
Association), Mr. Leigh Kuwanwisiwma (Hopi Tribe), Mr. Cliff Langness 
(Westwind Aviation/King Airlines), Mr. Roland Manakaja (Havasupai 
Tribe), Mr. Jim McCarthy (Sierra Club), Mr. Doug Nering (Grand Canyon 
Hikers and Backpackers Association), Ms. Lynne Pickard (FAA and Working 
Group co-chair), Mr. Alan Stephen (Grand Canyon Airlines), Mr. John 
Sullivan (Sundance Helicopters), Ms. Karen Trevino (National Park 
Service and Working Group co-chair), Mr. Charles Vaughn (Hualapai 
Tribe), Ms. Heidi Williams (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association), 
Mr. David Yeamans (Grand Canyon Private Boaters Association), and Mr. 
Alan Zusman (Department of Defense/U.S. Navy). The representatives 
named above total 19 to fill the 20-member Working Group because the 
Grand Canyon Trust and the National Parks Conservation Association have 
each been selected for membership, but have initially proposed to share 
a representative. A 20th person will be added to the Working Group, 
allowing each member organization an individual representative, if this 
sharing arrangement changes.
    Members may designate alternates to substitute for them if they are 
unable to attend any meetings. Alternates must be approved in advance 
by the NPS and FAA co-chairs, consistent with the procedure used by the 
NPOAG. FAA and NPS will maintain a roster of qualified alternates, 
including but not limited to applications received for Working Group 
membership, and members may seek alternates from the roster instead of 
recommending their own. Members and alternates are responsible for 
keeping each other fully informed, and alternates must be prepared to 
participate and represent their area of interest.

Questions on Working Group, Meeting, or Membership

    Questions about the formation and first meeting of the Working 
Group, as well as the membership selection process, may be referred to 
Ms. Lucy Moore, 5 Seton Plaza, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87508, telephone 
(505) 820-2166, fax (505) 820-2191, Email: [email protected].

    Issued in Hawthorne, California on May 17, 2005.
William C. Withycombe,
Regional Administrator, Western-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. 05-10684 Filed 5-27-05; 8:45 am]
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