www.atmp.faa.gov

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www.atmp.faa.gov
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Briefing Agenda and Objectives

• Air Tour Management Plan (ATMP) Program video.
• Discuss the salient provisions of the National
  Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000.
• Review the scope of the ATMP Program.
• Present the planned ATMP development process.
• Summarize the planned public involvement
  opportunities.
• Respond to your comments and questions.

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The National Parks Air Tour Management Act of
2000
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The Act

• Enacted by United States Congress on April 5,
  2000.
• Implementing regulations were published by FAA in
  Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 136,
  National Parks Air Tour Management.
• Implementing regulations published on October 25,
  2002 with effective date of January 23, 2003.

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The Act

• Requires commercial air tour operators to apply
  to FAA for Operating Authority to operate over
  National Park Units and abutting tribal land.
• Requires FAA, in cooperation with the NPS, to
  develop Air Tour Management Plans (ATMP) for
  parks and tribal lands where air tour operation
  occur or are proposed.
• The objective of any ATMP is to develop
  acceptable and effective measures to mitigate or
  prevent the significant adverse impacts, if any,
  of commercial air tour operations upon the
  natural and cultural resources, visitor
  experiences, and tribal lands.

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The Act

• Commercial air tour operators fall into two
  categories
• Existing air tour operators
• Those who conducted air tour operations over the
  subject park or tribal land during the 12-month
  period preceding April 5, 2000.
• Interim Operating Authority (IOA) has or will be
  granted to all existing operators to allow
  operations to continue while ATMP is developed.
• IOA Operations limited to the greater of the
  number of operations for the 12-month period or
  the average over the 3-year period preceding
  April 5, 2000, unless otherwise agreed to by NPS
  and authorized by FAA.
• New entrant air tour operators
• Those who have or propose to begin operations
  after April 5, 2000.
• New entrants must not commence or continue air
  tour operations until the ATMP is developed or
  FAA, in cooperation with NPS, grants IOA.

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The Act

• Interim Operating Authority may be granted to new
  entrants
• If FAA determines such authority is necessary to
  ensure competition in the provision of air tour
  operations,
• If an ATMP has not been developed for the subject
  park or tribal land by April 5, 2002.
• IOA may not be granted to new entrants if the FAA
  determines it would create a safety problem or if
  NPS determines it would create a noise problem.

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The Act

• In developing ATMPs, FAA and NPS must conduct an
  environmental impact analysis in accordance with
  the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
• FAA is the Lead Agency and NPS is a Cooperating
  Agency.
• Both the FAA and NPS must sign the NEPA
  environmental document and record of decision for
  the ATMP.

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The Act

• The Air Tour Management Plan (ATMP)
• May prohibit commercial air tour operations in
  whole or in part
• May establish conditions for the conduct of air
  tour operations including routes, altitudes,
  time-of-day restrictions, restrictions for
  particular events, maximum number of flights,
  etc.
• Shall apply to all commercial air tour operations
  within ½ mile outside the boundary of a national
  park

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The Act

• The Air Tour Management Plan (ATMP)
• Shall include incentives for adoption of quiet
  aircraft technology
• Shall provide for the allocation of opportunities
  to conduct tours when the ATMP limits the number
  of operations and,
• Shall justify and document the need for measures
  taken pursuant to A. through E. above.

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Scope of the Air Tour Management Plan Program
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Nationwide

• Based on applications received to date
• 77 operators have applied for Operating Authority
  to conduct commercial air tour operations over
  units of the National Park System and/or tribal
  lands.
• 102 National Park Units have air tour operations
  subject to the rule.
• 5 tribal lands have air tour operations subject
  to the rule. (These are lands for which
  applications for operating authority have been
  received. There are other tribal lands which are
  located within or abutting other parks that may
  be a consideration in ATMP development.)
• New entrants have applied for Operating Authority
  for 42 National Park Units.

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Geographic Distribution
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Northwest Mountain Region (ANM)
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ANM Parks and Tribal Lands with Air Tours

• Arches National Park
• Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
• Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park
• Blackfeet Indian Reservation
• Bryce Canyon National Park
• Canyonlands National Park
• Capitol Reef National Park
• Cedar Breaks National Monument
• City Of Rocks National Reserve
• Colorado National Monument
• Crater Lake National Park
• Craters Of The Moon National Monument
• Curecanti National Recreation Area
• Devils Tower National Monument
• Dinosaur National Monument
• Fort Laramie National Historic Site
• Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
• Glacier National Park
• Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

• Golden Spike National Historic Site
• Grand Teton National Park
• Great Sand Dunes National Monument Preserve
• Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
• Hovenweep National Monument
• Lake Chelan National Recreation Area
• Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area
• Mesa Verde National Park
• Mount Rainier National Park
• Natural Bridges National Monument
• North Cascades National Park
• Olympic National Park
• Rainbow Bridge National Monument
• San Juan Island National Historical Park
• Timpanogos Cave National Monument
• Ute Tribal Lands
• Yellowstone National Park
• Yucca House National Monument
• Zion National Park

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The Air Tour Management Plan(ATMP) Development
Process
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ATMP Development Process
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ATMP Prioritization
Prioritization
Project Initiation
Planning Environmental Analysis
Rulemaking

• Factors Considered in Prioritization
• New Entrants The Act requires priority for new
  entrant locations (14 out of 15 locations in
  FY-03).
• Level of Activity A mix of high and low
  activity parks have been selected for FY-03
  startup.
• Geographic Location Consideration of geographic
  proximity, workload distribution, and existing
  NPS/FAA relationships.
• Availability of Acoustical Data To take
  advantage of currently available or soon to be
  available acoustical data to reduce costs.
• Tribal Lands To include a reasonable number of
  locations with tribal land considerations.
• Public Agency Priority To accommodate, where
  practical and appropriate, known interest in
  expediting ATMP development.

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Prioritization
ATMP Prioritization
Project Initiation
Planning Environmental Analysis
Rulemaking

• Northwest Mountain Region ATMPs/Parks planned for
  FY-03 Startup
• Grand Teton National Park
• Yellowstone National Park
• Glacier National Park

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Project Initiation
ATMP Prioritization
Project Initiation
Planning Environmental Analysis
Rulemaking

• Assigning human and financial resources to an
  ATMP project.
• Establishing FAA, NPS, and consultant project
  team(s).
• Initiate planning and environmental data
  gathering.
• Initial resource and cooperating agency contacts.

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Planning and Environmental Analysis
ATMP Prioritization
Project Initiation
Planning Environmental Analysis
Rulemaking

• An EA or EIS must be completed for FAA NPS
  decision making.
• Currently plan to begin with development of EAs
• With mandate to mitigate or prevent significant
  adverse impacts an EA should be sufficient.
• Provides flexibility to conform to varying
  complexity of parks, tribal lands, air tour
  activity.
• Will move to EIS if necessary.
• Hybrid EA process will combine planning and
  environmental processes and will include formal
  public/agency scoping and public review and
  comment on draft.

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Planning and Environmental Analysis
ATMP Prioritization
Project Initiation
Planning Environmental Analysis
Rulemaking

• Major Elements
• Scoping
• Environmental analysis
• Public review of draft Environmental Assessment
  (EA) or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
• Publication of final EA or EIS and,
• Decision.

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Environmental Impact Categories
ATMP Prioritization
Project Initiation
Planning Environmental Analysis
Rulemaking

• Air Quality
• Coastal Resources
• Compatible Land Use
• Construction Impacts
• 49 USC Section 303 (Formerly DOT Section 4(f))
• Environmental Justice
• Farmlands
• Fish, Wildlife, and Plants (Including TE
  Species)
• Floodplains and Floodways
• Hazardous Materials and Solid Waste

• Historical, Architectural, Archeological,
  Cultural Resources
• Light Emissions and Visual Impacts
• Natural Resources and Energy Supply
• Noise
• Secondary (Induced) Impacts
• Socioeconomic Impacts
• Water Quality
• Wetlands
• Wild and Scenic Rivers

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Rulemaking
ATMP Prioritization
Project Initiation
Planning Environmental Analysis
Rulemaking

• Each ATMP will require a federal rulemaking
  action.
• ATMP rulemaking will be completed by the FAA.
• Each ATMP will be incorporated directly or by
  reference into Title 14, Code of Federal
  Regulations, Part 136.

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Public Involvement Opportunities
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Public Involvement Opportunities

• Scoping An opportunity to formally provide
  input on the range of actions, alternatives, and
  impacts to be considered in the planning and
  environmental analysis.
• Review of Draft EA or EIS The draft
  environmental assessment (EA) or Environmental
  Impact Statement (EIS) will be made available for
  public review and comment.
• Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) The
  proposed ATMP rule will be published for public
  review and comment.

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www.atmp.faa.gov