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entitled 'National Parks Air Tour Fees: Effective Verification and 
Enforcement Are Needed to Improve Compliance' which was released on May 
May 11, 2006.

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United States Government Accountability Office: 

GAO:

Report to Congressional Requesters:

May 2006:

National Parks Air Tour Fees:

Effective Verification and Enforcement Are Needed to Improve Compliance:

GAO-06-468:

GAO Highlights: 

Highlights of GAO-06-468, a report to congressional requesters.

Why GAO Did This Study: 

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (the fees legislation) 
required the National Park Service to begin collecting fees from 
operators that conduct air tours over national park units that meet 
certain criteria.  Currently, only Grand Canyon, Haleakala, and Hawaii 
Volcanoes National Parks meet the criteria to charge air tour fees.  
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in cooperation with the Park 
Service, also regulates air tours over park units pursuant to the 
National Parks Overflights Act of 1987 and the National Parks Air Tour 
Management Act of 2000.

GAO was asked to (1) assess the Park Service’s collection of air tour 
fees and (2) identify what factors, if any, hinder the collection of 
air tour fees.  GAO is also providing information on the possible 
expansion of air tour fees to additional park units.
 
What GAO Found: 

Relying largely on voluntary compliance, the Park Service has collected 
some, but not all, fees from air tour operators at Grand Canyon, 
Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes National Parks.  After passage of the 
fees legislation, these three park units instituted air tour fees in 
1994 by requesting operators to voluntarily report their air tours and 
pay appropriate fees monthly.  Since then, the Park Service has 
collected about $19 million at the three park units (in inflation-
adjusted 2005 dollars).  However, voluntary compliance with the air 
tour fee requirement has been inconsistent, and several operators are 
not paying the required fees.  For example, GAO found that 13 of the 21 
operators conducting air tours over Grand Canyon underpaid their air 
tour fees for calendar years 2000 through 2003 by more than $1.5 
million.

The Park Service’s ability to collect air tour fees is hindered by 
several factors, as follows:

* The Park Service cannot verify air tour activity over the three park 
units.  Air tour operators are not required to record and report to 
either the Park Service or FAA their number of air tours over park 
units, except for Grand Canyon.  Operators at Grand Canyon are required 
to report their air tours only to FAA.  Consequently, the Park Service 
relies on operators to voluntarily report their air tours and pay the 
required fees.  A GAO January 2006 report recommended that FAA take 
steps to require operators to report to both agencies their air tours 
over park units under the 2000 air tour act, including Haleakala and 
Hawaii Volcanoes. 

* The Park Service cannot effectively enforce compliance due to the 
lack of air tour data.  The Park Service has limited ability to enforce 
compliance because it does not have jurisdiction over airspace and 
lacks sufficient air tour data.  Conversely, FAA is not required to 
assist with collecting, or enforcing the collection of, air tour fees.  
As a result, both Park Service and FAA officials told GAO, the agencies 
have little or no ability to take enforcement action against 
noncompliant operators. 

* Different geographic applicability of two laws complicates efforts to 
collect air tour fees.  The fees legislation and the 2000 air tour act 
have different geographic applicability, which has complicated the Park 
Service’s collection efforts.

Air tour fees are currently charged at only 3 of the 86 park units with 
air tours, based on the criteria established in the fees legislation.  
Expanding air tour fees to other park units could generate additional 
funding for the Park Service, but such an expansion would require a 
legislative change and should be balanced against potential impacts on 
air tour operators.  Legislation could explicitly provide that the 
additional funding may be used to develop the air tour management plans 
required by the 2000 air tour act.  Regarding the potential impacts on 
air tour operators, the 2000 air tour act directed FAA to prepare a 
report to Congress on this subject by October 2000.  FAA has drafted 
the report but has not submitted it to Congress.

What GAO Recommends: 

Congress should consider amending the fees legislation or the 2000 air 
tour act to reconcile their geographic applicability.  In addition, GAO 
recommends that FAA (1) ensure the Park Service receives data on air 
tours at Grand Canyon and (2) report to Congress on the effects that 
fees are likely to have on operators.

The Departments of the Interior and Transportation generally agreed 
with our findings and recommendations, as revised.

[Hyperlink, www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-468].

To view the full product, including the scope and methodology, click on 
the link above. For more information, contact Robin M. Nazzaro at (202) 
512-3841 or nazzaror@gao.gov. 

[End of section]

Contents:

Letter:

Results in Brief:

Background:

Largely through Voluntary Compliance, the Park Service Has Collected 
Some, but Not All, Air Tour Fees at Three Park Units:

Collections of Air Tour Fees Are Hindered by Several Factors:

Expanding Air Tour Fees to Additional Park Units Should Be Balanced 
against Potential Impacts on Air Tour Operators:

Conclusions:

Matter for Congressional Consideration:

Recommendations for Executive Action:

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:

Appendixes:

Appendix I: Scope and Methodology:

Appendix II: Number of Authorized Air Tours over National Park Units 
and Admission Fee Information:

Appendix III: Comments from the Department of the Interior:

GAO Comments:

Appendix IV:   GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:

Tables:

Table 1: Differences in Flight Information Air Tour Operators at Grand 
Canyon National Park Reported to FAA and to the Park Service, Calendar 
Years 2000-2003:

Table 2: Park Units with Authorized Air Tours, Grouped by Types of 
Admission Fees:

Table 3: Air Tour Operators We Interviewed, and the Total Number of 
Operators, at the Three Park Units that Charge Air Tour Fees:

Figure: 
 
Figure 1: Geographic Applicability of the Fees Legislation and the Air 
Tour Management Act at Haleakala National Park:

Abbreviations:

FAA: Federal Aviation Administration: 

United States Government Accountability Office: 
Washington, DC 20548:

May 11, 2006:

Congressional Requesters:

Millions of visitors each year enjoy our national parks, monuments, 
historic sites, and other units of the national park system (national 
park units).[Footnote 1] While most visitors experience the park units 
on land by walking, driving, or as part of a bus tour, some visitors 
view the park units through commercial, sightseeing air tours (air 
tours). The Department of the Interior's (Interior) National Park 
Service (Park Service) is responsible for managing the 390 national 
park units and for collecting applicable fees associated with their 
use. Collecting applicable admission and commercial tour use fees from 
individuals, private vehicles, and tour buses that enter the park units 
on land is generally a simple process. At those park units that charge 
fees, the Park Service typically collects the fees at entrance gates, 
and visitors can be denied entry if they do not pay the required fees. 
To verify that these visitors and tour buses have paid the fees, the 
Park Service periodically checks their receipts, and some park units 
compare visitation and vehicle statistics with the fees collected. In 
contrast, collecting commercial tour use fees for air tours (air tour 
fees) has posed some unique challenges for the Park Service.

As part of legislation giving the Park Service recreation fee 
authority, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (the fees 
legislation) required the Park Service to begin collecting a commercial 
tour use fee for all aircraft conducting tours in the airspace over two 
park units--Grand Canyon and Haleakala National Parks (Grand Canyon, 
Haleakala)--after October 1, 1993.[Footnote 2] The air tour fee 
requirement also applies to any other park unit that charges an 
admission fee and for which the Park Service determines the level of 
air tour activity over the park unit is equal to or greater than the 
level at Grand Canyon or Haleakala.[Footnote 3] In December 1993, the 
Park Service determined that the level of air tour activity over Hawaii 
Volcanoes National Park (Hawaii Volcanoes) was equivalent to Haleakala 
and that air tour fees would be charged for this park unit as well. The 
air tour fee per entry into the airspace of these three park units is 
$25 per aircraft with a capacity of 25 or fewer passengers or $50 per 
aircraft with a capacity of more than 25 passengers. The fees 
legislation also allows the Park Service to periodically make 
reasonable adjustments to the air tour fee. At the time of our review, 
all air tour aircraft at the three relevant park units carried fewer 
than 25 passengers, and since the Park Service has not made any 
adjustments since 1993 to air tour fees, only the $25 fee has applied.

While the Park Service is charged with collecting air tour fees, it is 
the sole jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation's Federal 
Aviation Administration (FAA) to regulate or control the airspace over 
national park units. As part of its aviation responsibilities, FAA 
issues certificates to pilots who conduct air tours, monitors the 
safety and maintenance of air tour aircraft, issues applicable air 
carrier certificates, and takes necessary enforcement actions. The Park 
Service does not issue certificates or business permits to air tour 
operators.

Congress directed FAA, in cooperation with the Park Service, to 
regulate air tours over park units in legislation commonly referred to 
as the National Parks Overflights Act of 1987 (Grand Canyon 
Act)[Footnote 4] and the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000 
(Air Tour Management Act).[Footnote 5] The Grand Canyon Act, among 
other things, requires FAA to prepare and issue a plan to manage air 
traffic above Grand Canyon. FAA and the Park Service are jointly 
conducting the environmental work necessary to prepare such a plan, but 
in the meantime, FAA has issued special federal aviation regulations 
that, in part, require operators to record and report their air tours 
over Grand Canyon to FAA.[Footnote 6] The Air Tour Management Act, 
among other things, requires FAA, in cooperation with the Park Service, 
to develop air tour management plans for national park units and 
abutting tribal lands where commercial air tour companies (air tour 
operators) apply for authority to conduct air tours.[Footnote 7] As of 
April 2006, the agencies had not completed any air tour management 
plans, although plans are in development for Grand Canyon and six other 
national park units.[Footnote 8] Under the regulations implementing the 
Grand Canyon Act, FAA has authorized 14 air tour operators to conduct a 
combined total of 91,250 air tours annually as of March 2006.[Footnote 
9] Similarly, under the Air Tour Management Act, FAA has authorized 77 
air tour operators at 85 park units to conduct a combined total of 
262,857 air tours annually. Of that amount, 14 operators are authorized 
to conduct a combined 28,441 air tours annually at Hawaii Volcanoes, 
and 10 operators are authorized for a combined 26,325 air tours 
annually at Haleakala.

Although legislation directs the agencies to work together in 
developing plans to manage air tours over national park units--and the 
agencies anticipate that local FAA district offices will have the lead 
role in monitoring and enforcing the plans--no law specifically assigns 
FAA the responsibility to carry out enforcement actions against air 
tour operators that do not pay their fees. Neither the Grand Canyon Act 
nor the Air Tour Management Act establish specific mechanisms for air 
tour fee collection and enforcement, except that the Air Tour 
Management Act required FAA to report to Congress by October 2000 on 
the effects that air tour fees are likely to have on the air tour 
industry, including (1) the viability of a tax credit for air tour 
operators and (2) the financial effects that any proposed offsets are 
likely to have on FAA.

In January 2006, we reported on the status of the Air Tour Management 
Act's implementation.[Footnote 10] We found, among other things, that 
FAA and the Park Service lack data to verify air tour activity over 
park units regulated by the Air Tour Management Act because FAA and 
existing laws and regulations do not require operators to record and 
report such information. Consequently, we recommended that FAA 
establish a procedure for operators to record and report to both 
agencies the number of air tours they conduct over national park units 
in order to improve enforcement of that act. The Department of 
Transportation agreed with our findings in that report and agreed to 
consider our recommendations as FAA moves forward with the air tour 
management program. As part of our review of the Air Tour Management 
Act, we were also asked to review operators' compliance with the 
payment of air tour fees. We chose to report separately on the fees 
issue because the fees legislation is distinct from the Air Tour 
Management Act, and air tour fees currently apply to only three park 
units.

In congressional oversight hearings in 2002 and 2004, Interior, a large 
air tour operator in Hawaii, and nonprofit conservation organizations 
raised concern that some air tour operators have not paid all fees owed 
to the national park units as required by the fees 
legislation.[Footnote 11] In this context, you asked us to (1) assess 
the Park Service's collection of air tour fees and operators' 
compliance in paying fees and (2) identify what factors, if any, hinder 
the collection of air tour fees. We are also providing information on 
the possible expansion of air tour fees to additional park units.

In conducting our work, we analyzed Park Service and FAA policies, 
guidance, and other relevant documents, as well as applicable laws and 
regulations. In addition, we reviewed the Park Service's data on the 
collection of air tour fee payments at the three relevant park units 
and FAA's data on the number of air tours over Grand Canyon, which 
operators are required to record and report to FAA. We determined that 
both agencies' data were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this 
report. We also interviewed Park Service officials at headquarters and 
at the three park units that have established air tour fees, FAA 
officials at headquarters and at the two relevant district offices, and 
a sample of 18 operators of the 33 that had authority to conduct air 
tours at the three relevant park units. This sample included different 
sizes of air tour operators, as measured by the number of air tours 
they are authorized to conduct annually. A more detailed description of 
our scope and methodology is presented in appendix I. We performed our 
work from January 2005 through April 2006 in accordance with generally 
accepted government auditing standards.

Results in Brief:

Relying largely on voluntary compliance, the Park Service has collected 
some, but not all, air tour fees from operators at Grand Canyon, 
Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes. After passage of the fees legislation, 
these three park units instituted air tour fees in 1994 by requesting 
air tour operators to voluntarily report their air tours and pay the 
appropriate fees on a monthly basis. Since then, the Park Service has 
collected about $19 million in air tour fees at the three park units 
(in inflation-adjusted 2005 dollars): at Grand Canyon, over $16 
million; at Haleakala, about $970,000; and at Hawaii Volcanoes, about 
$1.9 million. However, voluntary compliance with the air tour fee 
requirement has been inconsistent, and several operators are not paying 
the required fees. For example, we compared the data that air tour 
operators at Grand Canyon reported to FAA with the data they 
voluntarily supplied the Park Service and found that 13 of the 21 
operators underpaid their air tour fees for calendar years 2000 through 
2003 by more than $1.5 million. Furthermore, at Hawaii Volcanoes, one 
operator, who owed more than $360,000 as of January 2005, has publicly 
stated that it stopped paying fees because other operators were not 
paying. Over the past 12 years, the Park Service's efforts to collect 
unpaid fees have been uneven. For example, at Hawaii Volcanoes, Park 
Service officials sent letters to air tour operators in 1994, 1997, 
2004, and 2005, encouraging the payment of fees, and the Park Service 
filed lawsuits against three operators at Grand Canyon. The lawsuits 
resulted in settlements in July 2000 in which the three operators 
agreed to make back payments totaling about $800,000, but Park Service 
officials told us the operators have stopped making such payments, and 
the park unit has taken no further action.

The Park Service's ability to collect air tour fees is hindered by 
several factors, as follows:

* The Park Service cannot verify air tour activity over the three park 
units. Except for Grand Canyon, air tour operators are not required to 
record and report to either the Park Service or FAA their number of air 
tours over national park units. At Grand Canyon, operators are required 
to report their flights to FAA, and the Park Service has requested this 
information, but the relevant FAA district office has generally been 
unwilling to share the flight data because of concerns that FAA's 
involvement with fees could cause operators to underreport their air 
tour activity. Consequently, the Park Service relies on air tour 
operators to voluntarily and accurately report their air tours and pay 
the required fees. Without the ability to verify operators' air tour 
activity, the Park Service cannot ensure that operators are making all 
the required payments. As previously noted, our January 2006 report 
recommends that FAA establish a procedure for operators to record and 
report to both agencies the number of air tours they conduct over 
national park units regulated by the Air Tour Management Act, which 
includes Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes.

* The Park Service cannot effectively enforce compliance due to the 
lack of air tour data. The agency charged with collecting air tour 
fees--the Park Service--has limited ability to enforce compliance 
because it does not have jurisdiction over the airspace or air tour 
operators and lacks sufficient air tour data. Conversely, the agency 
with the authority over the airspace and air tour operators--FAA--is 
not required to assist with collecting, or enforcing the collection of, 
air tour fees. Neither the Grand Canyon Act nor the Air Tour Management 
Act requires air tour management plans to contain provisions 
specifically addressing fee compliance. Furthermore, neither act 
requires that operators' authority to conduct air tours over park units 
be conditioned on payment of air tour fees. While the Park Service 
could go to court seeking fees owed from noncompliant operators or 
refer outstanding fees to the Department of the Treasury for debt 
collection, the agency generally lacks the evidence necessary to prove 
that air tour operators have not paid all the fees owed. As a result, 
both Park Service and FAA officials told us the agencies have little or 
no ability to take enforcement action against noncompliant operators.

* Different geographic applicability of two laws complicates efforts to 
collect air tour fees. The fees legislation and the Air Tour Management 
Act and/or their respective implementing guidelines or regulations have 
different geographic applicability. Under the fees legislation, an air 
tour operator is required to pay a fee when a tour enters the airspace 
over the park unit, whereas the Air Tour Management Act defines air 
tours as flights over a national park unit or within a half-mile 
outside its boundary. The different geographic applicability of the two 
laws has complicated the Park Service's efforts to collect air tour 
fees by providing some air tour operators with a plausible explanation 
for why they are not paying fees. Under the existing system, air tour 
operators can assert that they fly only within a half-mile of a park 
unit boundary but do not cross it; therefore, their air tours are 
covered by the Air Tour Management Act but not by the fees legislation. 
To enable the Park Service to verify air tour activity under both laws 
and determine the appropriate level of fees owed under the fees 
legislation, air tour operators would have to record and report two 
sets of data: one for air tours that cross the park unit boundary for 
fee collection, and another for air tours that fly over or within a 
half-mile of a park unit boundary for the Air Tour Management Act. 
Alternatively, the fees legislation and the Air Tour Management Act 
would have to be reconciled to have consistent geographic applicability.

Air tour fees are currently charged at only 3 of the 86 park units with 
air tours, based on the criteria established in the fees legislation. 
Expanding air tour fees to other park units could generate additional 
funding for the Park Service, but such an expansion would require a 
legislative change. The legislation could explicitly provide that the 
additional funding may be used to develop the air tour management plans 
required by the Air Tour Management Act. In January 2006, we reported 
that the Park Service had not funded its share of the development costs 
for air tour management plans. However, any possible expansion of air 
tour fees should be balanced against potential impacts on air tour 
operators. FAA's report on potential impacts, which the Air Tour 
Management Act required by October 2000, was drafted in January 2001 
but has not been submitted to Congress. Once FAA submits its report, 
Congress, the Park Service, and other stakeholders will have additional 
information to evaluate whether air tour fees should be expanded to 
other park units.

To enhance the collection of air tour fees, Congress should consider 
amending the fees legislation or the Air Tour Management Act to 
reconcile the geographic applicability of the two laws. Once these two 
acts are reconciled, reporting by air tour operators under the Air Tour 
Management Act could also be used to monitor and enforce air tour fee 
collections. In our January 2006 report, we recommended that FAA 
establish a procedure for operators to record and report to both 
agencies the number of air tours they conduct over national park units 
regulated by the Air Tour Management Act, which includes Haleakala and 
Hawaii Volcanoes but not Grand Canyon. In order to improve compliance 
and enforcement of air tour fees at Grand Canyon, we are recommending 
that FAA take steps to ensure that the Park Service receives the 
information it needs on air tours at Grand Canyon. We are also 
recommending that FAA submit to Congress the report required under the 
Air Tour Management Act on the effects that air tour fees are likely to 
have on air tour operators. In commenting on a draft of this report, 
Interior, representing the Park Service, agreed with our findings, 
conclusions and recommendations, particularly those that address the 
need for more accurate and reliable air tour data. The Department of 
Transportation, representing FAA, generally agreed with our findings, 
conclusions, and recommendations, as revised. FAA disagreed with a 
Matter for Congressional Consideration, which we have since removed 
from the report, to amend the Grand Canyon Act and the Air Tour 
Management Act to require compliance with air tour fee payments as a 
condition for operating authority to conduct air tours over national 
parks units. We agreed with FAA that much of the administrative burden 
for making operators' air tour operating authority conditioned on fee 
compliance could unduly fall on FAA. FAA also expressed concern that it 
would distract from FAA's primary focus of aviation safety. As a 
result, we have removed that matter from the report. We now emphasize 
in the report that the Park Service could take more aggressive 
enforcement actions once it has the necessary air tour flight data. See 
the "agency comments and our evaluation" section and appendix III for 
Interior's comment letter and our evaluation of these comments.

Background:

The Park Service is responsible for conserving the scenery, the natural 
and historic objects, and the plants and wildlife in national park 
units, and for providing for the enjoyment of national park units in 
ways that leave them unimpaired for future generations. To accomplish 
its mission, the Park Service has a budget of about $1.7 billion for 
fiscal year 2006. The Park Service also has authority to collect and 
retain recreation fees from visitors, including entrance fees, amenity 
fees, and special permit fees, to be used primarily at the site where 
the fee was collected.[Footnote 12] In fiscal year 2005, the Park 
Service collected $146.8 million in visitor use fees.

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (the fees legislation) 
directed the Park Service to establish air tour fees by October 1, 
1993.[Footnote 13] In the House Budget Committee's report accompanying 
the fees legislation, the committee stated that tour operators generate 
their revenues by selling national park units as a destination and, 
therefore, a modest fee is a reasonable and justifiable means of 
addressing impacts they have on park unit resources and 
personnel.[Footnote 14] Under the fees legislation, the Park Service 
considers an air tour to be a flight that consists of one or more 
persons traveling on an itinerary that has been packaged, priced, or 
sold for leisure or recreational purposes by an organization that 
realizes financial gain through the provision of the service. The Park 
Service specifically excludes flights that are conducted solely as 
transportation between two points. The Park Service also determined 
that air tours that enter and exit the airspace over any of the 
applicable park units more than once during a single flight have to pay 
only one fee for that air tour. The Park Service implemented the fee 
requirement to apply whenever an air tour crosses the boundary of a 
qualifying park unit below specified altitudes at each of the park 
units: 12,000 feet above mean sea level at Haleakala and 5,000 feet 
above ground level at Hawaii Volcanoes. At Grand Canyon, the special 
federal aviation regulations establish altitude levels that vary with 
flight patterns.

While the Park Service is the sole agency charged with collecting air 
tour fees, it has no authority to regulate or control the airspace over 
the park units; that is the sole jurisdiction of FAA. Congress directed 
FAA and the Park Service to work together to regulate air tours over 
park units in the National Parks Overflights Act of 1987 (Grand Canyon 
Act)[Footnote 15] and the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 
2000 (Air Tour Management Act).[Footnote 16] FAA's mission is to 
provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world. FAA 
is pursuing its mission with an annual budget of more than $13.8 
billion in fiscal year 2006, of which about $7.7 million is estimated 
to be spent on air tour management. FAA has tasked its Western-Pacific 
Regional Office with working with the Park Service to implement these 
two acts. The Park Service established the Soundscapes Program Center 
in 2000 (now the Natural Sounds Program) primarily to work with FAA's 
Western-Pacific Regional Office to develop air tour management plans 
under the two acts. The Natural Sounds Program's budget for fiscal year 
2006 is about $1.4 million, according to a program official.

The Grand Canyon Act, which was enacted 6 years before the fees 
legislation, instructed FAA and the Park Service to prepare a 
management plan for air traffic over Grand Canyon. Due to the unusually 
high level of air tour activity over the canyon and some aircraft 
accidents in its vicinity--including a collision in June 1986 between 
an air tour airplane and a tour helicopter resulting in 25 deaths--the 
act directed the Park Service to submit recommendations to FAA 
concerning the actions necessary for the protection of resources and "… 
substantial restoration of the natural quiet and experience of the park 
[Grand Canyon] and protection of public health and safety from adverse 
effects associated with aircraft overflight." The act authorized FAA to 
issue regulations to implement the plan and authorized the Park Service 
to enforce the plan's requirements under that agency's own rules and 
regulations. To date, the two agencies have not developed an air tour 
management plan for Grand Canyon and are currently engaged in an 
alternative dispute resolution process with other stakeholders to 
develop the plan. However, after receiving recommendations from the 
Secretary of the Interior, as the Grand Canyon Act required, FAA 
revised special federal aviation regulations in June 1988 to regulate 
air traffic over Grand Canyon.[Footnote 17] These regulations, among 
other things, created flight-free zones, minimum flight altitudes, and 
specific flight paths for air tours; required air tour operators to 
report their air tours over Grand Canyon to FAA; and established 
procedures for setting a limit on the number of air tours allocated to 
operators over Grand Canyon. Subsequently, FAA issued a final rule in 
December 1996 to codify the special regulations and, in 2000, FAA set 
the allocations and issued special authority to the operators based on 
their level of air tour activity over Grand Canyon from May 1, 1997, to 
April 30, 1998.[Footnote 18] Since then, some air tour operators have 
transferred or sold their air tour allocations with FAA's knowledge. 
FAA has changed the total number of allocations only once, in 
accordance with a recommendation from Interior to raise the regulated 
airspace "ceiling" above Grand Canyon from 14,500 feet to 18,000 feet 
above sea level; in February 2005, FAA granted 3,711 air tour 
allocations to one operator that had previously been unregulated, which 
increased the total number of air tour allocations for Grand Canyon to 
93,971.

The Air Tour Management Act, which was enacted 7 years after the fees 
legislation, arose from noise and safety concerns, like the Grand 
Canyon Act, but applies to all park units, with the exceptions of (1) 
Grand Canyon or tribal lands within or abutting that park unit, (2) any 
air tour operator flying over or near Lake Mead National Recreation 
Area solely as a transportation route to conduct an air tour over Grand 
Canyon, and (3) any land or waters in Alaska. The Air Tour Management 
Act also prohibits any air tours over Rocky Mountain National Park. 
This act directed FAA, in cooperation with the Park Service, to develop 
air tour management plans for national park units and abutting tribal 
lands where air tour operators apply for authority to conduct air 
tours. The Air Tour Management Act defines a "commercial air tour 
operation" (air tour) as any flight conducted for compensation or hire 
in a powered aircraft where a purpose of the flight is sightseeing over 
a national park unit, within one-half mile outside its boundary, or 
over an abutting tribal land. In the regulations implementing the Air 
Tour Management Act, FAA further defined air tours regulated under that 
act to include only flights below 5,000 feet above ground 
level.[Footnote 19] To implement the Air Tour Management Act, FAA and 
the Park Service signed an interagency memorandum of understanding that 
established procedures the two agencies would follow in coordinating 
the development of air tour management plans, including a provision 
that FAA would fund 60 percent of the cost of developing the plans, and 
the Park Service would fund 40 percent. This agreement describes the 
qualifying costs as external contractor costs required to produce the 
plans. These qualifying costs exclude staff salaries, benefits, and 
travel for agency personnel; agency equipment and supplies; and any 
costs for in-house contractors hired by either agency.

In our January 2006 report on the Air Tour Management Act, we found, 
among other things, that the Park Service has not fulfilled its 
agreement with FAA to fund 40 percent of the cost of developing the air 
tour management plans. The Park Service had not requested or received 
any dedicated funding for the program until fiscal year 2006, when 
Congress provided $500,000 toward air tour management. For fiscal year 
2007, the Park Service has requested $2.4 million for air tour 
management. Meanwhile, from fiscal years 2001 through 2005, FAA has 
funded 100 percent of the initial plans' development through distinct 
budget appropriations totaling $27 million. Although the Park Service 
has, like FAA, contributed staff time to work on the development of air 
tour management plans, the cost of doing so does not count toward its 
40 percent obligation, according to the agreement. Officials from both 
agencies told us that if the Park Service does not meet its obligation 
within the next 2 years, development of future air tour management 
plans may be hindered.

Largely through Voluntary Compliance, the Park Service Has Collected 
Some, but Not All, Air Tour Fees at Three Park Units:

The Park Service, relying largely on voluntary compliance, has 
collected some, but not all, air tour fees from air tour operators at 
Grand Canyon, Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes. The Park Service 
established air tour fees at Grand Canyon, Haleakala, and Hawaii 
Volcanoes in March 1994. In order to collect payments from air tour 
operators, Park Service officials sent notice letters to relevant 
operators that air tours over these three park units would be subject 
to the fees beginning in March 1994. However, officials at Haleakala 
reached an informal agreement with air tour operators to not pay fees 
from 1994 through 2001 if operators followed a specific flight path. 
The voluntary agreement established terms such as air tour routes and 
no-fly areas and was signed by a group of operators and Park Service 
officials at Haleakala; it kept air tours out of the park unit's 
boundary, except for one small corner of the park unit. However, when 
Haleakala acquired more land where the air tours were conducted, it 
negotiated a new voluntary agreement with operators, which included 
paying the $25 air tour fee. Thus, Haleakala did not begin charging air 
tour fees until January 2002. Haleakala officials believe that 
operators have been mostly compliant with the air tour fee as a result 
of the voluntary agreement. Grand Canyon and Hawaii Volcanoes requested 
each air tour operator to voluntarily report monthly to the appropriate 
park unit the number of air tours conducted, as well as to send a 
payment covering all appropriate $25 fees for that month. Under the 
fees legislation, only park units charging an admission fee--which 
could include per-person admission fees--may charge air tour fees. The 
Park Service has chosen to charge air tour fees only at park units that 
charge a per-vehicle admission fee.

Since the Park Service began collecting air tour fees 12 years ago, it 
has collected about $19 million at the three park units:[Footnote 20] 
more than $16 million at Grand Canyon; about $970,000 at Haleakala; and 
about $1.9 million at Hawaii Volcanoes. In general, at least 80 percent 
of recreation fees, including air tour fees, collected at a specific 
park unit remain available for expenditure, without further 
appropriation, at that park unit.[Footnote 21] The fees must be used 
for repair, maintenance, and facility enhancement directly related to 
visitor enjoyment and access; interpretive and visitor information; 
certain habitat restoration and law enforcement; direct costs 
associated with the recreation fee program; and other qualifying costs. 
For example, at Haleakala, these "80 percent funds" are being used to 
build new restrooms for visitors, complete deferred maintenance 
projects, rehabilitate exhibits, maintain trails, remove alien and 
invasive species, and construct a new entrance station. The balance 
(generally 20 percent) of recreation fees collected, including air tour 
fees, is available to the Park Service on an agency-wide basis for the 
same types of projects as the 80 percent funds.

However, voluntary compliance with the air tour fee requirement has 
been inconsistent across the three park units, and several operators 
are not paying the required fees. For example, we found that 13 of the 
21 air tour operators that conducted air tours over Grand Canyon from 
May 2000 through December 2003, underpaid their air tour fees by more 
than $1.5 million. Specifically, in comparing the data that air tour 
operators reported to FAA with the data they voluntarily supplied the 
Park Service, we found that 6 operators underreported their tours to 
the Park Service and underpaid their fees, while 7 operators reported 
no tours to the Park Service and paid no fees. Table 1 shows the data 
that air tour operators at Grand Canyon reported to FAA and the data 
the operators voluntarily supplied the Park Service for paying air tour 
fees over those 4 years. Similarly, at Hawaii Volcanoes, one operator, 
who owed more than $360,000 as of January 2005,[Footnote 22] has 
publicly stated that it stopped paying air tour fees in July 2003 
because other operators were not paying--although this operator resumed 
paying fees in November 2005 and has consistently paid fees at 
Haleakala. One operator at Haleakala also told us it has not been 
paying air tour fees.

Table 1: Differences in Flight Information Air Tour Operators at Grand 
Canyon National Park Reported to FAA and to the Park Service, Calendar 
Years 2000-2003:

Calendar year: 2000[A]; 
Air tours reported to the Park Service: 36,282; 
Air tours reported to FAA: 51,112; 
Number of air tours not reported to the Park Service: 15,438; 
Fees owed from unreported air tours: $385,950.

Calendar year: 2001; 
Air tours reported to the Park Service: 30,739; 
Air tours reported to FAA: 48,915; 
Number of air tours not reported to the Park Service: 18,632; 
Fees owed from unreported air tours: $465,800.

Calendar year: 2002; 
Air tours reported to the Park Service: 20,402; 
Air tours reported to FAA: 39,415; 
Number of air tours not reported to the Park Service: 19,296; 
Fees owed from unreported air tours: $482,400.

Calendar year: 2003; 
Air tours reported to the Park Service: 35,902; 
Air tours reported to FAA: 43,728; 
Number of air tours not reported to the Park Service: 7,827; 
Fees owed from unreported air tours: $195,675.

Total: 
Air tours reported to the Park Service: 123,325; 
Air tours reported to FAA: 183,170; 
Number of air tours not reported to the Park Service: 61,193; 
Fees owed from unreported air tours: $1,529,825. 

Sources: GAO analysis of FAA and Park Service information (not adjusted 
for inflation).

[A] Data for 2000 covers May through December 2000.

[End of table]

Since 1994, the Park Service's efforts to collect unpaid fees have been 
uneven. All three of the park units that assess an air tour fee have 
sent letters to air tour operators encouraging the payment of fees at 
various times from 1994 through today. For example, officials at Hawaii 
Volcanoes sent letters in 1994, 1997, 2004, and 2005 to encourage air 
tour operators that they believe fly over that park unit to pay the 
fee. These letters also sought payment for past fees that were unpaid, 
or evidence from the operators that they did not fly over the park 
unit. In response, some air tour operators supplied the requested 
evidence and/or started paying fees for current air tours. At Grand 
Canyon, the Park Service filed lawsuits against three operators that 
had conducted air tours over that park unit but had not paid all 
appropriate fees. The lawsuits resulted in settlements in July 2000 in 
which each operator agreed to make back payments and continue to 
conduct air tours by paying $50 per air tour--$25 for the current tour 
and $25 for a past tour--until the settlement amounts were paid, which 
totaled about $800,000 from all three operators. However, Park Service 
officials stated that all three operators have stopped making back 
payments: two of the operators are still conducting air tours but 
report that they are unable to afford the payment, and the third 
operator is no longer in business over Grand Canyon. Although the 
officials say that the operators are required to continue making 
payments under these settlements, the Park Service has not pursued 
their compliance.

Collections of Air Tour Fees Are Hindered by Several Factors:

The Park Service's ability to collect air tour fees is hindered by 
several factors: the agency cannot verify air tour activity over the 
three park units, it cannot effectively enforce compliance, and two key 
laws have different geographic applicability.

The Park Service Cannot Verify Air Tour Activity Over the Three Park 
Units:

The Park Service is unable to verify the number of air tours that 
operators conduct over Grand Canyon, Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes, 
thus limiting the agency's ability to ensure that operators are making 
all the required payments. Except for Grand Canyon, current laws and 
regulations do not require air tour operators to record and report 
their air tour activity over national park units to either the Park 
Service or FAA. At Grand Canyon, FAA regulations require air tour 
operators to report all their air tours to FAA under the special 
federal aviation regulations implementing the Grand Canyon Act, 
although in practice, the operators report all their flights (not just 
air tours) over Grand Canyon to FAA. Under these special regulations, 
air tour operators report quarterly to FAA, for each flight over Grand 
Canyon, the aircraft make, model, and identification number; the 
departure date, time, and airport; and the type of flight--such as a 
tour, pilot training, or the movement of aircraft among landing 
locations--and the route flown.

However, FAA does not collect these data for the purpose of verifying 
whether air tour operators are reporting to the Park Service all their 
air tours and paying the appropriate fees, and FAA has generally been 
unwilling to share these data with the Park Service. Officials in the 
FAA district office that is responsible for managing air tours over 
Grand Canyon explained that they are unwilling to share these data 
because they are concerned their involvement with fees could cause 
operators to underreport their air tour activity, which could reduce 
safety.

Consequently, the Park Service relies on air tour operators to 
voluntarily report all their air tours and pay the required fees. 
Without the ability to verify operators' air tour activity, the Park 
Service cannot ensure that operators are making all the required 
payments. In our January 2006 report, we recommended that FAA establish 
procedures for air tour operators to record and report their air tours 
conducted under the Air Tour Management Act to both FAA and the Park 
Service. The Department of Transportation agreed with our findings in 
that report and agreed to consider our recommendations as FAA moves 
forward with the air tour management program.

The Park Service Cannot Effectively Enforce Compliance Due to the Lack 
of Air Tour Data:

The Park Service--the agency charged with collecting air tour fees--has 
limited ability to enforce compliance because it does not have 
jurisdiction over airspace and lacks sufficient air tour data. 
Conversely, FAA--the agency with authority over airspace and air tour 
operators--is not required to assist with collecting, or enforcing the 
collection of, air tour fees. Neither the Grand Canyon Act nor the Air 
Tour Management Act requires that air tour management plans establish 
specific mechanisms for air tour fee collection and enforcement. 
Furthermore, neither act requires fee compliance as a condition for 
operators' authority to conduct air tours over park units. As a result, 
both Park Service and FAA officials told us the agencies currently have 
little or no ability to take enforcement action against noncompliant 
operators.

Although the Park Service could potentially pursue compliance in 
court,[Footnote 23] as occurred at Grand Canyon, or through debt 
collection by the Department of the Treasury,[Footnote 24] neither of 
these options are feasible at the other two park units without evidence 
that an air tour operator flew over a park unit and did not pay all the 
fees owed. The lawsuits over air tour fees at Grand Canyon were 
successful for the Park Service because FAA, in those instances, 
supplied a sufficient amount of data showing that operators had 
conducted air tours over the park unit and should have paid a 
commensurate amount of fees. Alternatively, the Park Service could 
refer outstanding air tour fees owed to the Department of the Treasury 
for debt collection. In this case, the Department of the Treasury would 
attempt to collect whatever amount is owed by noncompliant operators. 
The Park Service would be in a better position to take these more 
aggressive collection actions, which would likely result in increased 
collections, if the agency had the necessary evidence to prove an 
operator had conducted air tours and not paid the required fees.

Different Geographic Applicability of Two Laws Complicates Efforts to 
Collect Air Tour Fees:

The fees legislation and the Air Tour Management Act and/or their 
respective implementing guidelines and regulations have different 
geographic applicability, which complicates the Park Service's efforts 
to collect air tour fees. Under the fees legislation, an air tour 
operator is required to pay a fee when a tour enters the airspace over 
a park unit, whereas the Air Tour Management Act defines air tours as 
flights over a national park unit or within a half-mile outside its 
boundary. Furthermore, the applicable flight altitudes used by the Park 
Service to determine the air tours that are subject to the fees 
legislation differ from the flight altitudes established by FAA to 
determine the air tours that are subject to the Air Tour Management 
Act. For example, at Haleakala, payment of the air tour fee is 
triggered when air tours cross the park unit's boundary and fly below 
an altitude of 12,000 feet mean sea level. However, air tours are 
regulated under the Air Tour Management Act at this park unit when they 
fly over or within a half-mile of its boundary and below 5,000 feet 
above ground level. Figure 1 shows the difference in the geographic 
scope of the acts as they apply to Haleakala.

Figure 1: Geographic Applicability of the Fees Legislation and the Air 
Tour Management Act at Haleakala National Park:

[See PDF for image] 

Source: GAO analysis of Park Service information.

[End of figure]

The different geographic applicability of the two laws has complicated 
the Park Service's efforts to collect air tour fees by providing some 
air tour operators with a plausible explanation for why they are not 
paying fees. Under the existing system, air tour operators can assert 
that they only fly within a half-mile of a park unit boundary but do 
not cross it; therefore, their air tours are covered by the Air Tour 
Management Act but not by the fees legislation. For example, two air 
tour operators told Park Service officials in November 2004 that they 
did not cross Hawaii Volcanoes' boundary during their air tours of the 
park unit and, therefore, did not owe any fees, despite the Park 
Service's perception that they crossed the boundary. To enable the Park 
Service to verify air tour activity under both laws and determine the 
appropriate level of fees owed under the fees legislation, air tour 
operators would have to track and report two sets of data: one for air 
tours that cross the park unit boundary for fee collection, and another 
for air tours that fly within a half-mile of a park unit boundary for 
the Air Tour Management Act. As an alternative, the fees legislation 
and the Air Tour Management Act would have to be reconciled to have 
consistent geographic applicability.

Expanding Air Tour Fees to Additional Park Units Should Be Balanced 
against Potential Impacts on Air Tour Operators:

As of March 2006, air tour operators had authority from FAA to conduct 
air tours over 86 park units,[Footnote 25] yet only 3 of those park 
units charge air tour fees. In specifying that additional park units 
could assess such fees only if their level of air tour activity matched 
that of Grand Canyon or Haleakala, the fees legislation set a high 
threshold. As a result, only one additional park unit, Hawaii 
Volcanoes, has qualified to charge fees in the past 12 years. According 
to FAA data, operators had authority to conduct a combined total of 
91,250 air tours annually over Grand Canyon; 28,441 over Hawaii 
Volcanoes; and 26,325 over Haleakala. However, several other park units 
have relatively high levels of authorized air tour activity, although 
not as high as any of those three park units (see appendix 
II).[Footnote 26] For example, operators have authority to conduct a 
combined total of 14,074 air tours annually over Glen Canyon National 
Recreation Area. This park unit charges an admission fee, which is the 
fees legislation's other requirement for a park unit to assess air tour 
fees. Park Service officials told us they would like to charge air tour 
fees at additional park units that charge admission fees (see table 2), 
but the fees legislation would have to be changed to lower the air tour 
activity threshold.

Table 2: Park Units with Authorized Air Tours, Grouped by Types of 
Admission Fees:

Park units with air tours that charge air tour fees: 
Number of park units: 3; 
Total number of authorized air tours per year: 146,016; 
Percentage of authorized air tours per year: 49.0%.

Park units with air tours that charge both per-person and per-vehicle 
admission fees: 
Number of park units: 34; 
Total number of authorized air tours per year: 46,048[A]; 
Percentage of authorized air tours per year: 15.4%.

Park units with air tours that charge only a per-person admission fee: 
Number of park units: 21; 
Total number of authorized air tours per year: 3,990; 
Percentage of authorized air tours per year: 1.3%.

Park units with air tours that do not charge any type of admission fee: 
Number of park units: 28; 
Total number of authorized air tours per year: 102,119; 
Percentage of authorized air tours per year: 34.3%.

Total: Number of park units: 86; 
Total number of authorized air tours per year: 298,173[A]; 
Percentage of authorized air tours per year: 100.0%. 

Sources: GAO analysis of FAA and Park Service data.

Note: There are no park units with air tours that charge only a per- 
vehicle, and not a per-person, admission fee.

[A] We are excluding 55,934 of the 68,814 authorized air tours over 
Lake Mead National Recreation Area because FAA believes most of the 
authorized "air tours" are actually transportation-only flights en 
route to Grand Canyon, not air tours over Lake Mead. Operators 
nonetheless applied for the authority to conduct tours over Lake Mead 
because of their uncertainty in how the Air Tour Management Act would 
be implemented. We are therefore including the remaining 12,880 
authorized air tours over Lake Mead because FAA believes the total 
number of air tours conducted annually over Lake Mead by 3 operators 
may be as low as 12,880. However, FAA acknowledged it may discover more 
air tours are being conducted over Lake Mead as the agencies develop 
the air tour management plan for that park unit.

[End of table]

Expanding air tour fees to other park units could generate additional 
funding for the Park Service, but such an expansion would require a 
legislative change and should be balanced against any potential impacts 
on air tour operators. The legislation could explicitly provide for the 
use of additional funding to develop air tour management plans, which 
officials from both agencies told us may otherwise be hindered due to 
insufficient Park Service funding. In January 2006, we reported that 
the Park Service had not funded its share of the development costs for 
air tour management plans required by the Air Tour Management Act.

With respect to the effects that air tour fees are likely to have on 
operators, FAA drafted a report in January 2001, which is still pending 
review at the Department of Transportation. The FAA draft report said 
that, due to the nature of the industry, air tour fees have been and 
will continue to be shifted to consumers in the form of higher tour 
prices in most cases. While the draft report said FAA had no specific 
information regarding passenger price sensitivity for air tours, it 
said estimates suggest that if ticket prices were raised by 1 percent, 
a reduction of 2 percent to 4 percent in tickets sold would be 
expected. The draft FAA report also said that if air tour fees were not 
charged at any park units other than Grand Canyon, there would be an 
estimated 2.0 million or 2.1 million air tours over the next 10 years, 
assuming a 3 percent or 5 percent growth rate, respectively. If fees 
were to be established at all park units, the draft report continued, 
that estimate would drop to 1.8 million or 1.9 million at the same 
growth rates. To offset the impact of such fees on operators, the draft 
FAA report stated, air tour fees could potentially be used as a credit 
against aviation excise taxes. However, the draft report said such a 
credit would present serious concerns because FAA relies on these taxes 
for its expenditures. Consequently, any shortfall would need to be made 
up by spending reductions, increased payments by other aviation system 
users, or the general taxpayer. The draft FAA report also said the Park 
Service could use air tour fees to help finance the development of air 
tour management plans and, subsequently, for monitoring air tour 
activities--but that these applications should not be linked to a 
reduction in aviation taxes. Once FAA submits its report, Congress, the 
Park Service, and other stakeholders will have additional information 
to evaluate whether air tour fees should be expanded to additional park 
units.

Conclusions:

The current process for the Park Service's collection of air tour fees 
has three significant limitations: (1) fee payments are based on 
operators' voluntary compliance, (2) there is no verification that the 
correct fees have been paid, and (3) there is little or no ability to 
take enforcement actions against operators that do not pay their fees 
because the Park Service lacks the necessary air tour data. While each 
one of these factors in isolation may not cause an insurmountable 
problem, combined they have led to the ineffective collection of air 
tour fees. Voluntary compliance could be effective if it were combined 
with (1) reliable data to verify that operators are complying with the 
fee requirement and (2) appropriate enforcement actions against 
operators that do not pay. However, the current process for collecting 
air tour fees has emboldened some operators not to pay the required 
fees. As a result, those air tour operators that are paying their fees 
are put at a competitive disadvantage against those operators that are 
not paying the required fees.

The different geographic applicability of the fees legislation and the 
Air Tour Management Act has complicated collection efforts and created 
an additional disincentive for operators to accurately report their air 
tours and pay the appropriate fees. If the geographic applicability of 
the acts were consistent, operators could record and report one set of 
data to the Park Service for verification and collection of fees and 
for air tour management plans.

In our January 2006 report, we recommended that FAA take steps to 
require that operators record and report their air tours under the Air 
Tour Management Act to FAA and the Park Service. The implementation of 
this recommendation, combined with making the geographic applicability 
of the acts consistent, would provide the Park Service with the 
necessary data to verify that the proper fees are being paid at 
Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes--and any future park unit that develops 
an air tour management plan, if air tour fees are expanded to 
additional park units. However, a gap exists in the reporting 
requirement for Grand Canyon because the special federal aviation 
regulations implementing the Grand Canyon Act required the data be 
reported to FAA but not the Park Service.

Finally, by stipulating that additional park units could charge air 
tour fees only if they charge admission fees and if their level of 
activity meets that of Grand Canyon or Haleakala, the fees legislation 
sets the bar very high: in the past 12 years, only one additional park 
unit has qualified. Lowering the threshold for air tour activity would 
allow the Park Service to expand air tour fees to additional park units 
and use the proceeds as appropriate under the recreation fee program. 
The Air Tour Management Act required FAA to report to Congress by 
October 2000 on the effects that air tour fees are likely to have on 
air tour operators. Although FAA drafted this report in January 2001, 
FAA officials told us the Department of Transportation has not approved 
it for submission to Congress. Releasing that report would enable 
Congress, the Park Service, and the air tour community to understand 
the impacts of air tour fees on operators' businesses and help 
stakeholders to determine whether such fees should be expanded to 
additional park units.

Matter for Congressional Consideration:

To enhance the collection of air tour fees, Congress should consider 
amending the fees legislation or the Air Tour Management Act to 
reconcile the geographic applicability of the two laws.

Recommendations for Executive Action:

In order to improve compliance with air tour fee payments and to help 
understand the impacts of such fees on air tour operators' businesses, 
we recommend that the Secretary of Transportation direct the 
Administrator of FAA to take the following two actions:

* Establish a procedure for air tour operators at Grand Canyon National 
Park to report their air tour information simultaneously to the Park 
Service and FAA, or ensure that the air tour information is forwarded 
to the Park Service once it is reported to FAA by air tour operators.

* Report to Congress on the effects that air tour fees are likely to 
have on air tour operators as required by the Air Tour Management Act.

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:

We provided the Departments of the Interior and Transportation with a 
draft of this report for review and comment. Interior agreed with our 
findings, conclusions, and recommendations, particularly those that 
address the need for more accurate and reliable air tour data. 
Interior, representing the Park Service, also said it supports lowering 
the threshold for the level of air tour activity in order to expand 
collection of air tour fees to additional park units. Interior provided 
written comments that are included in appendix III, along with our 
specific response. The Department of Transportation, representing FAA, 
offered substantive and technical comments and, after our revisions 
discussed below, generally agreed with our findings, conclusions, and 
recommendations.

Our draft report contained a Matter for Congressional Consideration 
that stated Congress should consider amending the Grand Canyon Act and 
the Air Tour Management Act to require compliance with air tour fee 
payments as a condition for operating authority to conduct air tours 
over national park units. In providing oral comments on the draft 
report, FAA's Regional Administrator for the Western-Pacific Region 
disagreed with this matter. The Regional Administrator stated that fee 
collection, and enforcement of fee collection, is the responsibility of 
the Park Service. FAA was also concerned that since the Park Service 
currently lacks an administrative process to provide air tour operators 
with legal due process before potentially revoking their operating 
authority, that this administrative burden would likely fall on FAA and 
distract from FAA's primary focus of aviation safety. We believe that 
the collection and enforcement of air tour fees should be largely the 
responsibility of the Park Service. However, in those cases where FAA 
exclusively receives data that the Park Service needs to perform this 
function, FAA should share the data with the Park Service, as we have 
recommended. We also agreed with FAA that there was a risk that much of 
the administrative burden for making operators' air tour operating 
authority conditioned on fee compliance could unduly fall on FAA. As a 
result, we have removed that matter from the report. We now emphasize 
in the report that the Park Service could take more aggressive 
enforcement actions once it has the necessary air tour flight data.

We are sending copies of this report to the Secretaries of 
Transportation and the Interior, and other interested parties. We will 
also make copies available to others upon request. In addition, the 
report will be available at no charge on the GAO Web site at  
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov].

If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please 
contact me at (202) 512-3841 or [Hyperlink, nazzaror@gao.gov]. Contact 
points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs 
may be found on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made major 
contributions to this report are listed in appendix IV.

Signed By:

Robin M. Nazzaro: 
Director: 
Natural Resources and Environment:

List of Requesters:

The Honorable Daniel Inouye: 
Co-Chairman: 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: 
United States Senate:

The Honorable Jeff Bingaman: 
Ranking Minority Member: 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: 
United States Senate:

The Honorable Daniel K. Akaka: 
Ranking Minority Member: 
Subcommittee on National Parks: 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: 
United States Senate:

The Honorable Lamar Alexander: 
United States Senate:

The Honorable John McCain: 
United States Senate:

[End of section]

Appendix I: Scope and Methodology:

We identified and analyzed applicable laws, regulations, National Park 
Service (Park Service) policies, guidance, procedures, and other 
relevant documents to assess the Park Service's collection of air tour 
fees and operators' compliance in paying fees. In addition, we visited 
the three relevant park units--Grand Canyon, Haleakala, and Hawaii 
Volcanoes National Parks--and reviewed the Park Service's data on the 
collection of air tour fee payments at these three park units. We then 
adjusted these figures to express them in inflation-adjusted 2005 
dollars. We also reviewed the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) 
data on the number of air tours reported by operators at Grand Canyon 
National Park. We determined that both agencies' data were sufficiently 
reliable for the purposes of this report. We also interviewed Park 
Service and Department of the Interior (Interior) officials at 
headquarters, Park Service officials at the three park units that have 
established air tour fees, and FAA officials at headquarters and at the 
two relevant district offices.

In addition, we interviewed a probability sample of 18 operators of the 
33 that had authority from FAA to conduct air tours at the time of our 
visits in 2005 over the three relevant park units. The sample was 
selected in such a way as to serve the purposes of both this report and 
our January 2006 report on the National Parks Air Tour Management Act 
of 2000 (Air Tour Management Act).[Footnote 27] To choose the air tour 
operators to interview, we stratified the operators at each park unit 
into three groups based on the number of annual air tours FAA 
authorized at each park unit: small (3,000 or fewer air tours), medium 
(between 3,001 and 10,000 air tours), and large (more than 10,000 air 
tours). The 18 air tour operators we interviewed were: Air Grand 
Canyon, Inc.; Aris, Inc.; Aviation Ventures, Inc.; Big Island Air, 
Inc.; Call Air, Inc.; Grand Canyon Airlines, Inc.; Helicopter 
Consultants of Maui, Inc.; K&S Helicopters, Inc.; King Airelines, Inc.; 
Manuiwa Airways, Inc.; Maverick Helicopters, Inc.; Mokulele Flight 
Service, Inc.; Rainbow Pacific Helicopters, Ltd.; Safari Aviation, 
Inc.; Scenic Airlines, Inc.; Schuman Aviation, Co. Ltd.; Sunshine 
Helicopters, Inc.; and Vista Helicopter Services, Inc.

For Grand Canyon National Park (Grand Canyon), 11 of the 17 operators 
that had authority to conduct air tours in July 2005 also had authority 
to conduct air tours over nearby Lake Mead National Recreation Area 
(Lake Mead).[Footnote 28] For purposes of this report and our January 
2006 report, we needed to focus on those operators that had authority 
to conduct air tours at both park units, so we randomly selected 
operators from those 11 operators. Specifically, we interviewed 3 of 
the 6 small, 3 of the 3 medium, and 1 of the 2 large operators that had 
authority to conduct air tours over both Grand Canyon and Lake Mead.

For Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes National Parks (Haleakala, Hawaii 
Volcanoes), 8 operators had authority to conduct tours over both park 
units, and 8 other operators had authority to conduct tours over either 
Haleakala or Hawaii Volcanoes, but not both. Ten of these 16 operators 
were small, 5 were medium, and 1 was large. We interviewed the 1 large 
operator, 3 of the 5 medium operators (selected randomly), and 7 of the 
10 small operators (selected as follows). For purposes of our January 
2006 report, we needed the perspective of operators that had authority 
to conduct air tours over all 6 national park units in Hawaii, so we 
first selected all operators (3 small operators) that met that 
criterion. This meant we interviewed those 3 small operators, plus we 
randomly selected 4 of the remaining 7 small operators that had 
authority at either Haleakala or Hawaii Volcanoes, but not both. Table 
3 details the selection of our sample of operators.

Table 3: Air Tour Operators We Interviewed, and the Total Number of 
Operators, at the Three Park Units That Charge Air Tour Fees:

National park unit: Grand Canyon National Park: 
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Small: 3; 
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Medium: 3; 
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Large: 1; 
Number we interviewed; Total: 7.

National park unit: Grand Canyon National Park: 
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour 
operators: Small 6; 
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour 
operators: Medium: 3; 
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour 
operators: Large: 2; 
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Total: 11[A].

National park unit: Haleakala National Park(only): 
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Small: 0; 
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Medium: 1; 
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Large: 0; 
Number we interviewed; Total: 1.

National park unit: Haleakala National Park(only):
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour 
operators: Small: 1; 
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour 
operators: Medium: 1; 
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour 
operators: Large: 0; 
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour 
operators: Total: 2.

National park unit: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park(only):
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Small: 4; 
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Medium: 1; 
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Large: 0; 
Number we interviewed; Total: 5.

National park unit: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park(only):
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour 
operators: Small: 4; 
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour 
operators: Medium: 2;
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour 
operators: Large: 0; 
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Total: 6.

National park unit: Both Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes: 
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Small: 3;  
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Medium: 1; 
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Large: 1; 
Number we interviewed; Total: 5.

National park unit: Both Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes:  
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour 
operators: Small: 5; 
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour 
operators: Medium: 2; 
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour 
operators: Large: 1; 
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Total: Grand Canyon 
National Park: 8. 

Source: GAO. 

[A] As noted above, 17 operators had authority to conduct air tours 
over Grand Canyon at the time of our visit in July 2005, but for the 
purposes of our January 2006 report, we selected from the 11 operators 
that also had authority to conduct air tours over nearby Lake Mead.

[End of table]

We assessed budget data describing the Park Service's requests for 
annual appropriations and FAA's funding dedicated to developing air 
tour management plans. This budget information covered fiscal years 
2001 through 2006 and were obtained from budget appropriation reports, 
the agencies' budget requests, and budget summaries provided by FAA and 
a contractor. We determined that these data were sufficiently reliable 
for the purposes of this report.

To identify what factors hinder the collection of air tour fees, and to 
provide information on the possible expansion of air tour fees to 
additional park units, we considered the results of our January 2006 
report, particularly the sections on the lack of data on air tour 
activity over park units and the Park Service's not funding its share 
of the cost of developing air tour management plans. We also 
interviewed Park Service, Interior, and FAA officials and reviewed 
FAA's January 2001 draft report to Congress on the likely effects that 
air tour fees will have on air tour operators. In addition, we reviewed 
Park Service data on the park units that charge admission fees. We also 
assessed data reflecting the number of annual air tours authorized by 
FAA for operators over various national park units under the Air Tour 
Management Act and the National Parks Overflights Act of 1987. We 
interviewed agency officials regarding a series of data reliability 
questions addressing areas such as data entry, data access, quality 
control procedures, and data accuracy and completeness. We asked follow-
up questions whenever necessary. We determined that these data were 
sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this report.

We performed our work from January 2005 through April 2006 in 
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

[End of section]

Appendix II: Number of Authorized Air Tours over National Park Units 
and Admission Fee Information:

Name of park unit: Grand Canyon National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 91,250; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Lake Mead National Recreation Area (includes part of 
Parashant National Monument); 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 68,814[C]; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Statue of Liberty National Monument (includes Ellis 
Island National Monument); 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 35,837; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Governors Island National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 29,432; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 28,441; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Haleakala National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 26,325; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Glen Canyon National Recreation Area; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 14,074; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Rainbow Bridge National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 10,175; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Cape Hatteras National Seashore; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 8,170; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Mount Rushmore National Memorial; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 5,608; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Acadia National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 4,585; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Badlands National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 4,117; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Bryce Canyon National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 3,488; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Golden Gate National Recreation Area (includes 
Alcatraz Island, Muir Woods National Monument, Presidio of San 
Francisco, and Fort Point National Historic Site)[D]; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 2,900; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Point Reyes National Seashore; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 2,900; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 2,900; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Kalaupapa National Historical Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 2,250; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Great Smoky Mountains National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 1,920; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Glacier National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 1,793; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Big Cypress National Preserve; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 1,260; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Canyonlands National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 1,039; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Zion National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 742; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Arches National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 675; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Everglades National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 674; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: North Cascades National Park (includes Lake Chelan 
National Recreation Area); 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 437; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Capitol Reef National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 334; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Navajo National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 277; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Timpanogos Cave National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 254; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Biscayne National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 200; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Natural Bridges National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 195; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Montezuma Castle National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 185; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Canyon de Chelly National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 177; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Mount Rainier National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 173; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Yellowstone National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 148; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Chaco Culture National Historical Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 147; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Colonial National Historical Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 147; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Olympic National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 139; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Bandelier National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 126; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Yosemite National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 115; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Dry Tortugas National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 100; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 98; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Hovenweep National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 92; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Lassen Volcanic National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 89; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Aztec Ruins National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 83; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Cedar Breaks National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 79; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Grand Teton National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 74; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Death Valley National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 67; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check. 

Name of park unit: Mesa Verde National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 63; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Yucca House National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 63; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Tuzigoot National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 62; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Petrified Forest National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 60; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Voyageurs National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 60; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Wupatki National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 60; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Colorado National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 57; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Walnut Canyon National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 49; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Petroglyph National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 45; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: El Malpais National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 43; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: El Morro National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 43; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A. 

Name of park unit: Fort Union National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 32; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Pecos National Historical Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 32; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 27; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 26; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Pipe Spring National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 26; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Devils Tower National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 22; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Saguaro National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 20; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: San Juan Island National Historical Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 20; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;  
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Carlsbad Caverns National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 18; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Guadalupe Mountains National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 18; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 17; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 16; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Mojave National Preserve; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 15; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A

Name of park unit: Capulin Volcano National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 13; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check. 

Name of park unit: Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 12; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Golden Spike National Historic Site; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 11; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 10; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Dinosaur National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 9; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 7; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Casa Grande Ruins National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 6; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Big Bend National Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 5; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Coronado National Memorial; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 5; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Fort Bowie National Historic Site; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 5; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A; 
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Fort Davis National Historic Site; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 5; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Hohokam Pima National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 5; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A.
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 5; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.

Name of park unit: Rio Grande Wild & Scenic River; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 5; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.

Name of park unit: Tumacacori National Historical Park; 
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 5; 
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A. 

Sources: FAA and the Park Service.

[A] With the exception of Grand Canyon National Park, this information 
reflects interim operating authority that FAA has granted under the Air 
Tour Management Act as of November 2005. For Grand Canyon, FAA 
determined the number of authorized air tours under the Grand Canyon 
Act based on operators' air tour activity from May 1, 1997, to April 
30, 1998, and made one adjustment in 2005 with an increase of 3,711 air 
tour allocations due to a change in the regulations. Collectively, air 
tour operators have authority from FAA to conduct air tours over 86 of 
the nation's 390 national park units.

[B] The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 uses the term 
"admission fees" to refer to the fees charged at some park units' 
entrances, which the Park Service also calls "entrance fees."

[C] At the time of our review, FAA officials believed that the total 
number of air tours conducted annually over Lake Mead National 
Recreation Area may be as low as 12,880. FAA officials believe most of 
the authorized "air tours" are actually transportation-only flights en 
route to Grand Canyon National Park. Transportation-only flights are 
exempt from the Air Tour Management Act, but operators nonetheless 
applied for operating authority over Lake Mead because of their 
uncertainty in how that act would be implemented.

[D] Of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area's subunits listed, Muir 
Woods National Monument charges a per-person admission fee but no per- 
vehicle admission fee; all the other subunits do not charge any 
admission fees.

[End of table]

[End of section]

Appendix III: Comments from the Department of the Interior:

United States Department of the Interior:
Office Of The Secretary: 
Washington, DC 20240:

Take Pride In America:

Robin M. Nazzaro:
Director: 
Natural Resources and Environment: 
U.S. Government Accountability Office: 
441 G Street, NW:
Washington, DC 20548:

Dear Ms. Nazzaro:

The Department of the Interior has reviewed the U.S. Government 
Accountability Office's (GAO) draft report, "National Parks Air Tour 
Fees: Effective Verification and Enforcement Mechanisms are Needed to 
Improve Compliance," GAO-06-468. We are pleased that GAO incorporated 
the majority of our suggestions and appreciate the clarification they 
added to further discuss the role of managing air tour fees and the 
recommendation to strengthen the National Park Service's guidance for 
setting tour fees.

Specific comments are listed in the enclosure. If you have any further 
questions, please contact Karen Trevino, NPS Natural Sounds Program, at 
970-225-3563. 

Signed By:

Acting Assistant Secretary and for Fish and Wildlife and Parks:

Enclosure:

U.S. Government Accountability Office Draft Report:
National Parks Air Tour Fees: Effective Verification and Enforcement 
Mechanism are Needed to Improve Compliance GAO-06-468:

The National Park Service (NPS) supports lowering the threshold for the 
level of air tour activity in order to expand collection of air tour 
fees to additional park units. In addition, it may be necessary to 
review the requirement that air tour fees may only be collected at 
parks that charge admission fees. Revenue generated from air tour fee 
collection could be used to help mitigate the impacts from air tours by 
offseting the cost of air tour management plans. As the report notes, 
the current fee legislation sets the bar very high for when the air 
tour fee requirement applies (e.g., over the level of 26,325 flights at 
Haleakala) and only when that park unit charges an admission fee. The 
rationale for the implementation of air tour fees was based on the 
recognition that commercial air tours impact park unit resources and 
personnel; therefore, a modest fee was a reasonable and justifiable 
means of addressing those impacts (Draft report, page 10). However, the 
level at which significant impacts occur to park resources is likely 
much lower than the threshold set by the fee legislation. Moreover, the 
level at which an impact would be considered adverse is as much a 
function of the specific resources of any particular unit as it is the 
number of air tours (i.e., sensitive ecological or cultural areas would 
be impacted from a lower number of flights than other areas). For 
example, preliminary aircraft noise modeling results for the draft 
Mount Rushmore and Badlands Air Tour Management Plan Environmental 
Assessments suggest that the threshold is already occurring at flight 
levels authorized by Interim Operating Authority (5,608 and 4,117 
flights respectively). It should be noted that admission fees are 
charged at Badlands but not at Mount Rushmore.

NPS agrees with the findings, conclusions and recommendations made by 
the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in this report, particularly 
those that address the need for more accurate and reliable reporting. 
Given the interrelationship with other overflight issues, it is 
necessary to reiterate some of the comments made on GAO's January 2006 
report on the National Parks Air Tour Management Act. The lack of 
enforcement mechanisms and inability to verify the number of 
overflights for Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes National Parks has had a 
notable impact on our efforts to prepare supportable Air Tour 
Management Plans for both parks due to the uncertainty about the actual 
level of air tour activity occurring. The size of the discrepancy 
between the amount of flights air tour operators requested in their 
applications for Interim Operating Authority under the National Parks 
Air Tour Management Act, the amount the operators say they are 
currently flying, and the amount of flights based on fees paid to the 
parks is too large to be accounted for by the different geographic 
applicability of the two laws.

GAO stated in its previous report that some operators had deliberately 
inflated estimates in their application. Several operators admit they 
are not paying the required fees.

Without reliable air tour data, the NPS cannot determine whether 
operators are complying with their operating authority or paying the 
fees that they owe the parks. Lack of information gives operators who 
are not paying their fees an unfair competitive advantage over those 
that do. Moreover, there is the potential for adverse impacts to park 
visitors and natural and cultural resources without accountability.

The NPS concurs with the GAO's recommendation and urges the FAA to 
develop, in a timely manner, a process that will allow for verification 
of air tour overflights and other information necessary to implement 
the National Parks Air Tour Management Act. As previously noted in the 
comments on the report on the National Parks Air Tour Management Act, 
an accurate accounting of air tour overflights is crucial in 
determining the impacts of the flights as part of the NEPA process. 
Without accurate data, the air tour management plans will be 
vulnerable. In addition, accurate reporting will allow the NPS and the 
FAA to pursue the illegal non-payment of fees by operators in a more 
rigorous manner.

The following are GAO's comments on the Department of the Interior's 
letter dated April 20, 2006.

GAO Comments:

1. Our draft report did not contain any recommendations to the National 
Park Service.

[End of section]

Appendix IV: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:

GAO Contact:

Robin M. Nazzaro, (202) 512-3841, nazzaror@gao.gov:

Staff Acknowledgments:

In addition to the individual named above, Jeffery D. Malcolm, 
Assistant Director; Josey Ballenger; Alisha Chugh; Wyatt R. Hundrup; 
Richard Johnson; Alison O'Neill; Judy Pagano; Anne Rhodes-Kline; and 
Carol Herrnstadt Shulman made key contributions to this report. Also 
contributing to the report were Roy Judy, Steve Martin, and Jena 
Sinkfield.

(360667): 

[End of section]

FOOTNOTES

[1] In this report, we use the phrase "national park units" or simply 
"park units" to refer to all units in the national park system, 
including national historic sites, memorials, monuments, parks, 
recreation areas, and other designations.

[2] Pub. L. No. 103-66, title X, § 10002(c), 107 Stat. 404 (1993).

[3] The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 uses the term 
"admission fees" to refer to the fees charged at some park units' 
entrances, which the Park Service also calls "entrance fees."

[4] Pub. L. No. 100-91, 101 Stat. 676 (1987).

[5] Pub. L. No. 106-181, title VII, 114 Stat. 185 (2000). The Air Tour 
Management Act does not apply to (1) Grand Canyon National Park or 
tribal lands within or abutting that park unit; (2) any air tour 
operator while flying over or near Lake Mead National Recreation Area 
solely as a transportation route to conduct an air tour over Grand 
Canyon National Park; and (3) any land or waters in Alaska. The Air 
Tour Management Act also prohibits any air tours over Rocky Mountain 
National Park.

[6] Special Flight Rules in the Vicinity of Grand Canyon National Park 
(14 C.F.R. Part 93, Subpart U).

[7] A "commercial air tour operator" is any person who conducts a 
commercial air tour operation, including individuals, companies, and 
corporations.

[8] The Grand Canyon Act requires FAA to "… prepare and issue a final 
plan for the management of air traffic in the air space above the Grand 
Canyon." While the air traffic management plan required by the Grand 
Canyon Act must meet different legislative requirements than the air 
tour management plans required by the Air Tour Management Act, to 
simplify the presentation of information in this report, we will refer 
to all the plans simply as "air tour management plans." 

[9] During calendar years 2000 to 2003, 21 operators had authority from 
FAA to conduct air tours over Grand Canyon, but as of March 2006, that 
number had dropped to 14. In addition to the 91,250 total annual air 
tours authorized over Grand Canyon, FAA was retaining 2,721 allocations 
(from operators that had gone out of business) for potential future 
distribution, as of March 2006.

[10] GAO, National Parks Air Tour Management Act: More Flexibility and 
Better Enforcement Needed, GAO-06-263 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 27, 2006).

[11] U.S. Senate, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 
Hearing on National Park Overflights, October 3, 2002, S. Hrg. No. 107- 
1123, at 27, 34, and 36 (2002); and U.S. Senate, Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources, Subcommittee on National Parks, Hearing on the 
National Parks Air Tour Management Act, July 22, 2004, S. Hrg. No. 108- 
731, at 21 and 25-27 (2004).

[12] Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, Pub. L. No. 108-447, 
Div. J, title VIII, 118 Stat. 3377 (2004). 

[13] Pub. L. No. 103-66, title X, § 10002(c), 107 Stat. 404 (1993). 

[14] H.R. Rep. No. 103-111, at 371 (1993).

[15] Pub. L. No. 100-91, 101 Stat. 676 (1987).

[16] Pub. L. No. 106-181, title VII, 114 Stat. 185 (2000).

[17] 53 Fed. Reg. 20264 (June 2, 1988).

[18] Special Flight Rules in the Vicinity of Grand Canyon National Park 
(14 C.F.R. Part 93, Subpart U).

[19] 67 Fed. Reg. 65662 (Oct. 25, 2002).

[20] These dollar values are in inflation-adjusted 2005 dollars; other 
dollar values in this report have not been adjusted.

[21] The Park Service may reduce the amount of fees retained by a park 
unit, but not below 60 percent, for a fiscal year if the Secretary of 
the Interior determines that the revenues collected exceed the 
reasonable needs of a particular park unit for which expenditures may 
be made that fiscal year.

[22] In March 2006, Interior's Office of Inspector General reported, 
among other things, that Hawaii Volcanoes had not been able to collect 
millions of dollars' worth of air tour fees due to insufficient air 
tour data. U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Inspector 
General, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Improved Operations Should 
Enhance Stewardship and Visitor Experience, P-IN-NPS-0074-2004 
(Washington, D.C.: March 2006).

[23] According to an official in Interior's Office of the Solicitor, 
the Park Service has general enforcement authority to take action 
against air tour operators that do not pay their required air tour 
fees. The possible fines and prison sentences associated with such an 
enforcement action are found in 18 U.S.C. §§ 3571 and 3581, 
respectively. For example, a class A misdemeanor can result in a 
maximum sentence of 1 year imprisonment and a fine of up to $100,000 
for individuals or $200,000 for organizations; a class B misdemeanor 
can result in a maximum sentence of 6 months imprisonment and a fine of 
up to $5,000 for individuals or $10,000 for organizations.

[24] If a nontax debt owed to a federal agency has been delinquent for 
a period of 180 days, the agency must generally transfer the debt or 
claim to the Department of the Treasury, which must take appropriate 
action to collect the debt or claim.

[25] In addition, under the Air Tour Management Act, "new entrant" 
operators that do not already have authority to conduct air tours over 
park units may apply for such authority, and existing operators may 
apply for such authority at additional park units, in the future.

[26] As of November 2005, operators conducting air tours over Statue of 
Liberty National Monument and Governors Island National Monument also 
had authority to conduct a combined 35,837 and 29,432 air tours 
annually, respectively--a higher level of activity than Haleakala 
National Park. However, Statue of Liberty and Governors Island National 
Monuments do not charge admission fees, which makes those park units 
ineligible under the fees legislation for charging air tour fees. In 
addition, air tour operators had authority to conduct a combined 68,814 
air tours annually over Lake Mead National Recreation Area, but FAA 
believes that the total number of air tours conducted annually over 
Lake Mead may be as low as 12,880. FAA believes most of the authorized 
"air tours" are actually transportation-only flights en route to Grand 
Canyon National Park. The Park Service charges fees for those tours 
over Grand Canyon.

[27] GAO, National Parks Air Tour Management Act: More Flexibility and 
Better Enforcement Needed, GAO-06-263 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 27, 2006).

[28] Three of the 17 operators that had authority to conduct air tours 
over Grand Canyon (but did not have authority for Lake Mead) at the 
time of our visit in July 2005 have subsequently gone out of business 
and have therefore lost their authority to conduct air tours, according 
to FAA.

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