Grand Canyon Issues
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Review and comment on the NPS DRAFT EIS (expected some time in 2009). Contact your Congressperson and Senator and let them know you want natural quiet restored at Grand Canyon.
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During this address (part of which was drowned out by a low-flying aircraft), the President directed the FAA to complete a plan within 5 years that would meet the NPS goal of substantially restoring natural quiet, defined as 50 percent of the park being quiet, 75–100 percent of the time. We have long argued that this standard is far too weak. Even so, the most recent set of rules released by the FAA showed that this 50-percent target was far from being met, especially during peak season.
Achieving natural quiet in Grand Canyon: History of Grand Canyon Trust involvement
Grand Canyon I Lawsuit
In 1997, Grand Canyon Trust sued the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for failing to properly implement the 1987 law. In June 1998, a Federal Appeals Court upheld the government’s effort to substantially restore natural quiet at the Grand Canyon. The air tour industry had challenged the government’s efforts as being too stringent, but the Appeals Court rejected all of their arguments. We argued that the government had done too little, too late, and asked the Court to order the immediate restoration of natural quiet, which would meet the letter and the spirit of the 1987 National Parks Overflights Act. The Court agreed that the FAA was “slow and faltering” and “tardy” — but not unreasonable. The Court admonished that it would take the FAA “at its word” in promising to complete the job in a timely manner; since 2001, it has required status reports every 60 days. The FAA failed to meet the timeline issued in President Clinton’s 1996 Earth Day speech.
Grand Canyon II Lawsuit: Back to the Drawing Board
In May 2000, the Trust and a coalition of conservation organizations initiated a new lawsuit against the FAA regarding its most recent final rule concerning Grand Canyon overflights. This rule averages noise levels for all 365 days of the year, even though most tour flying occurs during the busy summer months.
On April 18, 2001, the Court of Appeals for the Washington D.C. Circuit decided that two new air routes over the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas would take effect immediately after a judge denied efforts by the U.S. Air Tour Association (USATA) to block them. The Court decided that the two pathways designed by the FAA to restore quiet to the park would not jeopardize safety. One route shortens the path in the southwest region of the park above the Sanup Plateau to avoid flying over the Hualapai Reservation. Another eliminates a route over National Canyon and the Havasupai Reservation.
On August 16, 2002 — the Overflight Act’s fifteenth anniversary — the Court issued a strong ruling in favor of the Trust. This unanimous decision represented a significant victory for those who want to see natural quiet restored to the Grand Canyon, although, as we argued, the government was not even close to achieving the Overflight Act mandate.
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