[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 22 (Monday, February 3, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6267-6268]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-02184]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Quiet Aircraft Technology Incentive for Commercial Air Tour 
Operators in Grand Canyon National Park

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation.

ACTION: Release of FAA-held allocations for quiet aircraft technology 
in Grand Canyon National Park.

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SUMMARY: The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) 
directs the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 
and the Secretary of the Interior to provide incentives for commercial 
air tour operators in Grand Canyon National Park that convert to quiet 
aircraft technology. The FAA holds a limited number of flight 
allocations that are authorized under 14 CFR part 93, Subpart U, 
``Special Flight Rules in the Vicinity of Grand Canyon National Park.'' 
The FAA, in consultation with the National Park Service (NPS), intends 
to provide these allocations to commercial air tour operators that 
currently hold allocations in proportion to the number of quiet 
aircraft technology operations that are flown by respective operators 
in the first six months of calendar year 2014. This is a one-time 
release of FAA-held allocations that will be available to operators for 
quiet aircraft technology flights during the 2014 air tour season and 
beyond. The FAA and NPS are continuing to make progress on additional 
quiet aircraft technology incentives for commercial air tour operators 
in Grand Canyon National Park.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Lusk--Mailing address: Federal 
Aviation Administration, P.O. Box 92007, Los Angeles, California 90009-
2007. Telephone: (310) 725-3808. Email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Authority

    1. Sec. 35001(b)(2) in title V of the Moving Ahead for Progress in 
the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), Public Law 112-141 signed July 6, 2012, 
directs the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 
and the Secretary of the Interior to provide incentives for commercial 
air tour operators that convert to quiet aircraft technology (QT), such 
as increasing the flight allocations for such operators on a net basis 
consistent with section 804(c) of the National Parks Air Tour 
Management Act of 2000 (title VIII of Pub. L. 106-181), provided that 
the cumulative impact of such operations does not increase noise at 
Grand Canyon National Park (``the park''). Appendix A of 14 CFR Part 
93, Subpart U, ``Special Flight Rules in the Vicinity of Grand Canyon 
National Park,'' contains procedures for determining the QT designation 
for aircraft in the park.
    2. Under 14 CFR Part 93, Subpart U, an allocation is defined as 
authorization to conduct a commercial air tour in the Grand Canyon 
National Park Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA). Sec. 93.319 and 93.321 
provide for the authorized annual number and the management of 
allocations, and Sec. 93.325 requires air tour operators to file 
quarterly reports with the FAA and specifies the content of those 
reports. Since the effective date of this regulation, a limited number 
of authorized annual allocations have reverted from commercial air tour 
operators to the FAA.
    3. This Federal Register Notice announces the FAA's intent, in 
consultation with the NPS, to release the allocations it currently 
holds, amounting to 49 allocations in the Dragon and Zuni Point 
corridors of the park and 1672 allocations elsewhere in the park SFRA, 
to commercial air tour operators that currently hold allocations in 
proportion to the number of QT operations that are flown by the 
respective operators in these areas during the first six months of 
calendar year 2014. These allocations are within the total annual 
number that are authorized to be flown in the Dragon and Zuni Point 
corridors and elsewhere in the SFRA, respectively, under 14 CFR Part 
93, Subpart U. They will be used for operations using QT, as defined in 
Appendix A of 14 CFR Part 93, Subpart U.

II. Description of Quiet Aircraft Technology Incentive

    1. The FAA currently holds 49 out of a total of 44,960 annual 
allocations authorized to be flown by commercial air tour operators in 
the Dragon and Zuni Point corridors of the park and 1672 out of a total 
of 49,011 annual allocations authorized to be flown elsewhere in the 
SFRA. The FAA intends to provide these allocations to commercial air 
tour operators that currently hold allocations in proportion to the 
number of QT operations that are flown by the respective operators in 
these areas of the park during the first six months of 2014. Consistent 
with Sec. 93.321(b)(4)(ii), allocations provided in the Dragon and Zuni 
Point corridors may be transferred for use outside of these corridors, 
while allocations provided for use elsewhere in the SFRA may not be 
transferred into the Dragon and Zuni Point corridors.
    2. Consistent with the FAA and NPS approach to QT incentives, the 
FAA has selected the first six months of calendar year 2014 as the 
basis for the release of FAA held allocations to recognize the progress 
made to date by operators that have already invested in QT and to 
encourage additional QT operations in 2014. The FAA will use the first 
and second quarter operator reports required under Sec. 93.325 to 
determine the numbers of QT operations by each operator in the Dragon 
and Zuni Point corridors and elsewhere in the SFRA, respectively. An 
operation will be considered QT if conducted in an aircraft that meets 
the noise limits identified in Appendix A of 14 CFR Part 93, Subpart U. 
Aircraft meeting those noise limits are listed in Appendices I and II 
of FAA Advisory Circular AC-93-2, ``Noise Levels for Aircraft Used for 
Commercial Operations in Grand Canyon National Park Special Flight 
Rules Area.'' The FAA's receipt of the second quarter reports, due by 
the end of July, will enable the FAA to complete its analysis and 
provide its allocations by September to round out the 2014 air tour 
season. In the FAA's experience, additional allocations have not been 
needed by operators earlier than September. This is a one-time release 
of FAA-held allocations that will be available to operators for quiet 
aircraft technology flights during the 2014 air tour season and beyond. 
The additional allocations and the condition that they be used for QT 
operations will be reflected in the operations specifications of 
individual operators.

III. Environmental Considerations

    As provided in MAP-21, the cumulative impact of operations using 
FAA-held allocations does not increase noise at the park. The 49 FAA 
allocations in the Dragon and Zuni Point corridors are 0.1% of the 
total 44,960 allocations authorized in those corridors. The 1672 FAA 
allocations

[[Page 6268]]

comprise 3.4% of the total 49,011 allocations authorized elsewhere in 
the SFRA. In addition, there are 254,013 air tour operations authorized 
as of 2013 under contract with the Hualapai tribe that are exempt from 
allocations--bringing the total authorized number of air tour 
operations in the park to 347,984. The 1721 total FAA allocations are 
0.5% of the total 347,984 authorized air tour operations. Analysis 
shows that such a small number of QT operations on existing routes will 
not cumulatively increase noise at the park and will not diminish the 
substantial restoration of natural quiet. The provision of FAA-held 
allocations to commercial air tour operators through amendments to 
their operations specifications is categorically excluded from more 
detailed environmental review.

    Issued in Hawthorne, CA on: January 28, 2014.
Dale Bouffiou,
Deputy Regional Administrator, Western-Pacific Region, Federal Aviation 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-02184 Filed 1-31-14; 8:45 am]
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