Fri, Mar 07, 2003
It Took A Long Time to Make the Canyon, Too.
It took a long time to make the Grand Canyon, with
the Colorado River's gradual sloshing away of the Coconino
sandstone; and it would have taken twice as long, apparently, if
the FAA had been involved.
The bureaucracy needs four more years, at least, they say, to
"study" the effects of aircraft noise. By that time, of course,
everyone will be more-acclimatized to the regulation; and most of
those pesky tour operators will be out of business.
The AOPA says the latest rule maintains "status-quo" until at
least February 20, 2006, to give FAA more time to review guidance
on measuring noise in the park and to determine how to address
non-air tour aircraft noise. While the current rule has no direct
impact on general aviation pilots, there is the potential for
future modifications to the east-end and west-end routes and
airspace to achieve substantial restoration of natural quiet in the
park.
The AOPA notes, "An August 2002 court case ruling determined
that FAA noise monitoring standards are inconsistent with those of
the National Park Service (NPS). The court ruled that the FAA's
explanation of excluding non-tour aircraft in its noise modeling
was inadequate. As a result, the FAA must now work with the NPS to
develop the necessary environmental analysis and review process to
help restore "natural quiet" at the Grand Canyon.
"AOPA has
lead the fight to preserve general aviation access to airspace over
national parks and successfully objected to parts of the rule that
would have imposed greater restrictions on transient GA aircraft
crossing the canyon. 'AOPA continues to maintain that transient
general aviation overflights do not have a negative noise impact on
our national parks,' said Melissa Bailey, AOPA vice president for
air traffic, regulatory and certification policy."
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