I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1696

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

APRIL 5, 1993

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

Committees on Natural Resources and Public Works and Transportation

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

8 wildlife therein, and provides for the enjoyment of
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1 the same in such manner and by such means as will

2 leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future

3 generations.

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

5 Administration to manage the safe and efficient use

6 of the navigable airspace of the United States, as

7 provided for in the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (49

8 U.S.C. App. 1301 et seq.).

9 (3) The National Park Service lands in the

10 State of Hawaii, consisting of Kaloko-Honokohau

11 National Historical Park, Kalaupapa National His12 torical Park, Pu’u honua o Honaunau National His13 torical Park, Pu’u Kohola Heiau National Historic

14 Site, Haleakala National Park, and Hawaii Volca15 noes National Park, are managed for the purposes

16 of wilderness preservation, protecting natural, cul17 tural, historical, and wildlife resources, and for pro18 motion of the public enjoyment and use of these re19 sources.

20 (4) Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes National

21 Parks are designated by the United Nations as

22 International Biosphere Reserves because of their

23 internationally significant scenery and plant and ani24 mal communities, and furthermore that Hawaii Vol25 canoes National Park is designated by the United
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1 Nations as a World Heritage Site because of the sig2 nificance of Mauna Loa and Kilauea Volcanoes.

3 (5) In recognition of the values for which Na4 tional Park Service lands are managed, an above

5 ground level (AGL) minimum altitude of 2,000 feet

6 shall be established for aircraft flying in airspace

7 over certain lands administered by the National

8 Park Service.

9 (6) The auditory and visual intrusion of aircraft

10 flying at low altitudes is the source of public com11 plaint in certain areas administered by the National

12 Park Service.

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

14 potential hazard to wildlife in certain areas adminis15 tered by the National Park Service.

16 (8) Aircraft flying at low altitudes over large

17 concentrations of migratory birds may pose a poten18 tial safety hazard to pilots and passengers in certain

19 areas administered by the National Park Service.

20 (9) The Federal Aviation Administration and

21 National Park Service shall act in cooperation to re22 duce the incidence of low-flying aircraft, including

23 fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, ultralight vehicles,

24 balloons, and gliders over National Park Service ad25 ministered land by complying with the 2,000 feet
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1 AGL minimum altitude requirement, and to avoid

2 flying over areas which the National Park Service

3 designates as noise-sensitive, and to respect standoff

4 distances away from areas which the National Park

5 Service designates as primary visitor use areas.

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE RESPONSIBILITIES.

7 The Director of the National Park Service shall be

8 responsible for the following:

9 (1) IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIFIC AREAS.—

10 Identifying specific areas where low-flying aircraft

11 may constitute an adverse impact on resources and

12 conveying specific information, including annotated

13 maps, which indicate designated flight-free areas

14 and primary visitor use areas, to the Federal Avia15 tion Administration for appropriate action as de16 scribed in section 3.

17 (2) LOW-FLYING REPORTING SYSTEM.—Devel18 oping and implementing a standardized reporting

19 system acceptable to the Federal Aviation Adminis20 tration to document instances of low-flying aircraft

21 over National Park Service administered lands. This

22 reporting system shall provide for transmittal of

23 such documentation in a timely manner to the Hon24 olulu Federal Aviation Administration Flight Stand25 ards district office.
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1 (3) TRAINING.—Developing training programs

2 and instructional materials for National Park Serv3 ice personnel to enable them to recognize and report

4 instances of low-flying aircraft in a competent and

5 professional manner. The appropriate training pro6 grams of the National Park Service shall expand to

7 incorporate the subject matter into in-service train8 ing requirements. The Director of the National Park

9 Service shall seek the assistance of the Federal Avia10 tion Administration to help develop training cur11 ricula.

12 (4) QUARTERLY MEETING.—Making personnel

13 available from the National Park Service to meet

14 quarterly with the Federal Aviation Administration

15 and affected pilots to discuss resources management

16 objectives and issues associated with low-flying air17 craft.

18 SEC. 3. FEDERAL AVIATION RESPONSIBILITIES.

19 The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis20 tration shall be responsible for the following:

21 (1) COMMUNICATION WITH PILOTS.—Commu22 nicating to pilots the concerns and objectives of the

23 National Park Service about low-flying aircraft in

24 specified areas, using advisories, bulletins, the Fed25 eral Aviation Administration publication The Fed-
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1 eral Aviation News, the ongoing ‘‘Accident Preven2 tion Program’’ for routine pilots’ contact, and other

3 means of communications with pilots, and to impress

4 upon pilots that pilot participation is strongly en5 couraged to ensure protection of resources and the

6 enjoyment of natural areas by the public.

7 (2) INVESTIGATIONS.—Investigating instances

8 of pilot deviations from the Federal Aviation Admin9 istration requested minimum altitude over areas,

10 and National Park Service-designated flight-free and

11 primary visitor use areas in lands administered by

12 the National Park Service, and taking action to dis13 courage deviations with the objectives of reducing or

14 eliminating such incidents in these areas.

15 (3) MILITARY AIRCRAFT.—Assisting the Na16 tional Park Service in communicating with the var17 ious agencies of the Department of Defense with re18 gard to military aircraft operations over National

19 Park Service administered areas.

20 (4) AVAILABILITY OF STATUS AND RESULTS OF

21 INVESTIGATIONS.—Making available to the National

22 Park Service, at the Federal Aviation Administra23 tion Flight Standards district office, the status and

24 results of the Federal Aviation Administration’s in-
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1 vestigation of instances reported by the National

2 Park Service.

3 (5) SUPPORT OF AVIATION GROUPS.—Enlisting

4 the support of all aviation groups and organizations

5 by requesting they disseminate information about

6 problems associated with aircraft operating at low

7 altitudes over areas administered by the National

8 Park Service.

9 (6) MEETINGS WITH NATIONAL PARK SERV10 ICE.—Assisting the National Park Service in com11 bating problems associated with low-flying aircraft

12 by participating in appropriate meetings at field and

13 regional levels.

14 SEC. 4. FLIGHT RESTRICTION DESIGNATIONS.

15 (a) KALOKO HONOKOHAU, PU’U HONUA O

16 HONAUNAU, PU’U KOHOLA HEIAU, AND KALAUPAPA NA17 TIONAL HISTORICAL PARKS.—Inasmuch as Kaloko

18 Honokohau, Pu’u honua o Honaunau, Pu’u kohola Heiau,

19 and Kalaupapa National Historical Parks are mandated

20 to protect historical, cultural, and religious values, and

21 other resources considered sacred to Hawaiian people, all,

22 in their entirety are considered noise-sensitive and shall

23 not be overflown by commercial tour aircraft. Commercial

24 fixed-wing aircraft which are not on scenic tours may

25 overfly Kaloko Honokohau when it is unsafe to use
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1 alternative approaches to Keahole Airport. Furthermore,

2 inasmuch as those areas are small and are entirely pri3 mary visitor use areas, scenic tour aircraft shall maintain

4 a 2-mile standoff distance.

5 (b) HALEAKALA NATIONAL PARK.—Inasmuch as

6 Haleakala National Park is mandated to protect natural

7 and cultural resources, and especially rare and endangered

8 plant and animal species, magnificent scenery, and tran9 quil and unique wilderness, the Crater District and

10 Kipahulu Valley, including adjacent rain forest areas with11 in the Park, in their entirety, are considered noise-sen12 sitive and shall not be overflown. Furthermore, inasmuch

13 as the overlook near the Sliding Sands trailhead is a pri14 mary visitor use area where people often are assembled

15 on the ground, a two-mile stand-off distance shall be main16 tained.

17 (c) HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK.—Inas18 much as Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is mandated to

19 protect natural and cultural resources, and especially rare

20 and endangered plant and animal species, magnificent sce21 nery, and tranquil and unique wilderness, the designated

22 wilderness areas, in their entirety, consisting of Mauna

23 Loa, Ola’s Forest, East Rift, and Kau Desert, and the

24 summit of Kilauea, and the coastal area between Ka’aha

25 and Kamoamoa are considered noise-sensitive and shall
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1 not be overflown. Furthermore, inasmuch as the Kilauea

2 summit, the Chain of Craters corridor, and the Kamoamoa

3 village sites are primary visitor use areas where people

4 often are assembled on the ground, a 2-mile standoff dis5 tance shall be maintained.

6 (d) MINIMUM ALTITUDE RESTRICTION.—It shall be

7 unlawful for any fixed wing aircraft or helicopter flying

8 under visual flight rules to fly at an altitude of less than

9 2,000 feet over the surface of any National Park System

10 lands in the State of Hawaii not subject to subsections

11 (a) through (c) of this section. For purposes of this para12 graph, the term ‘‘surface’’ refers to the highest terrain

13 within such lands which is within 2,000 feet laterally of

14 the route of flight. For purposes of enforcement, the pro15 hibition pursuant to this subsection shall be treated as a

16 requirement established pursuant to section 307 of the

17 Federal Aviation Act of 1958. To provide information to

18 pilots regarding the restrictions established under this

19 subsection, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Ad20 ministration shall provide public notice of such restrictions

21 in appropriate Federal Aviation Administration publica22 tions as soon as practicable after the enactment of this

23 Act.
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1 SEC. 5. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION AND NA2 TIONAL PARK SERVICE JOINT RESPONSIBIL3 ITY.

4 The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis5 tration and the Director of the National Park Service shall

6 jointly be responsible for the following:

7 (1) ADDITIONAL ASSESSMENTS.—Assess situa8 tions in addition to those specified in section 4

9 where impacts of aircraft operations upon human,

10 cultural, or natural resources are sufficiently serious

11 to warrant consideration of site-specific action by

12 the Federal Aviation Administration to minimize or

13 eliminate the causes of such problems.

14 (2) INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS AND SCI15 ENTIFIC STUDIES.—Prepare public informational

16 materials, including printed matter and audio-visual

17 programs, for communication to pilots using existing

18 Federal Aviation Administration pilot-contact meet19 ings and programs, aviation periodicals, and other

20 means of generating pilot understanding of National

21 Park Service resources management objectives.

22 Where appropriate, the Federal Aviation Adminis23 tration and the National Park Service will share in24 formation on techniques of conducting scientific

25 studies and data collection to facilitate understand-
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1 ing of the impact of aircraft operations on affected

2 resources.

3 (3) PROCEDURES.—Work together to define

4 procedures for use at national headquarters and

5 field office levels to address overflight issues over

6 public land areas.

7 SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN REGULATIONS TO CER8 TAIN SIGHTSEEING FLIGHTS.

9 Parts 91 and 135 of title 14 of the Code of Federal

10 Regulations, relating to general operating and flight rules

11 and to air taxi operators and commercial operators, re12 spectively, shall apply to nonstop sightseeing flights that

13 begin and end at the same airport and are conducted with14 in a 25 statute mile radius of the airport.

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