[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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