2012-10521. Notice of Meeting of the National Parks Overflights Advisory Group Aviation Rulemaking Committee

ACTION:

Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY:

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Park Service (NPS), in accordance with the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000, announce the next meeting of the National Parks Overflights Advisory Group (NPOAG) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC). This notification provides the date, location, and agenda for the meeting.

Date and Location:

The NPOAG ARC will meet on May 16, 2012. The meeting will take place in the Garden Pavilion C room at the Hilton Garden Inn located on 815 E. Mall Drive in Rapid City, SD 57701. The phone number is 605-791-9000. The meeting will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on May 16, 2012. This NPOAG meeting will be open to the public.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Barry Brayer, AWP-1SP, Special Programs Staff, Federal Aviation Administration, Western-Pacific Region Headquarters, P.O. Box 92007, Los Angeles, CA 90009-2007, telephone: [phone], email: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000 (NPATMA), enacted on April 5, 2000, as Public Law 106-181, required the establishment of the NPOAG within one year after its enactment. The Act requires that the NPOAG be a balanced group of representatives of general aviation, commercial air tour operations, environmental concerns, and Native American tribes. The Administrator of the FAA and the Director of NPS (or their designees) serve as ex officio members of the group. Representatives of the Administrator and Director serve alternating 1-year terms as chairperson of the advisory group.

The duties of the NPOAG include providing advice, information, and recommendations to the FAA Administrator and the NPS Director on; implementation of Public Law 106-181; quiet aircraft technology; other measures that might accommodate interests to visitors of national parks; and at the request of the Administrator and the Director, on safety, environmental, and other issues related to commercial air tour operations over national parks or tribal lands.

Agenda for the May 16, 2012 NPOAG Meeting

The agenda for the meeting will include, but is not limited to, an update on ongoing Air Tour Management Program projects and discussion on implementing the new amendments to NPATMA that were included in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012.

Attendance at the Meeting and Submission of Written Comments

Although this is not a public meeting, interested persons may attend. Because seating is limited, if you plan to attend please contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT so that meeting space may be made to accommodate all attendees. Written comments regarding the meeting will be accepted directly from attendees or may be sent to the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Record of the Meeting

If you cannot attend the NPOAG meeting, a summary record of the meeting will be made available under the NPOAG section of the FAA ATMP web site at: http://www.faa.gov/​about/​office_​org/​headquarters_​offices/​arc/​programs/​air_​tour_​management_​plan/​parks_​overflights_​group/​minutes.cfm or through the Special Programs Staff, Western-Pacific Region, P.O. Box 92007, Los Angeles, CA 90009-2007, telephone: [phone].

Issued in Hawthorne, CA, on April 23, 2012.

Keith Lusk,

Program Manager, Air Tour Management Program, Western-Pacific Region.