In 2012, Congress enacted the Highway Transportation Bill (“MAP-21”) which directs the National Park Service (NPS) and FAA to implement an aircraft noise reduction program at Grand Canyon National Park. Under the new law, both agencies are required to promote the use of quiet technology aircraft by increasing allocations to operators who install noise reduction systems, provided that it does not increase noise in the park.
According to the FAA, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) directs the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Secretary of the Interior to provide incentives for commercial air tour operators in Grand Canyon National Park that convert to quiet aircraft technology. The FAA holds a limited number of flight allocations that are authorized under 14 CFR part 93, Subpart U, “Special Flight Rules in the Vicinity of Grand Canyon National Park.”
The FAA, in consultation with the National Park Service, intends to provide these allocations to commercial air tour operators that currently hold allocations in proportion to the number of quiet aircraft technology operations that are flown by respective operators in the first six months of calendar year 2014. This is a one-time release of FAA-held allocations that will be available to operators for quiet aircraft technology flights during the 2014 air tour season and beyond.
The FAA and NPS are continuing to make progress on additional quiet aircraft technology incentives for commercial air tour operators in Grand Canyon National Park.