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Show NPS, FAA Decisions Sabotage Local Business FAA's Role Expands from -; Promoting Civil Aviation to - Protecting the Environment and Restricting -" ' Commerce and Trade By Toni Thayer BRYCE Most business ; owners strive to grow and . expand their companies. In fact, -" -. growth and expansion are often . - 'the American standard of busi--. - ness success. . ; Unfortunately for two local businesses, new Federal envi-ronmental envi-ronmental regulations, stemming stem-ming from United Nations' stan-. stan-. dards, have capped their total output and put the companies in ; - - , limbo for an undetermined num-; num-; " ber' of years while the Federal . - agencies figure out the new process. For some of us, this all has a very familiar ring as we remember remem-ber back to "Wilderness Study Areas" were created. During these allegedly temporary studies, stud-ies, the study areas were bound by the same restrictions and standards as the already designated desig-nated wilderness zones. Since then, we have watched Garfield County's tax base steadily erode as mineral extraction and all potential use has been excluded and "temporarily" paralyzed. Bryce Canyon Helicopters and M & S Aero, both operating out of Bryce, Utah, are only two of hundreds of national air tour operators that have been affected affect-ed by the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000 (the Act). Signed into law on April 5, 2000, the purpose of the Act is "to- preserve, protect, and ' ' enhance the environment" of national parks and Indian tribal lands within or abutting parks from adverse effects of aircraft overflights. It does this by implementing an Air Tour Management Plan (ATMP) that ' regulates the commercial operators opera-tors who fly over the lands or within one-half mile of a park boundary. Because the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) controls all U.S. airspace, Congress designated des-ignated it as the lead agency, working in coordination with the National Park Service (NPS), to' develop an ATMP for each park that has commercial air tours. The ATMP will set limits such as the number of air tour operators allowed to fly over the park, the number of flights per year or season that they may perform, and which air tour operators will be allowed to operate. Brian Armstrong, one of the FAA ATMP Managers for the Northwest Mountain RegionAlaska Region, said in a telephone interview on May 19 that out of 385 National Park Systems, "we've identified 110 national parks and tribal lands nationwide that need to be developed." While developing the ATMP, the Federal agencies must comply com-ply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), including preparation of either an Environmental Impact Statement or an Environmental Assessment, studies that can take 18-24 months to complete. This process also includes publishing in the Federal Register, public meetings and public comments, and it ends with a record of decision deci-sion issued by the FAA and NPS. Until each park's ATMP is (See SABOTAGE on page 4A) Sabotage Of Local Business From Frnnt Phop done, existing commercial air '' tour operators must apply to the FAA for Interim Operating Authority (IOA). Under the IOA, the operators are currently limited to the number of flights they've reported in previous years. Paul Cox, owner of Bryce Canyon Helicopters, said in a May 4 telephone interview, "We don't know how long the interim inter-im period will be. It could be one to two years. I am capped now in the number of flights my company can offer." Armstrong was unsure how long the air tour operators would have to wait for final operating and flight decisions through the ATMP, "It's a sched-, sched-, uling process. This fiscal year . we have begun developing six , parks in Hawaii and several oth-' oth-' ers." When asked how they choose which park's ATMP will be completed first, Armstrong said, "We take into account several things. In Hawaii, the geographic geo-graphic location of six parks together offered a cost savings by performing them all at once." He went on, "Other factors are the priority given by the National Park Service and those with the highest number of air tours on an annual basis. The Act also made a priority where new operators have applied, and a vast majority of the parks have new entrance applications." applica-tions." Craig Axtell, superintendent of Bryce Canyon National Park, said in a telephone interview on May 27, "We haven't been advised by the FAA yet. We're waiting to hear from them when Bryce will initiate the planning process. One of our main goals is to ensure that the community is involved." Howie Thompson, Acting Manager for the National Park Service Natural Sounds Program Office in Denver, Colo., confirmed by telephone on May 23, "Unofficially, there are six new applications for Bryce Canyon air tour operators, opera-tors, and the park is scheduled tentatively for the ATMP to begin in Sept. 2003 and be completed com-pleted in 2004." Thompson said the regional FAA office does not have enough staff to complete the St. George airport relocation that is currently underway and the ATMP studies for Bryce and Zion National Parks at the same time. With the FAA's current workload work-load of 1 10 ATMPs to be completed com-pleted and only eight plans begun each year, the interim period for some air tour operators opera-tors could be as long as 15 years, an unrealistic length of time for any commercial venture ven-ture to survive on a temporary basis. However, Armstrong thought the process might speed up as their experience with development of the plans becomes more proficient. Cox has complied with all of the requirements to obtain his Part 135 IOA, but filed his : application under protest as stated stat-ed in his April 15 cover letter to the FAA, "Operation Specification B057 pertains to nothing more than restriction of free enterprise and commerce, business growth, loss of income and taxes, Federal, State, and Local, plus lost employment. It appears unconstitutional and beyond the scope of the FAA mandate, the Aviation Act of : 1958 . . . stating that the FAA will stimulate, promote and encourage the growth of Civil . : . Aviation in this country." ; .' M & S Aero business owner, Steve Winters, said in a May 16 telephone interview,. "It's discrimination. dis-crimination. Right now they're only targeting overflights for air . ; tours. Fish and Wildlife and (See SABOTAGE on page 5 A) Sabotage Local Business From Page 4A other governmental agencies are not regulated. The Act is for commercial purposes only." Winters continued, "We're providing a tour, and we're no different than a bus tour or any other tour on the ground. If you're going to limit us, limit them too. We leave no pollution, pollu-tion, and we don't require roads or trails. We're there momentarily, momentar-ily, and then we're gone." According to the Act, it reflects the 1998 "consensus work product" of the National Parks Overflights Working Group, an appointed committee by the Secretaries of Transportation and Interior, and made up of representatives from the aviation and commercial air tour industries, environmentalists, environmental-ists, and Native Americans. . Even further back in its history, histo-ry, is the 1995 report from the National Science and Technology Council, a cabinet level group established by President Bill Clinton through an Executive Order, predicting, "Environmental issues are likely to impose the fundamental limitation limi-tation on air transportation growth in the 21st century." ' According to the FAA's web-page, web-page, they responded to this report by changing their strategies strate-gies and revising their role to be an advocate for both the environment envi-ronment and industry. It says, "the FAA works closely with other federal agencies, industry, and foreign governments" to assess and address environmental environmen-tal concerns. In fact, the FAA is the United States' sitting member on the United Nation's aviation advisory adviso-ry group, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The ICAO, says the FAA, "establishes and assesses the adequacy of international aviation avia-tion environmental standards, especially in the areas of aircraft noise and engine exhaust emissions emis-sions standards." From the new program developed devel-oped with these standards, the FAA has an "increased globalization global-ization of aviation" and a need to "support mitigation .. . . towards tour operations over national parks". All of this is in stark contrast to the environmental concerns of the Bureau of Land Management from overflights on the Grand Staircase-Escalante Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM) that they manage. Even though the GSENM is protected pro-tected for its environmental qualities, this Federal public land has military training routes over it, where, on nearly a weekly week-ly basis, local residents report being "buzzed" by military jets just 50 feet above their heads. In a May 27 telephone interview, inter-view, Harry Barber, the GSENM's assistant monument manager for Biological Resources, said that they have limited knowledge on wildlife's reactions to the military overflights. over-flights. "We have cursory knowledge based on the Grand Canyon's work with overflights and sheep reactions," he said. He told of a recent experience watching a military jet flying over sheep on Smokey Mountain, "The sheep didn't react. They didn't seem to notice." |