Establishment of Corridors in the Grand Canyon National Park Special Flight Rules Area

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 93

[Docket No. 28902; Notice No. 97-6]

RIN 2120-AG38

Establishment of Corridors in the Grand Canyon National Park

Special Flight Rules Area

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM); withdrawal.

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SUMMARY: The FAA is withdrawing an NPRM that was published on May 15,

1997 (62 FR 26902), which proposed to amend two of the Flight-Free

Zones within the Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP) by establishing two

corridors through the Flight-free Zones (Notice No. 97-6). The first

corridor through the Bright Angel Flight-free Zone would have been an

incentive corridor to be used only by the most noise efficient

aircraft. The second corridor in the Torroweap/Shinumo Flight-free Zone

through the National Canyon area would create a viable air tour route

in the central section of the Park while addressing some concerns of

the Native Americans. The FAA, in consultation with the National Park

Service (NPS), is withdrawing this NPRM because the agencies have

determined not to proceed with an air tour route in the vicinity of

National Canyon and are presently considering alternatives to this

route. The FAA will addres all substantive comments filed in response

to Notice 97-6 in the near future.

DATES: The proposed rule at 62 FR 26902 is withdrawn July 10, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dave Metzbower, Office of Flight

Standards, Air Transporation Division (AFS-200), 800 Independence

Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20591, telephone (202) 267-3724.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On December 31, 1996, the FAA published in the Federal Register

three concurrent actions a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (61 FR 69334),

a Notice of Availability of Proposed Commercial Air Tour Routes (61 FR

69356), and a Final Rule (61 FR 69302). These actions were part of an

overall strategy to reduce further the impact of aircraft noise on the

park environment and to assist the NPS in achieving the statutory

mandate imposed by Public Law 100-91.

Based on comments received during the comment period for the Notice

of Availability of Proposed Commercial Routes, the FAA received

valuable information from commenters, as well as suggestions for

alterations and refinements of the route structure from officials of

the GCNP and NPS that could potentially produce noise reduction

benefits. Furthermore, comments submitted by the air tour operators,

the environmentalists, and the Native Americans on the National Canyon

corridor in the NPRM led the FAA to conclude that the Natioal Canyon

air tour routes was not a viable option.

As a result of teh comments received on both notices, the FAA

issued a new proposed route structure concurrent with the issuance of a

second NPRM (Notice No. 97-6) (62 FR 26902; May 15, 1997), which

included a revised National Canyon corridor.

The revised National Canyon route proposed in Notice 97-6 was

designed to provide a viable air tour route through the center of the

canyon while at the same time providing mitigation of the effects of

noise over Havasupai cultural and sacred sites. Because it was designed

to be used only by the quietest technology aircraft for westbound

traffic after December 31, 2001, the Natioal Canyon route was found to

provide noise mitigation. The proposed Bright Angel Corridor for use by

quietest technology aircraft was crafted as an incentive for operators

to convert to quiet technology. The comment period for Notice No. 97-6

closed June 16, 1997, and approximaely 142 comments were received.

The FAA, in consultation with the NPS, has determined not to

proceed with the proposals set forth in Notice No. 97-6 at this time.

The agencies are presently considering alternatives to the National

Canyon area for air tour routes. Once the air tour route structure for

GCNP has been determined, the FAA will issue a Notice of Availability

of Proposed Routes and provide for notice and public comment on any

associated rulemaking. The FAA recogizes its responsibility to address

the comments filed in response to Notice 97-6 and will do so in the

near future. However, in order to faciliate the development of the air

tour route structure, the FAA is withdrawing the NPRM now and will

dispose of the comments in a separate document. In a companion document

to this NPRM withdrawal published elsewhere in this issue of the

Federal Register, the FAA has amended the proposed rule, Notice No. 96-

15, to remove the two sections that first proposed a National Canyon

corridor.

Environmental Review

In conjunction with Notice 97-6, the FAA reevaluated the December

1996 Final Environmental Assessment/Finding of No Significant Impact

(1996 Final EA/FONSI) for the Special Flight Rules in the Vicinity of

Grand Canyon National Park to determine whether the proposed changes in

NPRM 97-6 of the second Notice of Availability of Proposed Routes,

published concurrently, were substantial so as to warrant preparation

of additional environemntal documentation. The FAA determined that the

conclusions in the 1996 Final EA/FONSI were still substantially valid.

Once the air tour route structure is determined, the FAA will conduct

the appropriate environmental review and provide for notice and public

comment.

Witdrawal of Proposed Rule

Accodingly, Notice No. 97-6 published in the Federal Register on

May 15, 1997 (62 FR 26902) is withdrawn.

Issued in Washington, DC on July 10, 1998.

Richard O. Gordon,

Director, Flight Standards Service.

[FR Doc. 98-18833 Filed 7-10-98; 12:52 pm]

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