Grand Canyon air tour combatants spar in court

Robert Gehrke

Friday, May 10, 2002 | 11:12 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Federal regulations allow too many sightseeing planes over the Grand Canyon, ruining the experience for people on the ground, an environmental group argued before a federal appeals court Thursday.

Attorneys for air tour operators, many based in Las Vegas, countered that rules adopted by the Federal Aviation Administration are so restrictive they forced some flight operators out of business.

Both sides asked the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Thursday to order the FAA to rewrite the rules, which apply to small tourist airplanes and helicopters.

About 5 million people visit the Arizona landmark each year, and about 800,000 of them charter the aircraft that buzz over the sheer canyon walls.

At issue is the FAA's implementation of the 1987 National Park Overflights Act, in which Congress directed the FAA and the National Park Service to restore natural quiet in the Grand Canyon by reducing noise from the low-flying aircraft.

The FAA responded with a series of restrictions and route limitations, including a rule issued in 2000 that capped the number of flights at about 90,000 per year. The goal is to achieve quiet in at least half the park.

William Thode, an attorney for the U.S. Air Tour Association, argued that the FAA based the cap on computer models that were designed to predict noise in urban areas.

"They lowered to an unjustifiable and artificial level what they characterize as" natural quiet in the canyon, Thode said.

Alexander Dreier, attorney for the Grand Canyon Trust, insisted the FAA's rules do not go far enough. As a result, he argued, the planes are allowed to mar the canyon's natural beauty and serenity.

The FAA uses averages to calculate noise in the park -- louder summer days are offset by quieter days in off-peak tourist seasons. Considering that method, the FAA said 44 percent of the park meets the standard for quiet.

The National Park Service disagrees with the FAA's calculation methodology. It says noise should be measured each day, without averaging high-traffic and off-peak days. Under that standard, only 19 percent of the park is quiet.

Dreier asked the three-judge panel to direct the FAA to rewrite the rule to meet the Park Service standard. Judge Merrick Garland seemed sympathetic.

"Congress was clear that the FAA was not the agency it trusted to write this definition," said Garland, who in 1998 wrote an appeals court opinion that upheld restrictions on flights within the canyon.

FAA attorney Ronald Spritzer said the cap on flights is only part of the plan to restore quiet. It would be premature for the court to intervene and decide the FAA is falling short of the goal before other pieces are in place, he said.

Those pieces include incentives for quieter planes and route restrictions on the eastern portion of the canyon.

Tom Robinson, director of governmental affairs for the Grand Canyon Trust, said if the court sides with his group it could affect flights in places where the Park Service and FAA are drafting air tour management plans. They include Zion, Bryce Canyon and Hawaii Volcanoes national parks.