Federal Aviation Administration

Grand Canyon Overflights

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  • |  Updated: 3:09 pm ET January 28, 2009
October 04, 2009

Introduction

The National Parks Overflights Act of 1987 requires actions by the Department of the Interior/National Park Service (DOI/NPS) and the 		   Grand Canyon National Park
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to provide for substantial restoration of the natural quiet and experience of Grand Canyon National Park and for protection of Park and for protection of public health and safety from adverse effects associated with aircraft overflights. The achievement of this mandate has been a challenge. Actions have been taken over the years to improve aviation safety and reduce noise, but a final overflights plan—including routes or corridors for quiet technology aircraft—is still to be completed. A Presidential memorandum directs that a plan shall ensure that the restoration of natural quiet required by the Overflights Act is completed no later than April 22, 2008. The NPS and FAA are providing joint Federal leadership to complete this task with the participation of stakeholders and tribal governments. We have engaged the services of the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution and Lucy Moore Associates to assist in this effort. We have established a Grand Canyon Working Group within the National Parks Overflights Advisory Group to provide advice and recommendations, and to participate in any rulemaking for a final overflights plan. The Working Group includes a balance of agency, tribal, environmental and aviation interests.

The purpose of this website is to provide a publicly accessible center of information related to the continuing implementation of the Overflights Act and the Grand Canyon Working Group.

Documents

The “Documents” section of the website stores documents that are relevant to the implementation of the Overflights Act and the ongoing conflict resolution process. Users have full access to download any document listed on the index.

 

Comments

The “Comments” section of the website provides a mechanism for users to submit any comments regarding implementation of the Act. The FAA utilizes the Department of Transportation’s Docket Management System (DMS) to collect and manage public comments. The docket number for this effort is FAA-2005-20397. All comments received will be posted on this website and will be available for public access.