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The Volpe Center is supporting the FAA in developing Air Tour Management Plans for approximately 50 National Park Service units. The plans will help mitigate or prevent adverse impacts from air tours on natural and cultural resources, visitor experience, and tribal lands. The Volpe team will start working with the FAA, NPS, and other stakeholders in fall/winter 2002 at Haleakala National Park (above) and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. (Photo courtesy of National Park Service)

Preserving the Quiet of Our National Parks (FAA)

Scenic air tours over National Parks offer unique, often breathtaking views that many visitors feel enhance their park experience. The noise of the aircraft, however, can disturb the peace and quiet for people and wildlife on the ground. Congress passed the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000 to regulate commercial air tour operations over units of the National Park System. The Act, which was initiated by Senator John McCain (R-AZ), requires that all persons operating or intending to operate commercial air tours apply to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for authority to do so. The FAA, with the cooperation of the National Park Service, must develop Air Tour Management Plans (ATMPs) for those National Parks where there are commercial air tours. ATMPs will embody acceptable and effective measures to mitigate or prevent significant adverse impacts from air tours on natural and cultural resources, visitor experiences, and Native American tribal lands. Of the approximately 385 National Park System units in the United States, about 50 are reported to have commercial air tour operations that may be subject to regulation under the Act. (However, at any time, commercial air tour operators can request an ATMP at any park unit covered by the Act.) The FAA is in the final phase of rulemaking required to begin ATMP development.

A two-stage windscreen and microphone used to monitor noise in Bryce Canyon National Park. (Photo courtesy of Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division)

Programmatic Phase: Laying the Foundation
Since spring 2001, the Volpe Center has been providing environmental management and technical support to the FAA Western Pacific Region for the ATMP Program. The Volpe team, led by Dr. Paul Valihura of the Environmental Engineering Division, integrates staff from several Volpe divisions. The team recently completed the initial programmatic phase, which developed the foundation for developing and implementing ATMPs. Activities during this phase included:

• Providing consultation on compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA);

• Developing Implementation Plans and a Program Performance Strategy (a performance-based Implementation Plan with specific milestones);

• Developing a process to address potential impacts on cultural, historic, and prehistoric resources regulated by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation;

• Developing an ATMP Web site, a brochure, and a training video in cooperation with FAA and NPS;

• Producing a training manual and advisory circulars (updates regarding regulatory compliance); and

• Performing noise measurement and modeling, including the first attempt to develop very low-level noise impact evaluation criteria, which would help determine what constitutes significant adverse impact.

Implementation Phase: A Delicate Balance
To ensure that ATMPs comply with all environmental standards, the Volpe team will develop each ATMP in parallel with an environmental analysis required by NEPA. The Volpe team's activities during the Implementation Phase will include:

• Developing air routes and schedules.

• Providing the technical basis for decision making regarding the potential impacts of air tours on wildlife, visitors, the natural environment, and the cultural environment. Protecting the cultural environment is a unique environmental justice activity. Issues could include potential interference with religious or cultural activities of Native Americans -- for example, low-flying aircraft over a tribal ceremony. Another unique activity will be considering the definition of a park unit's soundscape, i.e., the natural sounds commonly heard in a given location.

Acadia National Park, Maine (Photo courtesy of National Park Service)

• Participating in public outreach/information efforts. ATMPs will be developed through a public process that allows agencies, organizations, Native American tribes, affected air tour operators, and the general public to comment on the plans.

• Noise measurement, modeling, and analysis supporting the development of ATMPs and associated NEPA documentation.

Volpe: The Right Team for the Job
The ATMP process will involve many stakeholders and interested parties. The Volpe team will help the FAA strike the appropriate balance between: responding to visitor demand for air tours, considering tour operators' livelihoods, and protecting natural and cultural resources. Volpe's multidisciplinary team integrates the necessary expertise in aviation, information technology, environmental engineering, NEPA compliance, environmental measurement and modeling, and public participation. The Volpe team includes Division Chief Phil Mattson, Dr. Paul Valihura, Dr. Amishi Joshi, Ms. Michelle Morris, Mr. Paul Zebe, Ms. Jennifer Papazian, and Mr. Jose Mantilla, all of the Environmental Engineering Division; Ms. Ann DiMare of the Aviation Safety Division; Division Chief Gregg Fleming, Ms. Cynthia Lee, Mr. Christopher Roof, Dr. John McDonald, and Dr. Brian Kim, all of the Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division; Mr. David Damm-Luhr, Acting Chief of the Planning and Policy Analysis Division; and Ms. Jessica Paddock of EG&G Technical Services (a Volpe contractor).