Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 135 / Wednesday, July 15, 1998 / Proposed Rules 38233

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.

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26902 is withdrawn July 10, 1998.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]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M