National Parks Air Tour Fees: Effective Verification and
Enforcement Are Needed to Improve Compliance (11-MAY-06,
GAO-06-468).
The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (the fees
legislation) required the National Park Service to begin
collecting fees from operators that conduct air tours over
national park units that meet certain criteria. Currently, only
Grand Canyon, Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes National Parks meet
the criteria to charge air tour fees. The Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), in cooperation with the Park Service, also
regulates air tours over park units pursuant to the National
Parks Overflights Act of 1987 and the National Parks Air Tour
Management Act of 2000. GAO was asked to (1) assess the Park
Service's collection of air tour fees and (2) identify what
factors, if any, hinder the collection of air tour fees. GAO is
also providing information on the possible expansion of air tour
fees to additional park units.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-06-468
ACCNO: A53742
TITLE: National Parks Air Tour Fees: Effective Verification and
Enforcement Are Needed to Improve Compliance
DATE: 05/11/2006
SUBJECT: Air transportation
Federal law
Financial analysis
Law enforcement
National parks
National recreation areas
Program management
User fees
Voluntary compliance
Tourism
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GAO-06-468
* Report to Congressional Requesters
* May 2006
* NATIONAL PARKS AIR TOUR FEES
* Effective Verification and Enforcement Are Needed to Improve
Compliance
* Contents
* Results in Brief
* Background
* Largely through Voluntary Compliance, the Park Service Has
Collected Some, but Not All, Air Tour Fees at Three Park Units
* Collections of Air Tour Fees Are Hindered by Several Factors
* The Park Service Cannot Verify Air Tour Activity Over the
Three Park Units
* The Park Service Cannot Effectively Enforce Compliance Due
to the Lack of Air Tour Data
* Different Geographic Applicability of Two Laws Complicates
Efforts to Collect Air Tour Fees
* Expanding Air Tour Fees to Additional Park Units Should Be
Balanced against Potential Impacts on Air Tour Operators
* Conclusions
* Matter for Congressional Consideration
* Recommendations for Executive Action
* Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
* Scope and Methodology
* Number of Authorized Air Tours over National Park Units and Admission
Fee Information
* Comments from the Department of the Interior
* GAO Comments
* GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments
Report to Congressional Requesters
May 2006
NATIONAL PARKS AIR TOUR FEES
Effective Verification and Enforcement Are Needed to Improve Compliance
Contents
Tables
Figure
May 11, 2006Letter
Congressional Requesters
Millions of visitors each year enjoy our national parks, monuments,
historic sites, and other units of the national park system (national park
units).1 While most visitors experience the park units on land by walking,
driving, or as part of a bus tour, some visitors view the park units
through commercial, sightseeing air tours (air tours). The Department of
the Interior's (Interior) National Park Service (Park Service) is
responsible for managing the 390 national park units and for collecting
applicable fees associated with their use. Collecting applicable admission
and commercial tour use fees from individuals, private vehicles, and tour
buses that enter the park units on land is generally a simple process. At
those park units that charge fees, the Park Service typically collects the
fees at entrance gates, and visitors can be denied entry if they do not
pay the required fees. To verify that these visitors and tour buses have
paid the fees, the Park Service periodically checks their receipts, and
some park units compare visitation and vehicle statistics with the fees
collected. In contrast, collecting commercial tour use fees for air tours
(air tour fees) has posed some unique challenges for the Park Service.
As part of legislation giving the Park Service recreation fee authority,
the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (the fees legislation)
required the Park Service to begin collecting a commercial tour use fee
for all aircraft conducting tours in the airspace over two park
units-Grand Canyon and Haleakala National Parks (Grand Canyon,
Haleakala)-after October 1, 1993.2 The air tour fee requirement also
applies to any other park unit that charges an admission fee and for which
the Park Service determines the level of air tour activity over the park
unit is equal to or greater than the level at Grand Canyon or Haleakala.3
In December 1993, the Park Service determined that the level of air tour
activity over Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (Hawaii Volcanoes) was
equivalent to Haleakala and that air tour fees would be charged for this
park unit as well. The air tour fee per entry into the airspace of these
three park units is $25 per aircraft with a capacity of 25 or fewer
passengers or $50 per aircraft with a capacity of more than 25 passengers.
The fees legislation also allows the Park Service to periodically make
reasonable adjustments to the air tour fee. At the time of our review, all
air tour aircraft at the three relevant park units carried fewer than 25
passengers, and since the Park Service has not made any adjustments since
1993 to air tour fees, only the $25 fee has applied.
While the Park Service is charged with collecting air tour fees, it is the
sole jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) to regulate or control the airspace over national
park units. As part of its aviation responsibilities, FAA issues
certificates to pilots who conduct air tours, monitors the safety and
maintenance of air tour aircraft, issues applicable air carrier
certificates, and takes necessary enforcement actions. The Park Service
does not issue certificates or business permits to air tour operators.
Congress directed FAA, in cooperation with the Park Service, to regulate
air tours over park units in legislation commonly referred to as the
National Parks Overflights Act of 1987 (Grand Canyon Act)4 and the
National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000 (Air Tour Management Act).5
The Grand Canyon Act, among other things, requires FAA to prepare and
issue a plan to manage air traffic above Grand Canyon. FAA and the Park
Service are jointly conducting the environmental work necessary to prepare
such a plan, but in the meantime, FAA has issued special federal aviation
regulations that, in part, require operators to record and report their
air tours over Grand Canyon to FAA.6 The Air Tour Management Act, among
other things, requires FAA, in cooperation with the Park Service, to
develop air tour management plans for national park units and abutting
tribal lands where commercial air tour companies (air tour operators)
apply for authority to conduct air tours.7 As of April 2006, the agencies
had not completed any air tour management plans, although plans are in
development for Grand Canyon and six other national park units.8 Under the
regulations implementing the Grand Canyon Act, FAA has authorized 14 air
tour operators to conduct a combined total of 91,250 air tours annually as
of March 2006.9 Similarly, under the Air Tour Management Act, FAA has
authorized 77 air tour operators at 85 park units to conduct a combined
total of 262,857 air tours annually. Of that amount, 14 operators are
authorized to conduct a combined 28,441 air tours annually at Hawaii
Volcanoes, and 10 operators are authorized for a combined 26,325 air tours
annually at Haleakala.
Although legislation directs the agencies to work together in developing
plans to manage air tours over national park units-and the agencies
anticipate that local FAA district offices will have the lead role in
monitoring and enforcing the plans-no law specifically assigns FAA the
responsibility to carry out enforcement actions against air tour operators
that do not pay their fees. Neither the Grand Canyon Act nor the Air Tour
Management Act establish specific mechanisms for air tour fee collection
and enforcement, except that the Air Tour Management Act required FAA to
report to Congress by October 2000 on the effects that air tour fees are
likely to have on the air tour industry, including (1) the viability of a
tax credit for air tour operators and (2) the financial effects that any
proposed offsets are likely to have on FAA.
In January 2006, we reported on the status of the Air Tour Management
Act's implementation.10 We found, among other things, that FAA and the
Park Service lack data to verify air tour activity over park units
regulated by the Air Tour Management Act because FAA and existing laws and
regulations do not require operators to record and report such
information. Consequently, we recommended that FAA establish a procedure
for operators to record and report to both agencies the number of air
tours they conduct over national park units in order to improve
enforcement of that act. The Department of Transportation agreed with our
findings in that report and agreed to consider our recommendations as FAA
moves forward with the air tour management program. As part of our review
of the Air Tour Management Act, we were also asked to review operators'
compliance with the payment of air tour fees. We chose to report
separately on the fees issue because the fees legislation is distinct from
the Air Tour Management Act, and air tour fees currently apply to only
three park units.
In congressional oversight hearings in 2002 and 2004, Interior, a large
air tour operator in Hawaii, and nonprofit conservation organizations
raised concern that some air tour operators have not paid all fees owed to
the national park units as required by the fees legislation.11 In this
context, you asked us to (1) assess the Park Service's collection of air
tour fees and operators' compliance in paying fees and (2) identify what
factors, if any, hinder the collection of air tour fees. We are also
providing information on the possible expansion of air tour fees to
additional park units.
In conducting our work, we analyzed Park Service and FAA policies,
guidance, and other relevant documents, as well as applicable laws and
regulations. In addition, we reviewed the Park Service's data on the
collection of air tour fee payments at the three relevant park units and
FAA's data on the number of air tours over Grand Canyon, which operators
are required to record and report to FAA. We determined that both
agencies' data were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this report.
We also interviewed Park Service officials at headquarters and at the
three park units that have established air tour fees, FAA officials at
headquarters and at the two relevant district offices, and a sample of 18
operators of the 33 that had authority to conduct air tours at the three
relevant park units. This sample included different sizes of air tour
operators, as measured by the number of air tours they are authorized to
conduct annually. A more detailed description of our scope and methodology
is presented in appendix I. We performed our work from January 2005
through April 2006 in accordance with generally accepted government
auditing standards.
Results in Brief
Relying largely on voluntary compliance, the Park Service has collected
some, but not all, air tour fees from operators at Grand Canyon,
Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes. After passage of the fees legislation,
these three park units instituted air tour fees in 1994 by requesting air
tour operators to voluntarily report their air tours and pay the
appropriate fees on a monthly basis. Since then, the Park Service has
collected about $19 million in air tour fees at the three park units (in
inflation-adjusted 2005 dollars): at Grand Canyon, over $16 million; at
Haleakala, about $970,000; and at Hawaii Volcanoes, about $1.9 million.
However, voluntary compliance with the air tour fee requirement has been
inconsistent, and several operators are not paying the required fees. For
example, we compared the data that air tour operators at Grand Canyon
reported to FAA with the data they voluntarily supplied the Park Service
and found that 13 of the 21 operators underpaid their air tour fees for
calendar years 2000 through 2003 by more than $1.5 million. Furthermore,
at Hawaii Volcanoes, one operator, who owed more than $360,000 as of
January 2005, has publicly stated that it stopped paying fees because
other operators were not paying. Over the past 12 years, the Park
Service's efforts to collect unpaid fees have been uneven. For example, at
Hawaii Volcanoes, Park Service officials sent letters to air tour
operators in 1994, 1997, 2004, and 2005, encouraging the payment of fees,
and the Park Service filed lawsuits against three operators at Grand
Canyon. The lawsuits resulted in settlements in July 2000 in which the
three operators agreed to make back payments totaling about $800,000, but
Park Service officials told us the operators have stopped making such
payments, and the park unit has taken no further action.
The Park Service's ability to collect air tour fees is hindered by several
factors, as follows:
o The Park Service cannot verify air tour activity over the three park
units. Except for Grand Canyon, air tour operators are not required to
record and report to either the Park Service or FAA their number of air
tours over national park units. At Grand Canyon, operators are required to
report their flights to FAA, and the Park Service has requested this
information, but the relevant FAA district office has generally been
unwilling to share the flight data because of concerns that FAA's
involvement with fees could cause operators to underreport their air tour
activity. Consequently, the Park Service relies on air tour operators to
voluntarily and accurately report their air tours and pay the required
fees. Without the ability to verify operators' air tour activity, the Park
Service cannot ensure that operators are making all the required payments.
As previously noted, our January 2006 report recommends that FAA establish
a procedure for operators to record and report to both agencies the number
of air tours they conduct over national park units regulated by the Air
Tour Management Act, which includes Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes.
o The Park Service cannot effectively enforce compliance due to the lack
of air tour data. The agency charged with collecting air tour fees-the
Park Service-has limited ability to enforce compliance because it does not
have jurisdiction over the airspace or air tour operators and lacks
sufficient air tour data. Conversely, the agency with the authority over
the airspace and air tour operators-FAA-is not required to assist with
collecting, or enforcing the collection of, air tour fees. Neither the
Grand Canyon Act nor the Air Tour Management Act requires air tour
management plans to contain provisions specifically addressing fee
compliance. Furthermore, neither act requires that operators' authority to
conduct air tours over park units be conditioned on payment of air tour
fees. While the Park Service could go to court seeking fees owed from
noncompliant operators or refer outstanding fees to the Department of the
Treasury for debt collection, the agency generally lacks the evidence
necessary to prove that air tour operators have not paid all the fees
owed. As a result, both Park Service and FAA officials told us the
agencies have little or no ability to take enforcement action against
noncompliant operators.
o Different geographic applicability of two laws complicates efforts to
collect air tour fees. The fees legislation and the Air Tour Management
Act and/or their respective implementing guidelines or regulations have
different geographic applicability. Under the fees legislation, an air
tour operator is required to pay a fee when a tour enters the airspace
over the park unit, whereas the Air Tour Management Act defines air tours
as flights over a national park unit or within a half-mile outside its
boundary. The different geographic applicability of the two laws has
complicated the Park Service's efforts to collect air tour fees by
providing some air tour operators with a plausible explanation for why
they are not paying fees. Under the existing system, air tour operators
can assert that they fly only within a half-mile of a park unit boundary
but do not cross it; therefore, their air tours are covered by the Air
Tour Management Act but not by the fees legislation. To enable the Park
Service to verify air tour activity under both laws and determine the
appropriate level of fees owed under the fees legislation, air tour
operators would have to record and report two sets of data: one for air
tours that cross the park unit boundary for fee collection, and another
for air tours that fly over or within a half-mile of a park unit boundary
for the Air Tour Management Act. Alternatively, the fees legislation and
the Air Tour Management Act would have to be reconciled to have consistent
geographic applicability.
Air tour fees are currently charged at only 3 of the 86 park units with
air tours, based on the criteria established in the fees legislation.
Expanding air tour fees to other park units could generate additional
funding for the Park Service, but such an expansion would require a
legislative change. The legislation could explicitly provide that the
additional funding may be used to develop the air tour management plans
required by the Air Tour Management Act. In January 2006, we reported that
the Park Service had not funded its share of the development costs for air
tour management plans. However, any possible expansion of air tour fees
should be balanced against potential impacts on air tour operators. FAA's
report on potential impacts, which the Air Tour Management Act required by
October 2000, was drafted in January 2001 but has not been submitted to
Congress. Once FAA submits its report, Congress, the Park Service, and
other stakeholders will have additional information to evaluate whether
air tour fees should be expanded to other park units.
To enhance the collection of air tour fees, Congress should consider
amending the fees legislation or the Air Tour Management Act to reconcile
the geographic applicability of the two laws. Once these two acts are
reconciled, reporting by air tour operators under the Air Tour Management
Act could also be used to monitor and enforce air tour fee collections. In
our January 2006 report, we recommended that FAA establish a procedure for
operators to record and report to both agencies the number of air tours
they conduct over national park units regulated by the Air Tour Management
Act, which includes Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes but not Grand Canyon.
In order to improve compliance and enforcement of air tour fees at Grand
Canyon, we are recommending that FAA take steps to ensure that the Park
Service receives the information it needs on air tours at Grand Canyon. We
are also recommending that FAA submit to Congress the report required
under the Air Tour Management Act on the effects that air tour fees are
likely to have on air tour operators. In commenting on a draft of this
report, Interior, representing the Park Service, agreed with our findings,
conclusions and recommendations, particularly those that address the need
for more accurate and reliable air tour data. The Department of
Transportation, representing FAA, generally agreed with our findings,
conclusions, and recommendations, as revised. FAA disagreed with a Matter
for Congressional Consideration, which we have since removed from the
report, to amend the Grand Canyon Act and the Air Tour Management Act to
require compliance with air tour fee payments as a condition for operating
authority to conduct air tours over national parks units. We agreed with
FAA that much of the administrative burden for making operators' air tour
operating authority conditioned on fee compliance could unduly fall on
FAA. FAA also expressed concern that it would distract from FAA's primary
focus of aviation safety. As a result, we have removed that matter from
the report. We now emphasize in the report that the Park Service could
take more aggressive enforcement actions once it has the necessary air
tour flight data. See the "agency comments and our evaluation" section and
appendix III for Interior's comment letter and our evaluation of these
comments.
Background
The Park Service is responsible for conserving the scenery, the natural
and historic objects, and the plants and wildlife in national park units,
and for providing for the enjoyment of national park units in ways that
leave them unimpaired for future generations. To accomplish its mission,
the Park Service has a budget of about $1.7 billion for fiscal year 2006.
The Park Service also has authority to collect and retain recreation fees
from visitors, including entrance fees, amenity fees, and special permit
fees, to be used primarily at the site where the fee was collected.12 In
fiscal year 2005, the Park Service collected $146.8 million in visitor use
fees.
The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (the fees legislation)
directed the Park Service to establish air tour fees by October 1, 1993.13
In the House Budget Committee's report accompanying the fees legislation,
the committee stated that tour operators generate their revenues by
selling national park units as a destination and, therefore, a modest fee
is a reasonable and justifiable means of addressing impacts they have on
park unit resources and personnel.14 Under the fees legislation, the Park
Service considers an air tour to be a flight that consists of one or more
persons traveling on an itinerary that has been packaged, priced, or sold
for leisure or recreational purposes by an organization that realizes
financial gain through the provision of the service. The Park Service
specifically excludes flights that are conducted solely as transportation
between two points. The Park Service also determined that air tours that
enter and exit the airspace over any of the applicable park units more
than once during a single flight have to pay only one fee for that air
tour. The Park Service implemented the fee requirement to apply whenever
an air tour crosses the boundary of a qualifying park unit below specified
altitudes at each of the park units: 12,000 feet above mean sea level at
Haleakala and 5,000 feet above ground level at Hawaii Volcanoes. At Grand
Canyon, the special federal aviation regulations establish altitude levels
that vary with flight patterns.
While the Park Service is the sole agency charged with collecting air tour
fees, it has no authority to regulate or control the airspace over the
park units; that is the sole jurisdiction of FAA. Congress directed FAA
and the Park Service to work together to regulate air tours over park
units in the National Parks Overflights Act of 1987 (Grand Canyon Act)15
and the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000 (Air Tour
Management Act).16 FAA's mission is to provide the safest, most efficient
aerospace system in the world. FAA is pursuing its mission with an annual
budget of more than $13.8 billion in fiscal year 2006, of which about $7.7
million is estimated to be spent on air tour management. FAA has tasked
its Western-Pacific Regional Office with working with the Park Service to
implement these two acts. The Park Service established the Soundscapes
Program Center in 2000 (now the Natural Sounds Program) primarily to work
with FAA's Western-Pacific Regional Office to develop air tour management
plans under the two acts. The Natural Sounds Program's budget for fiscal
year 2006 is about $1.4 million, according to a program official.
The Grand Canyon Act, which was enacted 6 years before the fees
legislation, instructed FAA and the Park Service to prepare a management
plan for air traffic over Grand Canyon. Due to the unusually high level of
air tour activity over the canyon and some aircraft accidents in its
vicinity-including a collision in June 1986 between an air tour airplane
and a tour helicopter resulting in 25 deaths-the act directed the Park
Service to submit recommendations to FAA concerning the actions necessary
for the protection of resources and "... substantial restoration of the
natural quiet and experience of the park [Grand Canyon] and protection of
public health and safety from adverse effects associated with aircraft
overflight." The act authorized FAA to issue regulations to implement the
plan and authorized the Park Service to enforce the plan's requirements
under that agency's own rules and regulations. To date, the two agencies
have not developed an air tour management plan for Grand Canyon and are
currently engaged in an alternative dispute resolution process with other
stakeholders to develop the plan. However, after receiving recommendations
from the Secretary of the Interior, as the Grand Canyon Act required, FAA
revised special federal aviation regulations in June 1988 to regulate air
traffic over Grand Canyon.17 These regulations, among other things,
created flight-free zones, minimum flight altitudes, and specific flight
paths for air tours; required air tour operators to report their air tours
over Grand Canyon to FAA; and established procedures for setting a limit
on the number of air tours allocated to operators over Grand Canyon.
Subsequently, FAA issued a final rule in December 1996 to codify the
special regulations and, in 2000, FAA set the allocations and issued
special authority to the operators based on their level of air tour
activity over Grand Canyon from May 1, 1997, to April 30, 1998.18 Since
then, some air tour operators have transferred or sold their air tour
allocations with FAA's knowledge. FAA has changed the total number of
allocations only once, in accordance with a recommendation from Interior
to raise the regulated airspace "ceiling" above Grand Canyon from 14,500
feet to 18,000 feet above sea level; in February 2005, FAA granted 3,711
air tour allocations to one operator that had previously been unregulated,
which increased the total number of air tour allocations for Grand Canyon
to 93,971.
The Air Tour Management Act, which was enacted 7 years after the fees
legislation, arose from noise and safety concerns, like the Grand Canyon
Act, but applies to all park units, with the exceptions of (1) Grand
Canyon or tribal lands within or abutting that park unit, (2) any air tour
operator flying over or near Lake Mead National Recreation Area solely as
a transportation route to conduct an air tour over Grand Canyon, and (3)
any land or waters in Alaska. The Air Tour Management Act also prohibits
any air tours over Rocky Mountain National Park. This act directed FAA, in
cooperation with the Park Service, to develop air tour management plans
for national park units and abutting tribal lands where air tour operators
apply for authority to conduct air tours. The Air Tour Management Act
defines a "commercial air tour operation" (air tour) as any flight
conducted for compensation or hire in a powered aircraft where a purpose
of the flight is sightseeing over a national park unit, within one-half
mile outside its boundary, or over an abutting tribal land. In the
regulations implementing the Air Tour Management Act, FAA further defined
air tours regulated under that act to include only flights below 5,000
feet above ground level.19 To implement the Air Tour Management Act, FAA
and the Park Service signed an interagency memorandum of understanding
that established procedures the two agencies would follow in coordinating
the development of air tour management plans, including a provision that
FAA would fund 60 percent of the cost of developing the plans, and the
Park Service would fund 40 percent. This agreement describes the
qualifying costs as external contractor costs required to produce the
plans. These qualifying costs exclude staff salaries, benefits, and travel
for agency personnel; agency equipment and supplies; and any costs for
in-house contractors hired by either agency.
In our January 2006 report on the Air Tour Management Act, we found, among
other things, that the Park Service has not fulfilled its agreement with
FAA to fund 40 percent of the cost of developing the air tour management
plans. The Park Service had not requested or received any dedicated
funding for the program until fiscal year 2006, when Congress provided
$500,000 toward air tour management. For fiscal year 2007, the Park
Service has requested $2.4 million for air tour management. Meanwhile,
from fiscal years 2001 through 2005, FAA has funded 100 percent of the
initial plans' development through distinct budget appropriations totaling
$27 million. Although the Park Service has, like FAA, contributed staff
time to work on the development of air tour management plans, the cost of
doing so does not count toward its 40 percent obligation, according to the
agreement. Officials from both agencies told us that if the Park Service
does not meet its obligation within the next 2 years, development of
future air tour management plans may be hindered.
Largely through Voluntary Compliance, the Park Service Has Collected Some,
but Not All, Air Tour Fees at Three Park Units
The Park Service, relying largely on voluntary compliance, has collected
some, but not all, air tour fees from air tour operators at Grand Canyon,
Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes. The Park Service established air tour
fees at Grand Canyon, Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes in March 1994. In
order to collect payments from air tour operators, Park Service officials
sent notice letters to relevant operators that air tours over these three
park units would be subject to the fees beginning in March 1994. However,
officials at Haleakala reached an informal agreement with air tour
operators to not pay fees from 1994 through 2001 if operators followed a
specific flight path. The voluntary agreement established terms such as
air tour routes and no-fly areas and was signed by a group of operators
and Park Service officials at Haleakala; it kept air tours out of the park
unit's boundary, except for one small corner of the park unit. However,
when Haleakala acquired more land where the air tours were conducted, it
negotiated a new voluntary agreement with operators, which included paying
the $25 air tour fee. Thus, Haleakala did not begin charging air tour fees
until January 2002. Haleakala officials believe that operators have been
mostly compliant with the air tour fee as a result of the voluntary
agreement. Grand Canyon and Hawaii Volcanoes requested each air tour
operator to voluntarily report monthly to the appropriate park unit the
number of air tours conducted, as well as to send a payment covering all
appropriate $25 fees for that month. Under the fees legislation, only park
units charging an admission fee-which could include per-person admission
fees-may charge air tour fees. The Park Service has chosen to charge air
tour fees only at park units that charge a per-vehicle admission fee.
Since the Park Service began collecting air tour fees 12 years ago, it has
collected about $19 million at the three park units:20 more than $16
million at Grand Canyon; about $970,000 at Haleakala; and about $1.9
million at Hawaii Volcanoes. In general, at least 80 percent of recreation
fees, including air tour fees, collected at a specific park unit remain
available for expenditure, without further appropriation, at that park
unit.21 The fees must be used for repair, maintenance, and facility
enhancement directly related to visitor enjoyment and access; interpretive
and visitor information; certain habitat restoration and law enforcement;
direct costs associated with the recreation fee program; and other
qualifying costs. For example, at Haleakala, these "80 percent funds" are
being used to build new restrooms for visitors, complete deferred
maintenance projects, rehabilitate exhibits, maintain trails, remove alien
and invasive species, and construct a new entrance station. The balance
(generally 20 percent) of recreation fees collected, including air tour
fees, is available to the Park Service on an agency-wide basis for the
same types of projects as the 80 percent funds.
However, voluntary compliance with the air tour fee requirement has been
inconsistent across the three park units, and several operators are not
paying the required fees. For example, we found that 13 of the 21 air tour
operators that conducted air tours over Grand Canyon from May 2000 through
December 2003, underpaid their air tour fees by more than $1.5 million.
Specifically, in comparing the data that air tour operators reported to
FAA with the data they voluntarily supplied the Park Service, we found
that 6 operators underreported their tours to the Park Service and
underpaid their fees, while 7 operators reported no tours to the Park
Service and paid no fees. Table 1 shows the data that air tour operators
at Grand Canyon reported to FAA and the data the operators voluntarily
supplied the Park Service for paying air tour fees over those 4 years.
Similarly, at Hawaii Volcanoes, one operator, who owed more than $360,000
as of January 2005,22 has publicly stated that it stopped paying air tour
fees in July 2003 because other operators were not paying-although this
operator resumed paying fees in November 2005 and has consistently paid
fees at Haleakala. One operator at Haleakala also told us it has not been
paying air tour fees.
Table 1: Differences in Flight Information Air Tour Operators at Grand
Canyon National Park Reported to FAA and to the Park Service, Calendar
Years 2000-2003
Calendar Air tours Air tours Number of air tours Fees owed from
year reported to the reported to not reported to the unreported air
Park Service FAA Park Service tours
2000a 36,282 51,112 15,438 $385,950
2001 30,739 48,915 18,632 465,800
2002 20,402 39,415 19,296 482,400
2003 35,902 43,728 7,827 195,675
Total 123,325 183,170 61,193 $1,529,825
Sources: GAO analysis of FAA and Park Service information (not adjusted
for inflation).
aData for 2000 covers May through December 2000.
Since 1994, the Park Service's efforts to collect unpaid fees have been
uneven. All three of the park units that assess an air tour fee have sent
letters to air tour operators encouraging the payment of fees at various
times from 1994 through today. For example, officials at Hawaii Volcanoes
sent letters in 1994, 1997, 2004, and 2005 to encourage air tour operators
that they believe fly over that park unit to pay the fee. These letters
also sought payment for past fees that were unpaid, or evidence from the
operators that they did not fly over the park unit. In response, some air
tour operators supplied the requested evidence and/or started paying fees
for current air tours. At Grand Canyon, the Park Service filed lawsuits
against three operators that had conducted air tours over that park unit
but had not paid all appropriate fees. The lawsuits resulted in
settlements in July 2000 in which each operator agreed to make back
payments and continue to conduct air tours by paying $50 per air tour-$25
for the current tour and $25 for a past tour-until the settlement amounts
were paid, which totaled about $800,000 from all three operators. However,
Park Service officials stated that all three operators have stopped making
back payments: two of the operators are still conducting air tours but
report that they are unable to afford the payment, and the third operator
is no longer in business over Grand Canyon. Although the officials say
that the operators are required to continue making payments under these
settlements, the Park Service has not pursued their compliance.
Collections of Air Tour Fees Are Hindered by Several Factors
The Park Service's ability to collect air tour fees is hindered by several
factors: the agency cannot verify air tour activity over the three park
units, it cannot effectively enforce compliance, and two key laws have
different geographic applicability.
The Park Service Cannot Verify Air Tour Activity Over the Three Park Units
The Park Service is unable to verify the number of air tours that
operators conduct over Grand Canyon, Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes, thus
limiting the agency's ability to ensure that operators are making all the
required payments. Except for Grand Canyon, current laws and regulations
do not require air tour operators to record and report their air tour
activity over national park units to either the Park Service or FAA. At
Grand Canyon, FAA regulations require air tour operators to report all
their air tours to FAA under the special federal aviation regulations
implementing the Grand Canyon Act, although in practice, the operators
report all their flights (not just air tours) over Grand Canyon to FAA.
Under these special regulations, air tour operators report quarterly to
FAA, for each flight over Grand Canyon, the aircraft make, model, and
identification number; the departure date, time, and airport; and the type
of flight-such as a tour, pilot training, or the movement of aircraft
among landing locations-and the route flown.
However, FAA does not collect these data for the purpose of verifying
whether air tour operators are reporting to the Park Service all their air
tours and paying the appropriate fees, and FAA has generally been
unwilling to share these data with the Park Service. Officials in the FAA
district office that is responsible for managing air tours over Grand
Canyon explained that they are unwilling to share these data because they
are concerned their involvement with fees could cause operators to
underreport their air tour activity, which could reduce safety.
Consequently, the Park Service relies on air tour operators to voluntarily
report all their air tours and pay the required fees. Without the ability
to verify operators' air tour activity, the Park Service cannot ensure
that operators are making all the required payments. In our January 2006
report, we recommended that FAA establish procedures for air tour
operators to record and report their air tours conducted under the Air
Tour Management Act to both FAA and the Park Service. The Department of
Transportation agreed with our findings in that report and agreed to
consider our recommendations as FAA moves forward with the air tour
management program.
The Park Service Cannot Effectively Enforce Compliance Due to the Lack of
Air Tour Data
The Park Service-the agency charged with collecting air tour fees-has
limited ability to enforce compliance because it does not have
jurisdiction over airspace and lacks sufficient air tour data. Conversely,
FAA-the agency with authority over airspace and air tour operators-is not
required to assist with collecting, or enforcing the collection of, air
tour fees. Neither the Grand Canyon Act nor the Air Tour Management Act
requires that air tour management plans establish specific mechanisms for
air tour fee collection and enforcement. Furthermore, neither act requires
fee compliance as a condition for operators' authority to conduct air
tours over park units. As a result, both Park Service and FAA officials
told us the agencies currently have little or no ability to take
enforcement action against noncompliant operators.
Although the Park Service could potentially pursue compliance in court,23
as occurred at Grand Canyon, or through debt collection by the Department
of the Treasury,24 neither of these options are feasible at the other two
park units without evidence that an air tour operator flew over a park
unit and did not pay all the fees owed. The lawsuits over air tour fees at
Grand Canyon were successful for the Park Service because FAA, in those
instances, supplied a sufficient amount of data showing that operators had
conducted air tours over the park unit and should have paid a commensurate
amount of fees. Alternatively, the Park Service could refer outstanding
air tour fees owed to the Department of the Treasury for debt collection.
In this case, the Department of the Treasury would attempt to collect
whatever amount is owed by noncompliant operators. The Park Service would
be in a better position to take these more aggressive collection actions,
which would likely result in increased collections, if the agency had the
necessary evidence to prove an operator had conducted air tours and not
paid the required fees.
Different Geographic Applicability of Two Laws Complicates Efforts to
Collect Air Tour Fees
The fees legislation and the Air Tour Management Act and/or their
respective implementing guidelines and regulations have different
geographic applicability, which complicates the Park Service's efforts to
collect air tour fees. Under the fees legislation, an air tour operator is
required to pay a fee when a tour enters the airspace over a park unit,
whereas the Air Tour Management Act defines air tours as flights over a
national park unit or within a half-mile outside its boundary.
Furthermore, the applicable flight altitudes used by the Park Service to
determine the air tours that are subject to the fees legislation differ
from the flight altitudes established by FAA to determine the air tours
that are subject to the Air Tour Management Act. For example, at
Haleakala, payment of the air tour fee is triggered when air tours cross
the park unit's boundary and fly below an altitude of 12,000 feet mean sea
level. However, air tours are regulated under the Air Tour Management Act
at this park unit when they fly over or within a half-mile of its boundary
and below 5,000 feet above ground level. Figure 1 shows the difference in
the geographic scope of the acts as they apply to Haleakala.
Figure 1: Geographic Applicability of the Fees Legislation and the Air
Tour Management Act at Haleakala National Park
The different geographic applicability of the two laws has complicated the
Park Service's efforts to collect air tour fees by providing some air tour
operators with a plausible explanation for why they are not paying fees.
Under the existing system, air tour operators can assert that they only
fly within a half-mile of a park unit boundary but do not cross it;
therefore, their air tours are covered by the Air Tour Management Act but
not by the fees legislation. For example, two air tour operators told Park
Service officials in November 2004 that they did not cross Hawaii
Volcanoes' boundary during their air tours of the park unit and,
therefore, did not owe any fees, despite the Park Service's perception
that they crossed the boundary. To enable the Park Service to verify air
tour activity under both laws and determine the appropriate level of fees
owed under the fees legislation, air tour operators would have to track
and report two sets of data: one for air tours that cross the park unit
boundary for fee collection, and another for air tours that fly within a
half-mile of a park unit boundary for the Air Tour Management Act. As an
alternative, the fees legislation and the Air Tour Management Act would
have to be reconciled to have consistent geographic applicability.
Expanding Air Tour Fees to Additional Park Units Should Be Balanced
against Potential Impacts on Air Tour Operators
As of March 2006, air tour operators had authority from FAA to conduct air
tours over 86 park units,25 yet only 3 of those park units charge air tour
fees. In specifying that additional park units could assess such fees only
if their level of air tour activity matched that of Grand Canyon or
Haleakala, the fees legislation set a high threshold. As a result, only
one additional park unit, Hawaii Volcanoes, has qualified to charge fees
in the past 12 years. According to FAA data, operators had authority to
conduct a combined total of 91,250 air tours annually over Grand Canyon;
28,441 over Hawaii Volcanoes; and 26,325 over Haleakala. However, several
other park units have relatively high levels of authorized air tour
activity, although not as high as any of those three park units (see
appendix II).26 For example, operators have authority to conduct a
combined total of 14,074 air tours annually over Glen Canyon National
Recreation Area. This park unit charges an admission fee, which is the
fees legislation's other requirement for a park unit to assess air tour
fees. Park Service officials told us they would like to charge air tour
fees at additional park units that charge admission fees (see table 2),
but the fees legislation would have to be changed to lower the air tour
activity threshold.
Table 2: Park Units with Authorized Air Tours, Grouped by Types of
Admission Fees
Number of Total number of Percentage of
park units authorized air authorized air
tours per year tours per year
Park units with air tours that 3 146,016 49.0%
charge air tour fees
Park units with air tours that 34 46,048a 15.4
charge both per-person and
per-vehicle admission fees
Park units with air tours that 21 3,990 1.3
charge only a per-person
admission fee
Park units with air tours that 28 102,119 34.3
do not charge any type of
admission fee
Total 86 298,173a 100.0%
Sources: GAO analysis of FAA and Park Service data.
Note: There are no park units with air tours that charge only a
per-vehicle, and not a per-person, admission fee.
aWe are excluding 55,934 of the 68,814 authorized air tours over Lake Mead
National Recreation Area because FAA believes most of the authorized "air
tours" are actually transportation-only flights en route to Grand Canyon,
not air tours over Lake Mead. Operators nonetheless applied for the
authority to conduct tours over Lake Mead because of their uncertainty in
how the Air Tour Management Act would be implemented. We are therefore
including the remaining 12,880 authorized air tours over Lake Mead because
FAA believes the total number of air tours conducted annually over Lake
Mead by 3 operators may be as low as 12,880. However, FAA acknowledged it
may discover more air tours are being conducted over Lake Mead as the
agencies develop the air tour management plan for that park unit.
Expanding air tour fees to other park units could generate additional
funding for the Park Service, but such an expansion would require a
legislative change and should be balanced against any potential impacts on
air tour operators. The legislation could explicitly provide for the use
of additional funding to develop air tour management plans, which
officials from both agencies told us may otherwise be hindered due to
insufficient Park Service funding. In January 2006, we reported that the
Park Service had not funded its share of the development costs for air
tour management plans required by the Air Tour Management Act.
With respect to the effects that air tour fees are likely to have on
operators, FAA drafted a report in January 2001, which is still pending
review at the Department of Transportation. The FAA draft report said
that, due to the nature of the industry, air tour fees have been and will
continue to be shifted to consumers in the form of higher tour prices in
most cases. While the draft report said FAA had no specific information
regarding passenger price sensitivity for air tours, it said estimates
suggest that if ticket prices were raised by 1 percent, a reduction of 2
percent to 4 percent in tickets sold would be expected. The draft FAA
report also said that if air tour fees were not charged at any park units
other than Grand Canyon, there would be an estimated 2.0 million or 2.1
million air tours over the next 10 years, assuming a 3 percent or 5
percent growth rate, respectively. If fees were to be established at all
park units, the draft report continued, that estimate would drop to 1.8
million or 1.9 million at the same growth rates. To offset the impact of
such fees on operators, the draft FAA report stated, air tour fees could
potentially be used as a credit against aviation excise taxes. However,
the draft report said such a credit would present serious concerns because
FAA relies on these taxes for its expenditures. Consequently, any
shortfall would need to be made up by spending reductions, increased
payments by other aviation system users, or the general taxpayer. The
draft FAA report also said the Park Service could use air tour fees to
help finance the development of air tour management plans and,
subsequently, for monitoring air tour activities-but that these
applications should not be linked to a reduction in aviation taxes. Once
FAA submits its report, Congress, the Park Service, and other stakeholders
will have additional information to evaluate whether air tour fees should
be expanded to additional park units.
Conclusions
The current process for the Park Service's collection of air tour fees has
three significant limitations: (1) fee payments are based on operators'
voluntary compliance, (2) there is no verification that the correct fees
have been paid, and (3) there is little or no ability to take enforcement
actions against operators that do not pay their fees because the Park
Service lacks the necessary air tour data. While each one of these factors
in isolation may not cause an insurmountable problem, combined they have
led to the ineffective collection of air tour fees. Voluntary compliance
could be effective if it were combined with (1) reliable data to verify
that operators are complying with the fee requirement and (2) appropriate
enforcement actions against operators that do not pay. However, the
current process for collecting air tour fees has emboldened some operators
not to pay the required fees. As a result, those air tour operators that
are paying their fees are put at a competitive disadvantage against those
operators that are not paying the required fees.
The different geographic applicability of the fees legislation and the Air
Tour Management Act has complicated collection efforts and created an
additional disincentive for operators to accurately report their air tours
and pay the appropriate fees. If the geographic applicability of the acts
were consistent, operators could record and report one set of data to the
Park Service for verification and collection of fees and for air tour
management plans.
In our January 2006 report, we recommended that FAA take steps to require
that operators record and report their air tours under the Air Tour
Management Act to FAA and the Park Service. The implementation of this
recommendation, combined with making the geographic applicability of the
acts consistent, would provide the Park Service with the necessary data to
verify that the proper fees are being paid at Haleakala and Hawaii
Volcanoes-and any future park unit that develops an air tour management
plan, if air tour fees are expanded to additional park units. However, a
gap exists in the reporting requirement for Grand Canyon because the
special federal aviation regulations implementing the Grand Canyon Act
required the data be reported to FAA but not the Park Service.
Finally, by stipulating that additional park units could charge air tour
fees only if they charge admission fees and if their level of activity
meets that of Grand Canyon or Haleakala, the fees legislation sets the bar
very high: in the past 12 years, only one additional park unit has
qualified. Lowering the threshold for air tour activity would allow the
Park Service to expand air tour fees to additional park units and use the
proceeds as appropriate under the recreation fee program. The Air Tour
Management Act required FAA to report to Congress by October 2000 on the
effects that air tour fees are likely to have on air tour operators.
Although FAA drafted this report in January 2001, FAA officials told us
the Department of Transportation has not approved it for submission to
Congress. Releasing that report would enable Congress, the Park Service,
and the air tour community to understand the impacts of air tour fees on
operators' businesses and help stakeholders to determine whether such fees
should be expanded to additional park units.
Matter for Congressional Consideration
To enhance the collection of air tour fees, Congress should consider
amending the fees legislation or the Air Tour Management Act to reconcile
the geographic applicability of the two laws.
Recommendations for Executive Action
In order to improve compliance with air tour fee payments and to help
understand the impacts of such fees on air tour operators' businesses, we
recommend that the Secretary of Transportation direct the Administrator of
FAA to take the following two actions:
o Establish a procedure for air tour operators at Grand Canyon National
Park to report their air tour information simultaneously to the Park
Service and FAA, or ensure that the air tour information is forwarded to
the Park Service once it is reported to FAA by air tour operators.
o Report to Congress on the effects that air tour fees are likely to have
on air tour operators as required by the Air Tour Management Act.
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
We provided the Departments of the Interior and Transportation with a
draft of this report for review and comment. Interior agreed with our
findings, conclusions, and recommendations, particularly those that
address the need for more accurate and reliable air tour data. Interior,
representing the Park Service, also said it supports lowering the
threshold for the level of air tour activity in order to expand collection
of air tour fees to additional park units. Interior provided written
comments that are included in appendix III, along with our specific
response. The Department of Transportation, representing FAA, offered
substantive and technical comments and, after our revisions discussed
below, generally agreed with our findings, conclusions, and
recommendations.
Our draft report contained a Matter for Congressional Consideration that
stated Congress should consider amending the Grand Canyon Act and the Air
Tour Management Act to require compliance with air tour fee payments as a
condition for operating authority to conduct air tours over national park
units. In providing oral comments on the draft report, FAA's Regional
Administrator for the Western-Pacific Region disagreed with this matter.
The Regional Administrator stated that fee collection, and enforcement of
fee collection, is the responsibility of the Park Service. FAA was also
concerned that since the Park Service currently lacks an administrative
process to provide air tour operators with legal due process before
potentially revoking their operating authority, that this administrative
burden would likely fall on FAA and distract from FAA's primary focus of
aviation safety. We believe that the collection and enforcement of air
tour fees should be largely the responsibility of the Park Service.
However, in those cases where FAA exclusively receives data that the Park
Service needs to perform this function, FAA should share the data with the
Park Service, as we have recommended. We also agreed with FAA that there
was a risk that much of the administrative burden for making operators'
air tour operating authority conditioned on fee compliance could unduly
fall on FAA. As a result, we have removed that matter from the report. We
now emphasize in the report that the Park Service could take more
aggressive enforcement actions once it has the necessary air tour flight
data.
We are sending copies of this report to the Secretaries of Transportation
and the Interior, and other interested parties. We will also make copies
available to others upon request. In addition, the report will be
available at no charge on the GAO Web site at http://www.gao.gov .
If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact
me at (202) 512-3841 or [email protected] . Contact points for our Offices
of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last
page of this report. GAO staff who made major contributions to this report
are listed in appendix IV.
Robin M. Nazzaro Director, Natural Resources and Environment
List of Requesters
The Honorable Daniel Inouye Co-Chairman Committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation United States Senate
The Honorable Jeff Bingaman Ranking Minority Member Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources United States Senate
The Honorable Daniel K. Akaka Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on
National Parks Committee on Energy and Natural Resources United States
Senate
The Honorable Lamar Alexander United States Senate
The Honorable John McCain United States Senate
Scope and Methodology Appendix I
We identified and analyzed applicable laws, regulations, National Park
Service (Park Service) policies, guidance, procedures, and other relevant
documents to assess the Park Service's collection of air tour fees and
operators' compliance in paying fees. In addition, we visited the three
relevant park units-Grand Canyon, Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes National
Parks-and reviewed the Park Service's data on the collection of air tour
fee payments at these three park units. We then adjusted these figures to
express them in inflation-adjusted 2005 dollars. We also reviewed the
Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) data on the number of air tours
reported by operators at Grand Canyon National Park. We determined that
both agencies' data were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this
report. We also interviewed Park Service and Department of the Interior
(Interior) officials at headquarters, Park Service officials at the three
park units that have established air tour fees, and FAA officials at
headquarters and at the two relevant district offices.
In addition, we interviewed a probability sample of 18 operators of the 33
that had authority from FAA to conduct air tours at the time of our visits
in 2005 over the three relevant park units. The sample was selected in
such a way as to serve the purposes of both this report and our January
2006 report on the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000 (Air
Tour Management Act).1 To choose the air tour operators to interview, we
stratified the operators at each park unit into three groups based on the
number of annual air tours FAA authorized at each park unit: small (3,000
or fewer air tours), medium (between 3,001 and 10,000 air tours), and
large (more than 10,000 air tours). The 18 air tour operators we
interviewed were: Air Grand Canyon, Inc.; Aris, Inc.; Aviation Ventures,
Inc.; Big Island Air, Inc.; Call Air, Inc.; Grand Canyon Airlines, Inc.;
Helicopter Consultants of Maui, Inc.; K&S Helicopters, Inc.; King
Airelines, Inc.; Manuiwa Airways, Inc.; Maverick Helicopters, Inc.;
Mokulele Flight Service, Inc.; Rainbow Pacific Helicopters, Ltd.; Safari
Aviation, Inc.; Scenic Airlines, Inc.; Schuman Aviation, Co. Ltd.;
Sunshine Helicopters, Inc.; and Vista Helicopter Services, Inc.
For Grand Canyon National Park (Grand Canyon), 11 of the 17 operators that
had authority to conduct air tours in July 2005 also had authority to
conduct air tours over nearby Lake Mead National Recreation Area (Lake
Mead).2 For purposes of this report and our January 2006 report, we needed
to focus on those operators that had authority to conduct air tours at
both park units, so we randomly selected operators from those 11
operators. Specifically, we interviewed 3 of the 6 small, 3 of the 3
medium, and 1 of the 2 large operators that had authority to conduct air
tours over both Grand Canyon and Lake Mead.
For Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes National Parks (Haleakala, Hawaii
Volcanoes), 8 operators had authority to conduct tours over both park
units, and 8 other operators had authority to conduct tours over either
Haleakala or Hawaii Volcanoes, but not both. Ten of these 16 operators
were small, 5 were medium, and 1 was large. We interviewed the 1 large
operator, 3 of the 5 medium operators (selected randomly), and 7 of the 10
small operators (selected as follows). For purposes of our January 2006
report, we needed the perspective of operators that had authority to
conduct air tours over all 6 national park units in Hawaii, so we first
selected all operators (3 small operators) that met that criterion. This
meant we interviewed those 3 small operators, plus we randomly selected 4
of the remaining 7 small operators that had authority at either Haleakala
or Hawaii Volcanoes, but not both. Table 3 details the selection of our
sample of operators.
Table 3: Air Tour Operators We Interviewed, and the Total Number of
Operators, at the Three Park Units That Charge Air Tour Fees
Size of air tour
operators
National park unit Small Medium Large Total
Grand Canyon National Park
Number we interviewed 3 3 1 7
Total number with authority to 6 3 2 11a
conduct air tours
Haleakala National Park (only)
Number we interviewed 0 1 0 1
Total number with authority to 1 1 0 2
conduct air tours
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
(only)
Number we interviewed 4 1 0 5
Total number with authority to 4 2 0 6
conduct air tours
Both Haleakala and Hawaii
Volcanoes
Number we interviewed 3 1 1 5
Total number with authority to 5 2 1 8
conduct air tours
Source: GAO.
aAs noted above, 17 operators had authority to conduct air tours over
Grand Canyon at the time of our visit in July 2005, but for the purposes
of our January 2006 report, we selected from the 11 operators that also
had authority to conduct air tours over nearby Lake Mead.
We assessed budget data describing the Park Service's requests for annual
appropriations and FAA's funding dedicated to developing air tour
management plans. This budget information covered fiscal years 2001
through 2006 and were obtained from budget appropriation reports, the
agencies' budget requests, and budget summaries provided by FAA and a
contractor. We determined that these data were sufficiently reliable for
the purposes of this report.
To identify what factors hinder the collection of air tour fees, and to
provide information on the possible expansion of air tour fees to
additional park units, we considered the results of our January 2006
report, particularly the sections on the lack of data on air tour activity
over park units and the Park Service's not funding its share of the cost
of developing air tour management plans. We also interviewed Park Service,
Interior, and FAA officials and reviewed FAA's January 2001 draft report
to Congress on the likely effects that air tour fees will have on air tour
operators. In addition, we reviewed Park Service data on the park units
that charge admission fees. We also assessed data reflecting the number of
annual air tours authorized by FAA for operators over various national
park units under the Air Tour Management Act and the National Parks
Overflights Act of 1987. We interviewed agency officials regarding a
series of data reliability questions addressing areas such as data entry,
data access, quality control procedures, and data accuracy and
completeness. We asked follow-up questions whenever necessary. We
determined that these data were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of
this report.
We performed our work from January 2005 through April 2006 in accordance
with generally accepted government auditing standards.
Number of Authorized Air Tours over National Park Units and Admission Fee
Information Appendix II
Sources: FAA and the Park Service.
aWith the exception of Grand Canyon National Park, this information
reflects interim operating authority that FAA has granted under the Air
Tour Management Act as of November 2005. For Grand Canyon, FAA determined
the number of authorized air tours under the Grand Canyon Act based on
operators' air tour activity from May 1, 1997, to April 30, 1998, and made
one adjustment in 2005 with an increase of 3,711 air tour allocations due
to a change in the regulations. Collectively, air tour operators have
authority from FAA to conduct air tours over 86 of the nation's 390
national park units.
bThe Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 uses the term "admission
fees" to refer to the fees charged at some park units' entrances, which
the Park Service also calls "entrance fees."
cAt the time of our review, FAA officials believed that the total number
of air tours conducted annually over Lake Mead National Recreation Area
may be as low as 12,880. FAA officials believe most of the authorized "air
tours" are actually transportation-only flights en route to Grand Canyon
National Park. Transportation-only flights are exempt from the Air Tour
Management Act, but operators nonetheless applied for operating authority
over Lake Mead because of their uncertainty in how that act would be
implemented.
dOf the Golden Gate National Recreation Area's subunits listed, Muir Woods
National Monument charges a per-person admission fee but no per-vehicle
admission fee; all the other subunits do not charge any admission fees.
Comments from the Department of the Interior Appendix III
The following are GAO's comments on the Department of the Interior's
letter dated April 20, 2006.
GAO Comments
1.Our draft report did not contain any recommendations to the National
Park Service.
GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments Appendix IV
Robin M. Nazzaro, (202) 512-3841, [email protected]
In addition to the individual named above, Jeffery D. Malcolm, Assistant
Director; Josey Ballenger; Alisha Chugh; Wyatt R. Hundrup; Richard
Johnson; Alison O'Neill; Judy Pagano; Anne Rhodes-Kline; and Carol
Herrnstadt Shulman made key contributions to this report. Also
contributing to the report were Roy Judy, Steve Martin, and Jena
Sinkfield.
(360667)
transparent illustrator graphic
www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-468.
To view the full product, including the scope
and methodology, click on the link above.
For more information, contact Robin M. Nazzaro at (202) 512-3841 or
[email protected].
Highlights of GAO-06-468, a report to congressional requesters
May 2006
NATIONAL PARKS AIR TOUR FEES
Effective Verification and Enforcement Are Needed to Improve Compliance
The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (the fees legislation)
required the National Park Service to begin collecting fees from operators
that conduct air tours over national park units that meet certain
criteria. Currently, only Grand Canyon, Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes
National Parks meet the criteria to charge air tour fees. The Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA), in cooperation with the Park Service, also
regulates air tours over park units pursuant to the National Parks
Overflights Act of 1987 and the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of
2000.
GAO was asked to (1) assess the Park Service's collection of air tour fees
and (2) identify what factors, if any, hinder the collection of air tour
fees. GAO is also providing information on the possible expansion of air
tour fees to additional park units.
What GAO Recommends
Congress should consider amending the fees legislation or the 2000 air
tour act to reconcile their geographic applicability. In addition, GAO
recommends that FAA (1) ensure the Park Service receives data on air tours
at Grand Canyon and (2) report to Congress on the effects that fees are
likely to have on operators.
The Departments of the Interior and Transportation generally agreed with
our findings and recommendations, as revised.
Relying largely on voluntary compliance, the Park Service has collected
some, but not all, fees from air tour operators at Grand Canyon,
Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes National Parks. After passage of the fees
legislation, these three park units instituted air tour fees in 1994 by
requesting operators to voluntarily report their air tours and pay
appropriate fees monthly. Since then, the Park Service has collected about
$19 million at the three park units (in inflation-adjusted 2005 dollars).
However, voluntary compliance with the air tour fee requirement has been
inconsistent, and several operators are not paying the required fees. For
example, GAO found that 13 of the 21 operators conducting air tours over
Grand Canyon underpaid their air tour fees for calendar years 2000 through
2003 by more than $1.5 million.
The Park Service's ability to collect air tour fees is hindered by several
factors, as follows:
o The Park Service cannot verify air tour activity over the three
park units. Air tour operators are not required to record and
report to either the Park Service or FAA their number of air tours
over park units, except for Grand Canyon. Operators at Grand
Canyon are required to report their air tours only to FAA.
Consequently, the Park Service relies on operators to voluntarily
report their air tours and pay the required fees. A GAO January
2006 report recommended that FAA take steps to require operators
to report to both agencies their air tours over park units under
the 2000 air tour act, including Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes.
o The Park Service cannot effectively enforce compliance due to
the lack of air tour data. The Park Service has limited ability to
enforce compliance because it does not have jurisdiction over
airspace and lacks sufficient air tour data. Conversely, FAA is
not required to assist with collecting, or enforcing the
collection of, air tour fees. As a result, both Park Service and
FAA officials told GAO, the agencies have little or no ability to
take enforcement action against noncompliant operators.
o Different geographic applicability of two laws complicates
efforts to collect air tour fees. The fees legislation and the
2000 air tour act have different geographic applicability, which
has complicated the Park Service's collection efforts.
Air tour fees are currently charged at only 3 of the 86 park units with
air tours, based on the criteria established in the fees legislation.
Expanding air tour fees to other park units could generate additional
funding for the Park Service, but such an expansion would require a
legislative change and should be balanced against potential impacts on air
tour operators. Legislation could explicitly provide that the additional
funding may be used to develop the air tour management plans required by
the 2000 air tour act. Regarding the potential impacts on air tour
operators, the 2000 air tour act directed FAA to prepare a report to
Congress on this subject by October 2000. FAA has drafted the report but
has not submitted it to Congress.
*** End of document. ***