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May 3, 2024:
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Canyon de Chelly National Monument Air Tour Management Plan
Canyon De Chelly National Monument » Canyon de Chelly National Monument Air Tour Management Plan » Document List
The National Park Service (NPS) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) (collectively, "the agencies") are seeking public input on the Canyon De Chelly National Monument (the Park) Draft Air Tour Management Plan (Draft ATMP) and Draft Environmental Assessment (Draft EA). Release of this Draft ATMP and Draft EA is part of the agencies' compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000 (the Act) (Title 14, CFR, Part 136, Commercial Air Tours and National Parks Air Tour Management) process and begins a 30-day public review period.
The Act, as amended, requires that all commercial air tour operators conducting or intending to conduct a commercial air tour operation over a unit of the National Park system apply to the FAA for authority to undertake such activity. The Act further requires the FAA, in cooperation with the NPS, to establish an ATMP or voluntary agreement for each park that did not have such a plan or agreement in place at the time the applications were made, unless a park has been otherwise exempted from this requirement. Because the Park typically receives less than 50 air tours per year, it was initially exempt from the requirements of the Act. However, the NPS withdrew its exemption in order to better protect the Park's cultural and natural resources, including its soundscapes as well as the Navajo community living within the Park.
An ATMP regulates commercial air tours over a national park or within ½-mile outside the park's boundary during which the aircraft flies below 5,000 feet above ground level. This is referred to as the ATMP planning area. Air tours outside of the ATMP planning area are not subject to the Act and are therefore not regulated under the ATMP. As air tours outside of the ATMP planning area are outside the jurisdiction of the ATMP, there would be no limitations on the annual number of such air tours that could occur, and no designated routes could be set outside the ATMP planning area under any alternative. General aviation flights, overflights by commercial airlines, and military flights would not be regulated by the ATMP because they are not commercial air tours subject to regulation under the Act. In addition, Interim Operating Authority (IOA) shall terminate 180 days after the date on which an air tour management plan is established.
Commercial air tours have the potential to impact Park resources and visitor experience. Because the Park is located entirely on the Navajo Nation's Tribal trust lands, impacts on the Park's resources are also impacts on Tribal trust resources and Tribal interests.
The objective of the ATMP is to develop acceptable and effective measures to mitigate or prevent the significant adverse impacts, if any, of commercial air tour operations on the Park's resources and values. Because the Park is located entirely on lands held in trust by the United States for the Navajo Nation, the Park's resources and values consist primarily of Navajo Nation cultural resources, including archeological sites, sacred sites, ancestral sites, cultural landscapes, cultural and ceremonial practices, and traditional cultural properties; related natural resources; and the privacy interests of the Navajo Nation residents living within the ATMP planning area.
The FAA and the NPS will initiate a 30-day public comment period from the date of publication in the Federal Register during which the public, agencies, Tribes, and other interested parties may provide comments, suggestions and input on the Draft ATMP and Draft EA.
The agencies are hosting an in-person public meeting and an on-line public meeting for the Park as part of compliance with the Act and the agencies' associated National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance process. Both meetings will convey the same information. Event information for the public meetings is listed in the table below:
April 16, 2024
10:00 AM -2:00 PM MDT
Chinle Chapter House
Navajo Route 7, Ste. 4600
Chinle, AZ 86503
Phone: (928) 674-2052
April 17, 2024
6:00 - 7:30 PM MDT
YouTube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJdKCdtPw4g
Google Form (to submit questions during the meeting): https://forms.gle/6PCcyzMQrziCyLA46
The public is encouraged to submit official comments on the Draft ATMP and Draft EA through this NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) website. The Draft ATMP and Draft EA can be accessed by clicking "Open for Comment" on the left side of this page and then clicking on the link to the Draft ATMP and Draft EA under "Select a document to review and comment." Select the "Comment Now" button to enter your official comments on the Draft EA. Comments will not be accepted by email. Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, be advised that your entire comment (including your personal identifying information) may be made publicly available at any time. While you can request in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Written comments may be sent via postal mail to the following address:
Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
Kaitlyn Rimol, V-326
Attn: Canyon De Chelly National Monument
220 Binney Street
Cambridge, MA 02142-1093
Comments on the Draft ATMP and Draft EA must be received no later than May 3, 2024, at 11:59 PM MDT. The agencies are seeking substantive comments that:
· specifically describe why something will or will not work,
· provide new ideas or factual information to correct or adjust assumptions made,
· present reasonable alternatives other than those described.
Comments that merely support or oppose the proposals that provide personal opinions are not considered substantive.
A list of frequently asked questions is available by clicking the "Document List" on the left side of this page.
Following the public comment period, agencies will consider comments received on the Draft ATMP and Draft EA and continue consultation with other agencies and Tribal governments, as necessary. A final ATMP and final EA documenting the project's outcomes (including comments received and consultations undertaken) will be developed with ultimate approval resting with the FAA and the NPS.
Thank you for your interest in this project!
The Act, as amended, requires that all commercial air tour operators conducting or intending to conduct a commercial air tour operation over a unit of the National Park system apply to the FAA for authority to undertake such activity. The Act further requires the FAA, in cooperation with the NPS, to establish an ATMP or voluntary agreement for each park that did not have such a plan or agreement in place at the time the applications were made, unless a park has been otherwise exempted from this requirement. Because the Park typically receives less than 50 air tours per year, it was initially exempt from the requirements of the Act. However, the NPS withdrew its exemption in order to better protect the Park's cultural and natural resources, including its soundscapes as well as the Navajo community living within the Park.
An ATMP regulates commercial air tours over a national park or within ½-mile outside the park's boundary during which the aircraft flies below 5,000 feet above ground level. This is referred to as the ATMP planning area. Air tours outside of the ATMP planning area are not subject to the Act and are therefore not regulated under the ATMP. As air tours outside of the ATMP planning area are outside the jurisdiction of the ATMP, there would be no limitations on the annual number of such air tours that could occur, and no designated routes could be set outside the ATMP planning area under any alternative. General aviation flights, overflights by commercial airlines, and military flights would not be regulated by the ATMP because they are not commercial air tours subject to regulation under the Act. In addition, Interim Operating Authority (IOA) shall terminate 180 days after the date on which an air tour management plan is established.
Commercial air tours have the potential to impact Park resources and visitor experience. Because the Park is located entirely on the Navajo Nation's Tribal trust lands, impacts on the Park's resources are also impacts on Tribal trust resources and Tribal interests.
The objective of the ATMP is to develop acceptable and effective measures to mitigate or prevent the significant adverse impacts, if any, of commercial air tour operations on the Park's resources and values. Because the Park is located entirely on lands held in trust by the United States for the Navajo Nation, the Park's resources and values consist primarily of Navajo Nation cultural resources, including archeological sites, sacred sites, ancestral sites, cultural landscapes, cultural and ceremonial practices, and traditional cultural properties; related natural resources; and the privacy interests of the Navajo Nation residents living within the ATMP planning area.
The FAA and the NPS will initiate a 30-day public comment period from the date of publication in the Federal Register during which the public, agencies, Tribes, and other interested parties may provide comments, suggestions and input on the Draft ATMP and Draft EA.
The agencies are hosting an in-person public meeting and an on-line public meeting for the Park as part of compliance with the Act and the agencies' associated National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance process. Both meetings will convey the same information. Event information for the public meetings is listed in the table below:
April 16, 2024
10:00 AM -2:00 PM MDT
Chinle Chapter House
Navajo Route 7, Ste. 4600
Chinle, AZ 86503
Phone: (928) 674-2052
April 17, 2024
6:00 - 7:30 PM MDT
YouTube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJdKCdtPw4g
Google Form (to submit questions during the meeting): https://forms.gle/6PCcyzMQrziCyLA46
The public is encouraged to submit official comments on the Draft ATMP and Draft EA through this NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) website. The Draft ATMP and Draft EA can be accessed by clicking "Open for Comment" on the left side of this page and then clicking on the link to the Draft ATMP and Draft EA under "Select a document to review and comment." Select the "Comment Now" button to enter your official comments on the Draft EA. Comments will not be accepted by email. Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, be advised that your entire comment (including your personal identifying information) may be made publicly available at any time. While you can request in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Written comments may be sent via postal mail to the following address:
Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
Kaitlyn Rimol, V-326
Attn: Canyon De Chelly National Monument
220 Binney Street
Cambridge, MA 02142-1093
Comments on the Draft ATMP and Draft EA must be received no later than May 3, 2024, at 11:59 PM MDT. The agencies are seeking substantive comments that:
· specifically describe why something will or will not work,
· provide new ideas or factual information to correct or adjust assumptions made,
· present reasonable alternatives other than those described.
Comments that merely support or oppose the proposals that provide personal opinions are not considered substantive.
A list of frequently asked questions is available by clicking the "Document List" on the left side of this page.
Following the public comment period, agencies will consider comments received on the Draft ATMP and Draft EA and continue consultation with other agencies and Tribal governments, as necessary. A final ATMP and final EA documenting the project's outcomes (including comments received and consultations undertaken) will be developed with ultimate approval resting with the FAA and the NPS.
Thank you for your interest in this project!