Overflights of national parks

A commercial air tour operator may not conduct commercial air tour operations over a national park or tribal lands, as defined by this section, except— Whenever an air tour management plan limits the number of commercial air tour operations over a national park during a specified time frame, the Administrator, in cooperation with the Director, shall issue operation specifications to commercial air tour operators that conduct such operations. The operation specifications shall include such terms and conditions as the Administrator and the Director find necessary for management of commercial air tour operations over the park. The Administrator, in cooperation with the Director, shall develop an open competitive process for evaluating proposals from persons interested in providing commercial air tour operations over the park. In making a selection from among various proposals submitted, the Administrator, in cooperation with the Director, shall consider relevant factors, including— Notwithstanding paragraph (1), commercial air tour operators may conduct commercial air tour operations over a national park under part 91 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations if— An air tour management plan for a national park— In establishing an air tour management plan for a national park or tribal lands, the Administrator and the Director shall— A voluntary agreement under this paragraph with respect to commercial air tour operations over a national park shall address the management issues necessary to protect the resources of such park and visitor use of such park without compromising aviation safety or the air traffic control system and may— A voluntary agreement under this paragraph may be terminated at any time at the discretion of— Interim operating authority granted under this subsection— shall provide annual authorization only for the greater of— may allow for modifications of the interim operating authority without further environmental review beyond that described in this subsection, if— The Administrator, in cooperation with the Director, may grant interim operating authority under this paragraph to an air tour operator for a national park or tribal lands for which that operator is a new entrant air tour operator without further environmental process beyond that described in this paragraph, if— This section shall not apply to— In this section, the following definitions apply: The term “new entrant commercial air tour operator” means a commercial air tour operator that— The term “commercial air tour operation over a national park” means any flight, conducted for compensation or hire in a powered aircraft where a purpose of the flight is sightseeing over a national park, within ½ mile outside the boundary of any national park (except the Grand Canyon National Park), or over tribal lands (except those within or abutting the Grand Canyon National Park), during which the aircraft flies— In making a determination of whether a flight is a commercial air tour operation over a national park for purposes of this section, the Administrator may consider—