Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 16 / Thursday, January 24, 2013 / Notices 5239 

1 In addition to being published in the Federal 

Register (77 FR 69692 (Nov. 20, 2012)), the notice 

was also posted at www.regulations.gov and on the 

Enforcement Office Web site http://www.dot.gov/ 

airconsumer/guidance-aviation-rules-and-statutes 

and was widely distributed by email to persons 

who regularly communicate with the office. 

Public Comment 

Requirements for Submissions 

A hearing will be held on March 12, 

2013, in Rooms 1 and 2, 1724 F Street 

NW., Washington, DC. Persons wishing 

to testify at the hearing must provide 

written notification of their intention by 

February 26, 2013. The notification 

should include: (1) The name, address, 

and telephone number of the person 

presenting the testimony; and (2) a short 

(one or two paragraph) summary of the 

presentation, including the subject 

matter and, as applicable, the service 

sector(s) or subjects to be discussed. A 

copy of the testimony must accompany 

the notification. Remarks at the hearing 

should be limited to no more than five 

minutes to allow for possible questions 

from the TPSC. Persons with mobility 

impairments who will need special 

assistance in gaining access to the 

hearing should contact Yvonne Jamison 

at (202) 395–3475. 

Persons submitting written comments 

must do so in English and must identify 

(on the first page of the submission) 

‘‘International Services Agreement.’’ In 

order to be assured of consideration, 

comments should be submitted by noon, 

February 26, 2013. In order to ensure 

the timely receipt and consideration of 

comments, USTR strongly encourages 

commenters to make on-line 

submissions, using the http:// 

www.regulations.gov Web site. 

Comments should be submitted under 

the following docket: USTR–2013–0001. 

To find the docket, enter the docket 

number in the ‘‘Enter Keyword or ID’’ 

window at the http:// 

www.regulations.gov home page and 

click ‘‘Search.’’ The site will provide a 

search-results page listing all documents 

associated with this docket. Find a 

reference to this notice by selecting 

‘‘Notices’’ under ‘‘Document Type’’ on 

the search-results page, and click on the 

link entitled ‘‘Comment Now!’’ (For 

further information on using the http:// 

www.regulations.gov Web site, please 

consult the resources provided on the 

Web site by clicking on the ‘‘Help’’ tab.) 

The http://www.regulations.gov Web 

site provides the option of making 

submissions by filling in a ‘‘Type 

Comment’’ field, or by attaching a 

document using the ‘‘Upload File’’ field. 

USTR prefers submissions to be 

provided in an attached document. If a 

document is attached, it is sufficient to 

type ‘‘See attached’’ in the ‘‘Type 

Comment’’ field. USTR also prefers 

submissions in Microsoft Word (.doc) or 

Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). If the submission 

is in an application other than those 

two, please indicate the name of the 

application in the ‘‘Comments’’ field. 

For any comments submitted 

electronically containing business 

confidential information, the file name 

of the business confidential version 

should begin with the characters ‘‘BC.’’ 

Any page containing business 

confidential information must be clearly 

marked ‘‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL’’ 

on the top of that page. Filers of 

submissions containing business 

confidential information must also 

submit a public version of their 

comments. The file name of the public 

version should begin with the character 

‘‘P.’’ The ‘‘BC’’ and ‘‘P’’ should be 

followed by the name of the person or 

entity submitting the comments or reply 

comments. Filers submitting comments 

containing no business confidential 

information should name their file using 

the character ‘‘P,’’ followed by the name 

of the person or entity submitting the 

comments. Please do not attach separate 

cover letters to electronic submissions; 

rather, include any information that 

might appear in a cover letter in the 

comments themselves. Similarly, to the 

extent possible, please include any 

exhibits, annexes, or other attachments 

in the same file as the submission itself, 

not as separate files. 

USTR strongly urges submitters to file 

comments through http:// 

www.regulations.gov, if at all possible. 

Any alternative arrangements must be 

made with Yvonne Jamison in advance 

of transmitting a comment. Ms. Jamison 

should be contacted at (202) 395–3475. 

General information concerning USTR 

is available at http://www.ustr.gov. 

Public Inspection of Submissions 

Comments will be placed in the 

docket and open to public inspection, 

except business confidential 

information. Comments may be viewed 

on the http:www.regulations.gov Web 

site by entering the relevant docket 

number in the search field on the home 

page. 

Douglas Bell, 

Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee. 

[FR Doc. 2013–01497 Filed 1–23–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3290–F3–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Office of the Secretary 

Public Charter Prospectuses 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, 

Department of Transportation. 

ACTION: Guidance on review and 

approval of public charter prospectuses. 

SUMMARY: The Department is publishing 

the following notice on clarifying new 

policies affecting the review and 

approval of public charter filings under 

14 CFR part 380 and related changes in 

the Department’s enforcement policies. 

These revisions refer to a notice dated 

November 13, 2012, appearing at 77 FR 

69692 (Nov. 20, 2012). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nicholas Lowry, Attorney, Office of 

Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings 

(C–70), 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., 

Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366–9349. 

Clarification of November 2012 

Guidance on Review and Approval of 

Public Charter Operations and 

Prospectuses 

On November 13, 2012, the 

Department’s Office of International 

Aviation and Office of Aviation 

Enforcement and Proceedings issued a 

joint notice regarding future filings 

under 14 CFR part 380, the 

Department’s rule on public charters 

and enforcement policy under those 

rules.1 That notice, which was an effort 

to prevent the kind of harm to 

consumers that took place when the 

charter operator Southern Sky Air & 

Tours, LLC d/b/a Direct Air ceased 

service, explained that the Department 

would in the future not approve 

prospectuses under part 380 absent 

certain supplemental assurances 

designed to avoid practices evident in 

the Direct Air case that were in violation 

of the public charter rules. 

Specifically, the notice described the 

Department’s plan to reject public 

charter prospectus filings that do not 

affirmatively state that: (1) The contract 

between the charter operator and the 

direct air carrier is for the full price of 

the air transportation; and (2) the 

charter operator will retain control and 

access to its reservations records, and 

share those records with the direct air 

carriers. Furthermore, we stated that we 

would not permit the charter operator to 

accept payment by debit card (although 

we did state our willingness to consider 

waivers from this prohibition on 

demonstration that consumers would 

receive the protections of the Fair Credit 

Billing Act). The notice also stated that 

voucher programs, such as that offered 

by Direct Air, are not acceptable and 

will be considered to be per se 

violations of 14 CFR part 380. 

Shortly after issuance of this notice, 

the Department received a number of 

comments from the public charter 


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5240 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 16 / Thursday, January 24, 2013 / Notices 

2 77 FR 74729 (Dec. 17, 2012). 

3Attached is a discussion of the comments 

received on the draft clarification we posted on our 

Web site (http://www.dot.gov/airconsumer/latestnews) and placed in DOT–OST–2013–0002 at 

http://regulations.gov on January 4, 2013. 

4The full cost of the direct air transportation 

includes the cost of aircraft, crew, maintenance, 

insurance, fuel, ground handling, landing fees, 

reservations costs, passenger facility fees and taxes, 

and all other costs associated with the direct air 

transportation. 

5We are aware of markets, for example Cuba, in 

which payments for ground services may only be 

made by the charter operator. 

6 In case the charter is cancelled, the charter 

operator must also be prepared to make full refunds 

to consumers, including amounts disbursed as prepaid taxes (14 CFR 380.32(k)). 

community. Some comments 

questioned the legality of the notice. 

Other comments sought clarification or 

revision of aspects of the guidance 

addressed in the notice. In order to have 

sufficient time to review and consider 

these comments, we extended the 

effective date of the guidance to January 

14, 2013.2 Then, on January 4, 2013, 

after considering the comments received 

on our November 13 guidance, we 

issued a draft clarification and invited 

additional public comments by January 

8, 2013. We received six comments from 

four attorneys who represent public 

charter industry participants, one 

charter company and a prospective 

charter operator.3

We have now fully considered the 

comments previously received and 

additional comments we solicited on 

the draft clarification, and we are 

convinced that requiring supplemental 

assurances to prospectus filings is 

within our authority and is needed to 

prevent consumer harm. However, we 

agree with the public charter 

community that further clarification and 

revision of the guidance is needed to 

make certain that the assurances to be 

filed as part of the prospectus filings 

address the practical business problems 

raised in the comments we received but 

still prevent the problematic situation 

that took place when Direct Air ceased 

service. As such, this notice modifies 

the prior guidance by providing 

citations to the existing laws that are the 

basis for the guidance, further clarifying 

the supplemental information/ 

assurances that should be included in 

public charter prospectus filings and 

further clarifying our enforcement 

policy with respect to certain matters 

discussed in the guidance. In response 

to comments that the charter operator, 

the bank, and the direct air carrier 

should not be asked to make assurances 

in areas where they have no 

responsibility, the required assurances 

will only be expected with respect to 

the portions of the charter operations in 

which the entity making the assurance 

is directly involved. 

Our prior notice stated that charter 

operators could not have contracts with 

direct air carriers that are limited to 

providing aircraft, crew, maintenance 

and insurance (ACMI). We stated that 

the contract between the charter 

operator and the direct air carrier must 

be for the full price of the air 

transportation.4 This guidance is based 

on section 380.11 which provides that a 

direct air carrier shall be paid in full for 

the cost of the charter transportation 

prior to the scheduled date of flight 

departure. However, as a matter of 

enforcement policy, we have decided 

not to take action against public charter 

operators that have ACMI contracts 

provided that the charter operators and 

their escrow banks offer assurances that 

all passenger funds in charter programs 

are deposited in the relevant escrow and 

that the escrow banks involved maintain 

accounts and full and accurate 

accounting of disbursements to vendors 

such as fuel or ground handling 

providers in accordance with 14 CFR 

380.34(b). For charter operators using a 

security instrument under section 

380.34(a), ACMI contracts may also be 

utilized provided that the amount of the 

security instrument is unlimited or for 

the full cost of the air transportation. 

(See footnote 4). Further, in the limited 

circumstances where a government 

requires payment directly from a public 

charter operator rather than the escrow 

bank as required by section 

380.34(b)(2)(v), as a matter of 

enforcement policy, we will not pursue 

enforcement action against the public 

charter operator for doing so.5 In 

addition, in situations where a public 

charter operator is required to pay 

government taxes and fees in advance of 

the passenger date of travel, we will not 

take action against these entities for 

paying the fees out of the escrow 

account prior to payment to the direct 

air carrier irrespective of the 

requirement in section 380.34(b)(2)(ii) 

for the direct air carrier to be paid in full 

prior to other payments being made, so 

long as the bank and public charter 

operator maintain a full accounting of 

records of such disbursements.6 Our 

rules require that disbursements be 

identified on an individual flight by 

flight basis. Our primary intent is to 

reaffirm that all passenger funds must 

be deposited initially in the escrow 

accounts, apart from certain deductions 

allowed in travel agent sales. 

Another area of clarification concerns 

control by public charter operators of 

passenger reservation records and the 

sharing of these records with direct air 

carriers. Our prior notice indicated that 

we would not approve public charter 

prospectus filings that do not include an 

assurance that the public charter 

operator will retain direct control of all 

passenger reservation records and will 

share those records with the direct air 

carrier to ensure that, in the event of a 

major disruption in the program, the 

direct air carrier would be able to 

identify and contact tour participants 

regarding returning flights. 

Representatives of charter operators 

contended that the Department was 

creating new requirements through 

guidance. However, a number of 

sections in part 380 require public 

charter operators to provide 

notifications to passengers under certain 

specific circumstances. See, e.g., 

sections 380.12 and 380.33. In addition, 

sections 249.21 and 380.36 require 

public charter operators to maintain 

passenger records for six months after 

the completion or cancellation of the 

flight or series of flights. To comply 

with these obligations, public charter 

operators must have access to passenger 

reservation records. In addition, section 

14 CFR 212.3(f) requires direct air 

carriers conducting public charter 

operations to return passengers who 

purchased round trip transportation on 

the charter and who were transported by 

that carrier on their outbound flights to 

their point of origin. Without passenger 

reservation records, direct air carriers 

would be unable to comply with this 

existing requirement. Therefore, we 

view the existing requirements as 

mandating that public charter operators 

share these records with direct air 

carriers when needed to return 

passengers to their points of origin. 

Representatives of charter operators 

also appeared to believe that the 

guidance would not allow charter 

operators to rely on reservations systems 

provided by third-parties. This is not 

correct. Direct air carriers and charter 

operators can rely on such outside 

vendors for these services but must 

ensure that they still have access to the 

records. Our intent was and remains to 

emphasize, to both the charter operator 

and the direct carrier, the importance of 

the obligation to return passengers 

under section 212.3, and not to preclude 

the use of third-party vendors. Both the 

public charter operator and the direct 

air carrier have discretion in how to 

meet this obligation, but the Department 

needs assurances in the prospectus 

filings that the public charter operator 

will maintain access to the reservation 

records as required by existing rules and 

share this information with the direct 


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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 16 / Thursday, January 24, 2013 / Notices 5241 

7The provision cited should have been 14 CFR 

380.34(b)(2)(i). 

8With respect to charters protected by a security 

agreement covering the full cost of the air 

transportation (14 CFR 380.34(a)), our rules allow 

charter operators to accept payment in any form. 

(See, 63 FR 28225, 28232, May 22, 1998; fn. 10). 

9Complimentary vouchers will, however, 

continue to be subject to statutory provisions on 

unfair and deceptive trade practices (49 U.S.C. 

41712) and unauthorized holding out of air 

transportation (49 U.S.C. 41101) wherever 

applicable. For example, distributing vouchers in 

excess of the capacity of aircraft contracted for in 

a specific program would constitute such a 

violation. 

air carrier in case of a disruption in a 

charter program to comply with the 

requirement to return passengers under 

section 212.3. 

The third issue that we addressed in 

our guidance concerned the use of debit 

cards in the purchase of charter 

transportation. Our November 13 notice 

prohibited the use of debit cards in the 

purchase of charter transportation, 

citing the explicit language of section 

380.31 7, which only provides for 

payment by check, money order or 

credit card, but not by debit card. We 

were particularly concerned that debit 

cards lack the chargeback protections 

afforded credit card users under the Fair 

Credit Billing Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et 

seq.). As a matter of enforcement policy, 

we have now determined not to pursue 

action against charter operators that 

accept payment by debit card if they can 

provide assurances to the Department 

that their merchant banks and credit 

card/debit card processors will provide 

the same chargeback protections to 

those using debit cards as credit card 

users receive. If a charter operator 

cannot obtain such assurances then it 

may not accept debit card payments for 

transportation.8

Finally, we wish to clarify our 

position regarding vouchers. We stated 

in our November 13 notice that the 

Enforcement Office would consider any 

voucher program similar to that offered 

by Direct Air to be a per se violation of 

14 CFR part 380. In the case of Direct 

Air, the charter operator sold vouchers 

for travel at unspecified dates in the 

future. Consumer funds did not, as a 

result, receive the escrow protection 

required under Part 380. However, the 

proscription on the use of vouchers 

applies only to voucher programs for 

which the charter operator receives 

money. 

Purely gratuitous or complimentary 

vouchers distributed for passenger 

goodwill are not affected by this policy 

and they will not be considered to be 

per se violations.9

This revised policy regarding 

approval of charter prospectuses 

clarifies the notice of November 13, 

2012, and will take effect 60 days from 

the date of this notice. Prospectuses 

filed after that date will not be approved 

without the supplemental assurances, 

outlined above. The Enforcement Office 

intends to undertake enforcement 

action, where appropriate, if it obtains 

evidence of violations of commitments 

made in those statements, or of the 

acceptance of debit purchases without 

the appropriate assurances as discussed 

above, or of sales initiatives such as the 

voucher program described above. 

Moreover, 14 CFR 380.24 continues to 

require the Department ‘‘to deny the 

exemption authority of any charter 

operator, without hearing, if [the 

Department] finds that such action is 

necessary in the public interest or is 

otherwise necessary in order to protect 

the rights of the travelling public’’ and 

it will do so. Questions regarding this 

notice may be addressed to the Office of 

Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings 

(C–70), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590 or you may 

contact Lisa Swafford-Brooks, Chief, 

Aviation Licensing Compliance Branch 

(lisa.swafford-brooks@dot.gov), or 

Nicholas Lowry, Senior Attorney 

(nick.lowry@dot.gov) in that office, at 

(202) 366–9342. 

Dated: January 14, 2013. 

Paul L. Gretch, 

Director, Office of International Aviation. 

Samuel Podberesky, 

Assistant General Counsel for Aviation 

Enforcement and Proceedings. 

An electronic version of this 

document is available at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

Discussion of Comments on Draft 

Clarification of November 2012 

Guidance on Review and Approval of 

Public Charter Operations and 

Prospectuses 

In our draft notice placed in DOT– 

OST–2013–0002 on the clarification of 

our November 13 guidance, we invited 

public comments by January 8, 2013 on 

our revised guidance on the review and 

approval of public charter prospectuses 

under 14 CFR part 380. We received six 

comments from four attorneys who 

represent public charter industry 

participants, one charter company and a 

prospective charter operator. The notice, 

as revised, is included above this 

summary of comments. 

With respect to AMCI contracts, one 

commenter states that assurances 

regarding depositing all funds in escrow 

accounts, as the notice suggests, is 

redundant, as it is already part of the 

rule but did not offer any further 

objection. A second comment queried 

whether payments to vendors and tax 

payments would be paid by the escrow 

bank or the charter operator and 

whether payments could be made prior 

to the flight completion date. The notice 

explains that payment may be made by 

the charter operator in limited 

circumstance subject to certain 

conditions. We also clarify that we will 

allow prepayment of fees out of escrow 

if required by a government entity. 

On reservations records, again we 

received a comment stating that 

assurances regarding access to passenger 

records are redundant since they are 

already implicitly required by the rule. 

Another comment pointed out that 

charter carriers and operators are not 

able to maintain independent 

reservations systems. Our notice 

recognizes this and states that the 

carriers and charter operators have 

discretion in how they maintain records 

and can use third party vendors, so long 

as they are in a position to make 

reasonable efforts to contact passengers 

in case of a stranding. 

With respect to the use of debit cards, 

two commenters point out that bondonly programs should be free to accept 

debit cards without the assurances 

described in the order because the 

bonds cover the full amount of the air 

transportation. We agree and have 

modified the notice to reflect that 

qualification. 

In addition, the comments of a 

prospective charter operator generally 

denied that the Department had 

authority to prohibit the use of debit 

cards or voucher programs or to seek 

assurances regarding AMCI contracts. 

We believe he is wrong on these points. 

He also asserts that the Department 

should provide free bonding protection 

for all public charter programs. These 

comments are outside the scope of our 

notice and beyond our authority. 

Another charter operator suggested, 

with respect to voucher programs, that 

pre-paid voucher programs should be in 

compliance with part 380, provided all 

consumer funds remained in a general 

escrow account until the consumer 

selected a date and then could be 

allocated to a specific flight date. In 

addition, the commenter suggests that 

carriers should be free to enter into 

AMCI contracts with charter operators if 

special security accounts were 

established to cover flight expenses, 

such as fuel, not covered in the AMCI 

contract. We remain open to consider 

such proposals in the context of waiver 

or exemption requests so long as we are 

convinced that consumer funds receive 

adequate protection. 

Several of the commenters expressed 

interest in the exact form the assurances 

discussed in the notice should take. We 


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5242 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 16 / Thursday, January 24, 2013 / Notices 

plan to place sample assurances in the 

docket for public review and comment 

shortly (DOT–OST–2013–0002; at 

http://regulations.gov). 

[FR Doc. 2013–01395 Filed 1–23–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

32nd Meeting: RTCA Special 

Committee 206, Aeronautical 

Information and Meteorological Data 

Link Services 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), U.S. Department 

of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Meeting Notice of RTCA Special 

Committee 206, Aeronautical 

Information and Meteorological Data 

Link Services. 

SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing this notice 

to advise the public of the thirty-second 

meeting of the RTCA Special Committee 

206, Aeronautical Information and 

Meteorological Data Link Services. 

DATES: The meeting will be held 

February 11–15, 2013 from 8:30 a.m.– 

5:00 p.m. (except Monday). 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

Delta Airlines Headquarters, 1030 Delta 

Boulevard, Atlanta, GA 30354. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

RTCA Secretariat, 1150 18th Street NW., 

Suite 910, Washington, DC 20036, or by 

telephone at (202) 330–0652/(202) 833– 

9339, fax at (202) 833–9434, or Web site 

at http://www.rtca.org. In addition, 

Sophie Bousquet may be contacted 

directly at email sbouquet@rtca.org or 

(202) 330–0663. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to section 10(a) (2) of the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92– 

463, 5 U.S.C., App.), notice is hereby 

given for a meeting of Special 

Committee 206. The agenda will include 

the following: 

Monday, February 11, 2013 

9:00 a.m. Opening Plenary 

• Chairmen’s remarks and host’s 

comments 

• Attendee Introductions 

• Approval of previous meeting 

minutes 

• Review and approve meeting 

agenda 

• Action item review 

• TOR change 

• Sub-Group status and week’s plan 

10:30 a.m. Break 

10:45 a.m. Sub-groups meetings 

Tuesday, February 12 

8:30 a.m.–3:00 p.m. Sub-groups 

meetings 

Wednesday, February 13 

8:30 a.m. Sub-groups meetings 

3:00 p.m. Tour of Delta’s OCC 

Thursday, February 14 

8:30 a.m.–3:00 p.m. Sub-groups 

meetings 

Friday, February 15 

8:30 a.m. Closing Plenary 

• Sub-groups reports 

• Industry Coordination 

• Tables in Appendix C of DO–340 

• Result of SC 217 ISRA 

• Action Item Review 

• Future meeting plans and dates 

• Other business 

12:30 p.m. Adjourn (no lunch break) 

Attendance is open to the interested 

public but limited to space availability. 

With the approval of the chairman, 

members of the public may present oral 

statements at the meeting. Persons 

wishing to present statements or obtain 

information should contact the person 

listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section. Members of the public 

may present a written statement to the 

committee at any time. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on December 

19, 2012. 

Richard F. Gonzalez, 

Management Analyst, Business Operations 

Group, ANG–A12, Federal Aviation 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2013–01378 Filed 1–23–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Membership in the National Parks 

Overflights Advisory Group Aviation 

Rulemaking Committee 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration, Department of 

Transportation. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: By Federal Register notice 

(See 77 FR 27835–27836, May 11, 2012 

and 77 FR 48201, August 13, 2012) the 

National Park Service (NPS) and the 

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 

invited interested persons to apply to 

fill one upcoming opening on the 

National Parks Overflights Advisory 

Group (NPOAG) Aviation Rulemaking 

Committee (ARC). The notice invited 

interested persons to apply to fill a 

vacancy representing environmental 

concerns due to the incumbent 

member’s completion of a three-year 

term appointment on October 9, 2012. 

Since the previous notices did not draw 

enough responses from individuals for 

the open environmental vacancy, NPS 

and FAA are using this notice to invite 

other interested individuals to apply for 

the environmental opening. If you 

responded to either of the initial notices 

for the environmental opening, you will 

still be under consideration and need 

not re-apply. This notice also informs 

the public of another upcoming opening 

to represent commercial air tour 

operator interests due to an incumbent 

member’s completion of a three-year 

term appointment on May 19, 2013. 

DATES: Persons interested in applying 

for the NPOAG openings representing 

environmental concerns and 

commercial air tour operator interests 

need to apply by February 22, 2013. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Keith Lusk, Special Programs Staff, 

Federal Aviation Administration, 

Western-Pacific Region Headquarters, 

P.O. Box 92007, Los Angeles, CA 

90009–2007, telephone: (310) 725–3808, 

email: Keith.Lusk@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The National Parks Air Tour 

Management Act of 2000 (the Act) was 

enacted on April 5, 2000, as Public Law 

106–181. The Act required the 

establishment of the advisory group 

within 1 year after its enactment. The 

NPOAG was established in March 2001. 

The advisory group is comprised of a 

balanced group of representatives of 

general aviation, commercial air tour 

operations, environmental concerns, 

and Native American tribes. The 

Administrator of the FAA and the 

Director of NPS (or their designees) 

serve as ex officio members of the 

group. Representatives of the 

Administrator and Director serve 

alternating 1-year terms as chairman of 

the advisory group. 

In accordance with the Act, the 

advisory group provides ‘‘advice, 

information, and recommendations to 

the Administrator and the Director— 

(1) On the implementation of this title 

[the Act] and the amendments made by 

this title; 

(2) On commonly accepted quiet 

aircraft technology for use in 

commercial air tour operations over a 

national park or tribal lands, which will 

receive preferential treatment in a given 

air tour management plan; 

(3) On other measures that might be 

taken to accommodate the interests of 

visitors to national parks; and 

(4) At the request of the Administrator 

and the Director, safety, environmental, 


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