69848 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 224 / Monday, November 20, 2000 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

Commercial Routes for the Grand

Canyon National Park

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice; Delay of effective date.

SUMMARY: On April 4, 2000, the FAA

issued a Notice of Availability of

commercial routes in the Grand Canyon

National Park (GCNP) Special Flight

Rules Area (SFRA) setting forth new

routes available for GCNP. Additionally,

on that same day, the FAA published a

final rule modifying the airspace of the

SFRA. The new routes and the Airspace

final rule are interrelated. On July 31,

2000, the United States Air Tour

Association and seven air tour operators

in GCNP requested a stay of the

compliance date for the airspace final

rule from the FAA. On October 11,

2000, the FAA published a denial of the

stay request. On October 25, 2000, the

Air Tour Providers filed with the D.C.

Circuit Court of Appeals a Motion for

Stay and Emergency Relief Pending

Review of an Agency Order. On

November 2, 2000, the FAA filed with

the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals its

Opposition to Petitioners’ Motion for

Stay Pending Review and Notification of

Administrative Stay of Route and

Airspace Rules. This document delays

the effective date of the Route system

until December 28, 2000 so that the

FAA may investigate some new safety

issues just raised by the Air Tour

Providers.

DATES: The Notice of availability for

Commercial Routes for the Grand

Canyon National Park was issued on

March 28, 2000, and published in the

Federal Register on April 4, 2000 (65 FR

17698). It was scheduled to become

effective on December 1, 2000. The FAA

is delaying implementation of the routes

until December 28, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Howard Nesbitt, Flight Standards

Service, (AFS–200). Federal Aviation

Administration, Seventh and Maryland

Streets, SW, Washington, DC 20591;

Telephone (202) 493–4981.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On April 4, 2000, the Federal

Aviation Administration published two

final rules, the Modification of the

Dimensions of the Grand Canyon

National Park Special Flight Rules Area

and Flight Free Zones (Air Space

Modification), and the Commercial Air

Tour Limitation in the Grand Canyon

National Park Special Flight Rules Area

(Commercial Air Tour Limitation). See

65 FR 17736; 65 FR 17708; April 4,

2000. The FAA also simultaneously

published a notice of availability of

Commercial Routes for the Grand

Canyon National Park (Routes Notice).

See 65 FR 17698, April 4, 2000. The

commercial Air Tour Limitations final

rule became effective on May 4, 2000.

The Air Space Modification final rule

and the routes set forth in the Routes

Notice were scheduled to become

effective December 1, 2000. The

effective date of the Air Space

Modification final rule and the new

routes was delayed to provide the air

tour operators ample opportunity to

train on the new route system during

the non-tour season. The Final

Supplemental Environmental

Assessment for Special Flight Rules in

the Vicinity of Grand Canyon National

Park (SEA) was completed on February

22, 2000, and the Finding of No

Significant Impact was issued on

February 25, 2000.

On May 8, 2000, the United States Air

Tour Association and seven air tour

operators (hereinafter collectively

referred to as the Air Tour Providers)

filed a petition for review of the two

final rules before the United States

Court of Appeals for the District of

Columbia Circuit. This petition did not

cover the Routes Notice. The FAA, The

Department of Transportation, the

Department of Interior, the National

Park Service and various federal

officials were named as respondents in

this action. On May 30, 2000, the Air

Tour Providers filed a motion for stay

pending review before the Court of

appeals. The federal respondents in this

case filed a motion for summary denial

on grounds that petitions had not

exhausted their administrative

remedies. The Court granted the federal

respondents summary denial on July 19,

2000. The Grand Canyon Trust, the

National Parks and Conservation

Association, the Sierra Club, the

Wilderness Society, Friends of the

Grand Canyon and Grand Canyon River

Guides, Inc. (The Trust) filed a petition

for review of the same rules on May 22,

2000. The Court, by motion of the

federal respondents, consolidated that

case with that of the Air Tour Providers.

The Hualapai Indian Tribe of Arizona

filed a motion to intervene in the Air

Tour Providers petition for review on

June 23, 2000. The Court granted that

motion on July 19, 2000.

On July 31, 2000, the Air Tour

Providers filed a motion for stay before

the FAA. Both the Hualapai Indian

Tribe and the Trust filed oppositions to

the Air Tour Providers’ stay motion. On

October 11, 2000, (65 FR 60352) the

FAA published a disposition of the stay

request, denying the stay. On October

25, 2000, the Air Tour Providers filed a

Motion for Stay and Emergency Relief

Pending Review of an Agency Order

with the Court of Appeals. The federal

respondents filed their Opposition to

Petitioner’s Motion for Stay Pending

Review and Notification of

Administrative Stay of Route and

Airspace Rules on November 2, 2000.

Agency Action

The Air Tour Providers have raised

some specific safety allegations about

the routes in the Dragon Corridor (Green

Route 2 and 2R), Zuni Point Corridor

(Green 1; Black 1) and east of the Desert

View Flight Free Zone (Black 2 and

Green 3). These safety issues were not

previously raised to the FAA and thus

the FAA has not had the opportunity to

investigate the merit of these

allegations. The FAA takes these

allegations very seriously and thus has

sent out a group of FAA safety

inspectors to verify the significance of

these allegations. Based on the

information obtained from these

investigators, the FAA will determine

how to best resolve any safety issues of

merit. The FAA will report its findings

to the Court by November 28, 2000. In

the meantime, the FAA is delaying the

effective date of the new routes until

December 28, 2000. Elsewhere in this

Federal Register, the FAA also is

delaying the effective date of the

airspace changes adopted in the April 4,

2000 final rule. The FAA also has

suspended training on the routes in the

Dragon Corridor, Zuni Point Corridor

and east of Desert View Flight Free Zone

until it has completed its safety review.

If the FAA determines that any of the

safety issues raised by Petitioners have

merit, then it will take the necessary

steps to resolve them before making any

of the routes effective. The FAA also

will provide adequate time for the

needed training.

Dated: Issued in Washington, D.C. on

November 14, 2000.

Jane F. Garvey,

Administrator, Federal Aviation

Administration.

[FR Doc. 00–29621 Filed 11–16–00; 10:18

am]

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