I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 482

To provide for the regulation of the airspace over National Park System

lands in the State of Hawaii by the Federal Aviation Administration

and the National Park Service, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 2, 1999

Mrs. MINK of Hawaii introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To provide for the regulation of the airspace over National

Park System lands in the State of Hawaii by the Federal

Aviation Administration and the National Park Service,

and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds the following:

5 (1) The National Park Service administers Fed6 eral parks, monuments, and reservations, to conserve

7 the scenery, the natural and historic objects, and
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1 wildlife therein, and provides for the enjoyment of

2 the same in such manner and by such means as will

3 leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future

4 generations.

5 (2) It is the function of the Federal Aviation

6 Administration to manage the safe and efficient use

7 of the navigable airspace of the United States, as

8 provided for in section 40103 of title 49, United

9 States Code.

10 (3) The National Park Service lands in the

11 State of Hawaii, consisting of Kaloko-Honokohau

12 National Historical Park, Kalaupapa National His13 torical Park, Pu’u honua o Honaunau National His14 torical Park, Pu’u Kohola Heiau National Historic

15 Site, Haleakala National Park, and Hawaii Volca16 noes National Park, are managed for the purposes

17 of wilderness preservation, protecting natural, cul18 tural, historical, and wildlife resources, and for pro19 motion of the public enjoyment and use of these re20 sources.

21 (4) Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes National

22 Parks are designated by the United Nations as

23 International Biosphere Reserves because of their

24 internationally significant scenery and plant and ani25 mal communities, and furthermore that Hawaii Vol-
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1 canoes National Park is designated by the United

2 Nations as a World Heritage Site because of the sig3 nificance of Mauna Loa and Kilauea Volcanoes.

4 (5) In recognition of the values for which Na5 tional Park Service lands are managed, an above

6 ground level (AGL) minimum altitude of 1,500 feet

7 should be established for aircraft flying in airspace

8 over certain lands administered by the National

9 Park Service.

10 (6) The auditory and visual intrusion of aircraft

11 flying at low altitudes is the source of public com12 plaint in certain areas administered by the National

13 Park Service.

14 (7) Aircraft flying at low altitudes may pose a

15 potential hazard to wildlife in certain areas adminis16 tered by the National Park Service.

17 (8) Aircraft flying at low altitudes over large

18 concentrations of migratory birds may pose a poten19 tial safety hazard to pilots and passengers in certain

20 areas administered by the National Park Service.

21 (9) The Federal Aviation Administration and

22 National Park Service should act in cooperation to

23 reduce the incidence of low-flying aircraft, including

24 fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, ultralight vehicles,

25 balloons, and gliders over National Park Service ad-
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1 ministered land by complying with the 1,500 feet

2 AGL minimum altitude requirement, to avoid flying

3 over areas which the National Park Service des4 ignates as noise-sensitive, and to respect standoff

5 distances away from areas which the National Park

6 Service designates as primary visitor use areas.

7 SEC. 2. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE RESPONSIBILITIES.

8 The Director of the National Park Service shall be

9 responsible for the following:

10 (1) IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIFIC AREAS.—

11 Identifying specific areas where low-flying aircraft

12 may constitute an adverse impact on resources and

13 conveying specific information, including annotated

14 maps, which indicate designated flight-free areas

15 and primary visitor use areas, to the Federal Avia16 tion Administration for appropriate action as de17 scribed in section 3.

18 (2) LOW-FLYING REPORTING SYSTEM.—Devel19 oping and implementing a standardized reporting

20 system acceptable to the Federal Aviation Adminis21 tration to document instances of low-flying aircraft

22 over National Park Service administered lands. This

23 reporting system shall provide for transmittal of

24 such documentation in a timely manner to the Hon-
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1 olulu Federal Aviation Administration Flight Stand2 ards district office.

3 (3) TRAINING.—Developing training programs

4 and instructional materials for National Park Serv5 ice personnel to enable them to recognize and report

6 instances of low-flying aircraft in a competent and

7 professional manner. The appropriate training pro8 grams of the National Park Service shall expand to

9 incorporate the subject matter into in-service train10 ing requirements. The Director of the National Park

11 Service shall seek the assistance of the Federal Avia12 tion Administration to help develop training cur13 ricula.

14 (4) QUARTERLY MEETING.—Making personnel

15 available from the National Park Service to meet

16 quarterly with the Federal Aviation Administration

17 and affected pilots to discuss resources management

18 objectives and issues associated with low-flying air19 craft.

20 SEC. 3. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION RESPON21 SIBILITIES.

22 The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis23 tration shall be responsible for the following:

24 (1) COMMUNICATION WITH PILOTS.—Commu25 nicating to pilots the concerns and objectives of the
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1 National Park Service about low-flying aircraft in

2 specified areas, using advisories, bulletins, the Fed3 eral Aviation Administration publication, The Fed4 eral Aviation News, the ongoing ‘‘Accident Preven5 tion Program’’ for routine pilots’ contact, and other

6 means of communications with pilots, impressing

7 upon pilots that pilot participation is strongly en8 couraged to ensure protection of resources and the

9 enjoyment of natural areas by the public.

10 (2) INVESTIGATIONS.—Investigating instances

11 of pilot deviations from the Federal Aviation Admin12 istration requested minimum altitude over areas,

13 and National Park Service-designated flight-free and

14 primary visitor use areas in lands administered by

15 the National Park Service, and taking action to dis16 courage deviations with the objectives of reducing or

17 eliminating such incidents in these areas.

18 (3) MILITARY AIRCRAFT.—Assisting the Na19 tional Park Service in communicating with the var20 ious agencies of the Department of Defense with re21 gard to military aircraft operations over National

22 Park Service administered areas.

23 (4) AVAILABILITY OF STATUS AND RESULTS OF

24 INVESTIGATIONS.—Making available to the National

25 Park Service, at the Federal Aviation Administra-
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1 tion Flight Standards district office, the status and

2 results of the Federal Aviation Administration’s in3 vestigation of instances reported by the National

4 Park Service.

5 (5) SUPPORT OF AVIATION GROUPS.—Enlisting

6 the support of all aviation groups and organizations

7 by requesting they disseminate information about

8 problems associated with aircraft operating at low

9 altitudes over areas administered by the National

10 Park Service.

11 (6) MEETINGS WITH NATIONAL PARK SERV12 ICE.—Assisting the National Park Service in com13 bating problems associated with low-flying aircraft

14 by participating in appropriate meetings at field and

15 regional levels.

16 SEC. 4. FLIGHT RESTRICTION DESIGNATIONS.

17 (a) PROHIBITION ON AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS OVER

18 NOISE SENSITIVE AREAS.—It shall be unlawful to operate

19 an aircraft over the following locations:

20 (1) Kaloko Honokohau, Pu’u honua o

21 Honaunau, Pu’u kohola Heiau, and Kalaupapa Na22 tional Historical Parks and any area that is within

23 a 2-mile radius of one of the Parks.

24 (2) The Crater District and Kipahulu Valley in

25 Haleakala National Park (including adjacent rain
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1 forest areas within the Park) and any area that is

2 within a 2-mile radius of the Sliding Sands trailhead

3 in the Park.

4 (3) The designated wilderness areas consisting

5 of Mauna Loa, Ola’s Forest, East Rift, and Kau

6 Desert, the summit of Kilauea, and the coastal area

7 between Ka’aha and Kamoamoa in Hawaii Volca8 noes National Park and any area that is within a 2-

9 mile radius of the Kilauea summit, the Chain of

10 Craters corridor, or the Kamoamoa village sites in

11 the Park.

12 (b) MINIMUM ALTITUDE RESTRICTION.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any

14 fixed wing aircraft or helicopter flying under visual

15 flight rules to fly at an altitude of less than 1,500

16 feet over the surface of any National Park System

17 lands in the State of Hawaii not subject to sub18 section (a).

19 (2) SURFACE DEFINED.—In this subsection, the

20 term ‘‘surface’’ refers to the highest terrain within

21 such lands which is within 1,500 feet laterally of the

22 route of flight.

23 (c) ENFORCEMENT.—For purposes of enforcement,

24 the prohibitions under subsections (a) and (b) shall be
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1 treated as a requirement established pursuant to section

2 40103 of title 49, United States Code.

3 (d) EXCEPTIONS.—The Administrator of the Federal

4 Aviation Administration may provide exceptions from the

5 prohibitions under subsections (a) and (b) in an emer6 gency and as otherwise required for safety of flight.

7 (e) NOTICE TO PILOTS.—To provide information to

8 pilots regarding the restrictions established under sub9 sections (a) and (b), the Administrator shall provide public

10 notice of such restrictions in appropriate publications of

11 the Federal Aviation Administration as soon as practicable

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act.

13 SEC. 5. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION AND NA14 TIONAL PARK SERVICE JOINT RESPONSI15 BILITY.

16 The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis17 tration and the Director of the National Park Service shall

18 jointly be responsible for the following:

19 (1) ADDITIONAL ASSESSMENTS.—Assessing sit20 uations in addition to those specified in section 4

21 where impacts of aircraft operations upon human,

22 cultural, or natural resources are sufficiently serious

23 to warrant consideration of site-specific action by

24 the Federal Aviation Administration to minimize or

25 eliminate the causes of such problems.
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1 (2) INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS AND SCI2 ENTIFIC STUDIES.—Preparing public informational

3 materials, including printed matter and audio-visual

4 programs, for communication to pilots using existing

5 Federal Aviation Administration pilot-contact meet6 ings and programs, aviation periodicals, and other

7 means of generating pilot understanding of National

8 Park Service resources management objectives.

9 Where appropriate, the Federal Aviation Adminis10 tration and the National Park Service will share in11 formation on techniques of conducting scientific

12 studies and data collection to facilitate understand13 ing of the impact of aircraft operations on affected

14 resources.

15 (3) PROCEDURES.—Working together to define

16 procedures for use at national headquarters and

17 field office levels to address overflight issues over

18 public land areas.

19 SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN REGULATIONS TO CER20 TAIN SIGHTSEEING FLIGHTS.

21 Parts 91 and 135 of title 14, Code of Federal Regula22 tions, relating to general operating and flight rules and

23 to air taxi operators and commercial operators, respec24 tively, shall apply to nonstop sightseeing flights that begin
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1 and end at the same airport and are conducted within a

2 25 statute mile radius of the airport.

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