National Parks Air Tour Fees
Effective Verification and Enforcement Are Needed to Improve Compliance Gao ID: GAO-06-468 May 11, 2006The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (the fees legislation) required the National Park Service to begin collecting fees from operators that conduct air tours over national park units that meet certain criteria. Currently, only Grand Canyon, Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes National Parks meet the criteria to charge air tour fees. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in cooperation with the Park Service, also regulates air tours over park units pursuant to the National Parks Overflights Act of 1987 and the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000. GAO was asked to (1) assess the Park Service's collection of air tour fees and (2) identify what factors, if any, hinder the collection of air tour fees. GAO is also providing information on the possible expansion of air tour fees to additional park units.
Relying largely on voluntary compliance, the Park Service has collected some, but not all, fees from air tour operators at Grand Canyon, Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes National Parks. After passage of the fees legislation, these three park units instituted air tour fees in 1994 by requesting operators to voluntarily report their air tours and pay appropriate fees monthly. Since then, the Park Service has collected about $19 million at the three park units (in inflation-adjusted 2005 dollars). However, voluntary compliance with the air tour fee requirement has been inconsistent, and several operators are not paying the required fees. For example, GAO found that 13 of the 21 operators conducting air tours over Grand Canyon underpaid their air tour fees for calendar years 2000 through 2003 by more than $1.5 million. The Park Service's ability to collect air tour fees is hindered by several factors. The Park Service cannot verify air tour activity over the three park units. Air tour operators are not required to record and report to either the Park Service or FAA their number of air tours over park units, except for Grand Canyon. Operators at Grand Canyon are required to report their air tours only to FAA. Consequently, the Park Service relies on operators to voluntarily report their air tours and pay the required fees. A GAO January 2006 report recommended that FAA take steps to require operators to report to both agencies their air tours over park units under the 2000 air tour act, including Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes. The Park Service cannot effectively enforce compliance due to the lack of air tour data. The Park Service has limited ability to enforce compliance because it does not have jurisdiction over airspace and lacks sufficient air tour data. Conversely, FAA is not required to assist with collecting, or enforcing the collection of, air tour fees. As a result, both Park Service and FAA officials told GAO, the agencies have little or no ability to take enforcement action against noncompliant operators. Different geographic applicability of two laws complicates efforts to collect air tour fees. The fees legislation and the 2000 air tour act have different geographic applicability, which has complicated the Park Service's collection efforts. Air tour fees are currently charged at only 3 of the 86 park units with air tours, based on the criteria established in the fees legislation. Expanding air tour fees to other park units could generate additional funding for the Park Service, but such an expansion would require a legislative change and should be balanced against potential impacts on air tour operators. Legislation could explicitly provide that the additional funding may be used to develop the air tour management plans required by the 2000 air tour act. Regarding the potential impacts on air tour operators, the 2000 air tour act directed FAA to prepare a report to Congress on this subject by October 2000. FAA has drafted the report but has not submitted it to Congress.
RecommendationsOur recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director: Team: Phone:GAO-06-468, National Parks Air Tour Fees: Effective Verification and Enforcement Are Needed to Improve Compliance
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United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
Report to Congressional Requesters:
May 2006:
National Parks Air Tour Fees:
Effective Verification and Enforcement Are Needed to Improve Compliance:
GAO-06-468:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-06-468, a report to congressional requesters.
Why GAO Did This Study:
The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (the fees legislation)
required the National Park Service to begin collecting fees from
operators that conduct air tours over national park units that meet
certain criteria. Currently, only Grand Canyon, Haleakala, and Hawaii
Volcanoes National Parks meet the criteria to charge air tour fees.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in cooperation with the Park
Service, also regulates air tours over park units pursuant to the
National Parks Overflights Act of 1987 and the National Parks Air Tour
Management Act of 2000.
GAO was asked to (1) assess the Park Service‘s collection of air tour
fees and (2) identify what factors, if any, hinder the collection of
air tour fees. GAO is also providing information on the possible
expansion of air tour fees to additional park units.
What GAO Found:
Relying largely on voluntary compliance, the Park Service has collected
some, but not all, fees from air tour operators at Grand Canyon,
Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes National Parks. After passage of the
fees legislation, these three park units instituted air tour fees in
1994 by requesting operators to voluntarily report their air tours and
pay appropriate fees monthly. Since then, the Park Service has
collected about $19 million at the three park units (in inflation-
adjusted 2005 dollars). However, voluntary compliance with the air
tour fee requirement has been inconsistent, and several operators are
not paying the required fees. For example, GAO found that 13 of the 21
operators conducting air tours over Grand Canyon underpaid their air
tour fees for calendar years 2000 through 2003 by more than $1.5
million.
The Park Service‘s ability to collect air tour fees is hindered by
several factors, as follows:
* The Park Service cannot verify air tour activity over the three park
units. Air tour operators are not required to record and report to
either the Park Service or FAA their number of air tours over park
units, except for Grand Canyon. Operators at Grand Canyon are required
to report their air tours only to FAA. Consequently, the Park Service
relies on operators to voluntarily report their air tours and pay the
required fees. A GAO January 2006 report recommended that FAA take
steps to require operators to report to both agencies their air tours
over park units under the 2000 air tour act, including Haleakala and
Hawaii Volcanoes.
* The Park Service cannot effectively enforce compliance due to the
lack of air tour data. The Park Service has limited ability to enforce
compliance because it does not have jurisdiction over airspace and
lacks sufficient air tour data. Conversely, FAA is not required to
assist with collecting, or enforcing the collection of, air tour fees.
As a result, both Park Service and FAA officials told GAO, the agencies
have little or no ability to take enforcement action against
noncompliant operators.
* Different geographic applicability of two laws complicates efforts to
collect air tour fees. The fees legislation and the 2000 air tour act
have different geographic applicability, which has complicated the Park
Service‘s collection efforts.
Air tour fees are currently charged at only 3 of the 86 park units with
air tours, based on the criteria established in the fees legislation.
Expanding air tour fees to other park units could generate additional
funding for the Park Service, but such an expansion would require a
legislative change and should be balanced against potential impacts on
air tour operators. Legislation could explicitly provide that the
additional funding may be used to develop the air tour management plans
required by the 2000 air tour act. Regarding the potential impacts on
air tour operators, the 2000 air tour act directed FAA to prepare a
report to Congress on this subject by October 2000. FAA has drafted
the report but has not submitted it to Congress.
What GAO Recommends:
Congress should consider amending the fees legislation or the 2000 air
tour act to reconcile their geographic applicability. In addition, GAO
recommends that FAA (1) ensure the Park Service receives data on air
tours at Grand Canyon and (2) report to Congress on the effects that
fees are likely to have on operators.
The Departments of the Interior and Transportation generally agreed
with our findings and recommendations, as revised.
[Hyperlink, www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-468].
To view the full product, including the scope and methodology, click on
the link above. For more information, contact Robin M. Nazzaro at (202)
512-3841 or nazzaror@gao.gov.
[End of section]
Contents:
Letter:
Results in Brief:
Background:
Largely through Voluntary Compliance, the Park Service Has Collected
Some, but Not All, Air Tour Fees at Three Park Units:
Collections of Air Tour Fees Are Hindered by Several Factors:
Expanding Air Tour Fees to Additional Park Units Should Be Balanced
against Potential Impacts on Air Tour Operators:
Conclusions:
Matter for Congressional Consideration:
Recommendations for Executive Action:
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
Appendixes:
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology:
Appendix II: Number of Authorized Air Tours over National Park Units
and Admission Fee Information:
Appendix III: Comments from the Department of the Interior:
GAO Comments:
Appendix IV: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
Tables:
Table 1: Differences in Flight Information Air Tour Operators at Grand
Canyon National Park Reported to FAA and to the Park Service, Calendar
Years 2000-2003:
Table 2: Park Units with Authorized Air Tours, Grouped by Types of
Admission Fees:
Table 3: Air Tour Operators We Interviewed, and the Total Number of
Operators, at the Three Park Units that Charge Air Tour Fees:
Figure:
Figure 1: Geographic Applicability of the Fees Legislation and the Air
Tour Management Act at Haleakala National Park:
Abbreviations:
FAA: Federal Aviation Administration:
United States Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
May 11, 2006:
Congressional Requesters:
Millions of visitors each year enjoy our national parks, monuments,
historic sites, and other units of the national park system (national
park units).[Footnote 1] While most visitors experience the park units
on land by walking, driving, or as part of a bus tour, some visitors
view the park units through commercial, sightseeing air tours (air
tours). The Department of the Interior's (Interior) National Park
Service (Park Service) is responsible for managing the 390 national
park units and for collecting applicable fees associated with their
use. Collecting applicable admission and commercial tour use fees from
individuals, private vehicles, and tour buses that enter the park units
on land is generally a simple process. At those park units that charge
fees, the Park Service typically collects the fees at entrance gates,
and visitors can be denied entry if they do not pay the required fees.
To verify that these visitors and tour buses have paid the fees, the
Park Service periodically checks their receipts, and some park units
compare visitation and vehicle statistics with the fees collected. In
contrast, collecting commercial tour use fees for air tours (air tour
fees) has posed some unique challenges for the Park Service.
As part of legislation giving the Park Service recreation fee
authority, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (the fees
legislation) required the Park Service to begin collecting a commercial
tour use fee for all aircraft conducting tours in the airspace over two
park units--Grand Canyon and Haleakala National Parks (Grand Canyon,
Haleakala)--after October 1, 1993.[Footnote 2] The air tour fee
requirement also applies to any other park unit that charges an
admission fee and for which the Park Service determines the level of
air tour activity over the park unit is equal to or greater than the
level at Grand Canyon or Haleakala.[Footnote 3] In December 1993, the
Park Service determined that the level of air tour activity over Hawaii
Volcanoes National Park (Hawaii Volcanoes) was equivalent to Haleakala
and that air tour fees would be charged for this park unit as well. The
air tour fee per entry into the airspace of these three park units is
$25 per aircraft with a capacity of 25 or fewer passengers or $50 per
aircraft with a capacity of more than 25 passengers. The fees
legislation also allows the Park Service to periodically make
reasonable adjustments to the air tour fee. At the time of our review,
all air tour aircraft at the three relevant park units carried fewer
than 25 passengers, and since the Park Service has not made any
adjustments since 1993 to air tour fees, only the $25 fee has applied.
While the Park Service is charged with collecting air tour fees, it is
the sole jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation's Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) to regulate or control the airspace over
national park units. As part of its aviation responsibilities, FAA
issues certificates to pilots who conduct air tours, monitors the
safety and maintenance of air tour aircraft, issues applicable air
carrier certificates, and takes necessary enforcement actions. The Park
Service does not issue certificates or business permits to air tour
operators.
Congress directed FAA, in cooperation with the Park Service, to
regulate air tours over park units in legislation commonly referred to
as the National Parks Overflights Act of 1987 (Grand Canyon
Act)[Footnote 4] and the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000
(Air Tour Management Act).[Footnote 5] The Grand Canyon Act, among
other things, requires FAA to prepare and issue a plan to manage air
traffic above Grand Canyon. FAA and the Park Service are jointly
conducting the environmental work necessary to prepare such a plan, but
in the meantime, FAA has issued special federal aviation regulations
that, in part, require operators to record and report their air tours
over Grand Canyon to FAA.[Footnote 6] The Air Tour Management Act,
among other things, requires FAA, in cooperation with the Park Service,
to develop air tour management plans for national park units and
abutting tribal lands where commercial air tour companies (air tour
operators) apply for authority to conduct air tours.[Footnote 7] As of
April 2006, the agencies had not completed any air tour management
plans, although plans are in development for Grand Canyon and six other
national park units.[Footnote 8] Under the regulations implementing the
Grand Canyon Act, FAA has authorized 14 air tour operators to conduct a
combined total of 91,250 air tours annually as of March 2006.[Footnote
9] Similarly, under the Air Tour Management Act, FAA has authorized 77
air tour operators at 85 park units to conduct a combined total of
262,857 air tours annually. Of that amount, 14 operators are authorized
to conduct a combined 28,441 air tours annually at Hawaii Volcanoes,
and 10 operators are authorized for a combined 26,325 air tours
annually at Haleakala.
Although legislation directs the agencies to work together in
developing plans to manage air tours over national park units--and the
agencies anticipate that local FAA district offices will have the lead
role in monitoring and enforcing the plans--no law specifically assigns
FAA the responsibility to carry out enforcement actions against air
tour operators that do not pay their fees. Neither the Grand Canyon Act
nor the Air Tour Management Act establish specific mechanisms for air
tour fee collection and enforcement, except that the Air Tour
Management Act required FAA to report to Congress by October 2000 on
the effects that air tour fees are likely to have on the air tour
industry, including (1) the viability of a tax credit for air tour
operators and (2) the financial effects that any proposed offsets are
likely to have on FAA.
In January 2006, we reported on the status of the Air Tour Management
Act's implementation.[Footnote 10] We found, among other things, that
FAA and the Park Service lack data to verify air tour activity over
park units regulated by the Air Tour Management Act because FAA and
existing laws and regulations do not require operators to record and
report such information. Consequently, we recommended that FAA
establish a procedure for operators to record and report to both
agencies the number of air tours they conduct over national park units
in order to improve enforcement of that act. The Department of
Transportation agreed with our findings in that report and agreed to
consider our recommendations as FAA moves forward with the air tour
management program. As part of our review of the Air Tour Management
Act, we were also asked to review operators' compliance with the
payment of air tour fees. We chose to report separately on the fees
issue because the fees legislation is distinct from the Air Tour
Management Act, and air tour fees currently apply to only three park
units.
In congressional oversight hearings in 2002 and 2004, Interior, a large
air tour operator in Hawaii, and nonprofit conservation organizations
raised concern that some air tour operators have not paid all fees owed
to the national park units as required by the fees
legislation.[Footnote 11] In this context, you asked us to (1) assess
the Park Service's collection of air tour fees and operators'
compliance in paying fees and (2) identify what factors, if any, hinder
the collection of air tour fees. We are also providing information on
the possible expansion of air tour fees to additional park units.
In conducting our work, we analyzed Park Service and FAA policies,
guidance, and other relevant documents, as well as applicable laws and
regulations. In addition, we reviewed the Park Service's data on the
collection of air tour fee payments at the three relevant park units
and FAA's data on the number of air tours over Grand Canyon, which
operators are required to record and report to FAA. We determined that
both agencies' data were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this
report. We also interviewed Park Service officials at headquarters and
at the three park units that have established air tour fees, FAA
officials at headquarters and at the two relevant district offices, and
a sample of 18 operators of the 33 that had authority to conduct air
tours at the three relevant park units. This sample included different
sizes of air tour operators, as measured by the number of air tours
they are authorized to conduct annually. A more detailed description of
our scope and methodology is presented in appendix I. We performed our
work from January 2005 through April 2006 in accordance with generally
accepted government auditing standards.
Results in Brief:
Relying largely on voluntary compliance, the Park Service has collected
some, but not all, air tour fees from operators at Grand Canyon,
Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes. After passage of the fees legislation,
these three park units instituted air tour fees in 1994 by requesting
air tour operators to voluntarily report their air tours and pay the
appropriate fees on a monthly basis. Since then, the Park Service has
collected about $19 million in air tour fees at the three park units
(in inflation-adjusted 2005 dollars): at Grand Canyon, over $16
million; at Haleakala, about $970,000; and at Hawaii Volcanoes, about
$1.9 million. However, voluntary compliance with the air tour fee
requirement has been inconsistent, and several operators are not paying
the required fees. For example, we compared the data that air tour
operators at Grand Canyon reported to FAA with the data they
voluntarily supplied the Park Service and found that 13 of the 21
operators underpaid their air tour fees for calendar years 2000 through
2003 by more than $1.5 million. Furthermore, at Hawaii Volcanoes, one
operator, who owed more than $360,000 as of January 2005, has publicly
stated that it stopped paying fees because other operators were not
paying. Over the past 12 years, the Park Service's efforts to collect
unpaid fees have been uneven. For example, at Hawaii Volcanoes, Park
Service officials sent letters to air tour operators in 1994, 1997,
2004, and 2005, encouraging the payment of fees, and the Park Service
filed lawsuits against three operators at Grand Canyon. The lawsuits
resulted in settlements in July 2000 in which the three operators
agreed to make back payments totaling about $800,000, but Park Service
officials told us the operators have stopped making such payments, and
the park unit has taken no further action.
The Park Service's ability to collect air tour fees is hindered by
several factors, as follows:
* The Park Service cannot verify air tour activity over the three park
units. Except for Grand Canyon, air tour operators are not required to
record and report to either the Park Service or FAA their number of air
tours over national park units. At Grand Canyon, operators are required
to report their flights to FAA, and the Park Service has requested this
information, but the relevant FAA district office has generally been
unwilling to share the flight data because of concerns that FAA's
involvement with fees could cause operators to underreport their air
tour activity. Consequently, the Park Service relies on air tour
operators to voluntarily and accurately report their air tours and pay
the required fees. Without the ability to verify operators' air tour
activity, the Park Service cannot ensure that operators are making all
the required payments. As previously noted, our January 2006 report
recommends that FAA establish a procedure for operators to record and
report to both agencies the number of air tours they conduct over
national park units regulated by the Air Tour Management Act, which
includes Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes.
* The Park Service cannot effectively enforce compliance due to the
lack of air tour data. The agency charged with collecting air tour
fees--the Park Service--has limited ability to enforce compliance
because it does not have jurisdiction over the airspace or air tour
operators and lacks sufficient air tour data. Conversely, the agency
with the authority over the airspace and air tour operators--FAA--is
not required to assist with collecting, or enforcing the collection of,
air tour fees. Neither the Grand Canyon Act nor the Air Tour Management
Act requires air tour management plans to contain provisions
specifically addressing fee compliance. Furthermore, neither act
requires that operators' authority to conduct air tours over park units
be conditioned on payment of air tour fees. While the Park Service
could go to court seeking fees owed from noncompliant operators or
refer outstanding fees to the Department of the Treasury for debt
collection, the agency generally lacks the evidence necessary to prove
that air tour operators have not paid all the fees owed. As a result,
both Park Service and FAA officials told us the agencies have little or
no ability to take enforcement action against noncompliant operators.
* Different geographic applicability of two laws complicates efforts to
collect air tour fees. The fees legislation and the Air Tour Management
Act and/or their respective implementing guidelines or regulations have
different geographic applicability. Under the fees legislation, an air
tour operator is required to pay a fee when a tour enters the airspace
over the park unit, whereas the Air Tour Management Act defines air
tours as flights over a national park unit or within a half-mile
outside its boundary. The different geographic applicability of the two
laws has complicated the Park Service's efforts to collect air tour
fees by providing some air tour operators with a plausible explanation
for why they are not paying fees. Under the existing system, air tour
operators can assert that they fly only within a half-mile of a park
unit boundary but do not cross it; therefore, their air tours are
covered by the Air Tour Management Act but not by the fees legislation.
To enable the Park Service to verify air tour activity under both laws
and determine the appropriate level of fees owed under the fees
legislation, air tour operators would have to record and report two
sets of data: one for air tours that cross the park unit boundary for
fee collection, and another for air tours that fly over or within a
half-mile of a park unit boundary for the Air Tour Management Act.
Alternatively, the fees legislation and the Air Tour Management Act
would have to be reconciled to have consistent geographic applicability.
Air tour fees are currently charged at only 3 of the 86 park units with
air tours, based on the criteria established in the fees legislation.
Expanding air tour fees to other park units could generate additional
funding for the Park Service, but such an expansion would require a
legislative change. The legislation could explicitly provide that the
additional funding may be used to develop the air tour management plans
required by the Air Tour Management Act. In January 2006, we reported
that the Park Service had not funded its share of the development costs
for air tour management plans. However, any possible expansion of air
tour fees should be balanced against potential impacts on air tour
operators. FAA's report on potential impacts, which the Air Tour
Management Act required by October 2000, was drafted in January 2001
but has not been submitted to Congress. Once FAA submits its report,
Congress, the Park Service, and other stakeholders will have additional
information to evaluate whether air tour fees should be expanded to
other park units.
To enhance the collection of air tour fees, Congress should consider
amending the fees legislation or the Air Tour Management Act to
reconcile the geographic applicability of the two laws. Once these two
acts are reconciled, reporting by air tour operators under the Air Tour
Management Act could also be used to monitor and enforce air tour fee
collections. In our January 2006 report, we recommended that FAA
establish a procedure for operators to record and report to both
agencies the number of air tours they conduct over national park units
regulated by the Air Tour Management Act, which includes Haleakala and
Hawaii Volcanoes but not Grand Canyon. In order to improve compliance
and enforcement of air tour fees at Grand Canyon, we are recommending
that FAA take steps to ensure that the Park Service receives the
information it needs on air tours at Grand Canyon. We are also
recommending that FAA submit to Congress the report required under the
Air Tour Management Act on the effects that air tour fees are likely to
have on air tour operators. In commenting on a draft of this report,
Interior, representing the Park Service, agreed with our findings,
conclusions and recommendations, particularly those that address the
need for more accurate and reliable air tour data. The Department of
Transportation, representing FAA, generally agreed with our findings,
conclusions, and recommendations, as revised. FAA disagreed with a
Matter for Congressional Consideration, which we have since removed
from the report, to amend the Grand Canyon Act and the Air Tour
Management Act to require compliance with air tour fee payments as a
condition for operating authority to conduct air tours over national
parks units. We agreed with FAA that much of the administrative burden
for making operators' air tour operating authority conditioned on fee
compliance could unduly fall on FAA. FAA also expressed concern that it
would distract from FAA's primary focus of aviation safety. As a
result, we have removed that matter from the report. We now emphasize
in the report that the Park Service could take more aggressive
enforcement actions once it has the necessary air tour flight data. See
the "agency comments and our evaluation" section and appendix III for
Interior's comment letter and our evaluation of these comments.
Background:
The Park Service is responsible for conserving the scenery, the natural
and historic objects, and the plants and wildlife in national park
units, and for providing for the enjoyment of national park units in
ways that leave them unimpaired for future generations. To accomplish
its mission, the Park Service has a budget of about $1.7 billion for
fiscal year 2006. The Park Service also has authority to collect and
retain recreation fees from visitors, including entrance fees, amenity
fees, and special permit fees, to be used primarily at the site where
the fee was collected.[Footnote 12] In fiscal year 2005, the Park
Service collected $146.8 million in visitor use fees.
The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (the fees legislation)
directed the Park Service to establish air tour fees by October 1,
1993.[Footnote 13] In the House Budget Committee's report accompanying
the fees legislation, the committee stated that tour operators generate
their revenues by selling national park units as a destination and,
therefore, a modest fee is a reasonable and justifiable means of
addressing impacts they have on park unit resources and
personnel.[Footnote 14] Under the fees legislation, the Park Service
considers an air tour to be a flight that consists of one or more
persons traveling on an itinerary that has been packaged, priced, or
sold for leisure or recreational purposes by an organization that
realizes financial gain through the provision of the service. The Park
Service specifically excludes flights that are conducted solely as
transportation between two points. The Park Service also determined
that air tours that enter and exit the airspace over any of the
applicable park units more than once during a single flight have to pay
only one fee for that air tour. The Park Service implemented the fee
requirement to apply whenever an air tour crosses the boundary of a
qualifying park unit below specified altitudes at each of the park
units: 12,000 feet above mean sea level at Haleakala and 5,000 feet
above ground level at Hawaii Volcanoes. At Grand Canyon, the special
federal aviation regulations establish altitude levels that vary with
flight patterns.
While the Park Service is the sole agency charged with collecting air
tour fees, it has no authority to regulate or control the airspace over
the park units; that is the sole jurisdiction of FAA. Congress directed
FAA and the Park Service to work together to regulate air tours over
park units in the National Parks Overflights Act of 1987 (Grand Canyon
Act)[Footnote 15] and the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of
2000 (Air Tour Management Act).[Footnote 16] FAA's mission is to
provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world. FAA
is pursuing its mission with an annual budget of more than $13.8
billion in fiscal year 2006, of which about $7.7 million is estimated
to be spent on air tour management. FAA has tasked its Western-Pacific
Regional Office with working with the Park Service to implement these
two acts. The Park Service established the Soundscapes Program Center
in 2000 (now the Natural Sounds Program) primarily to work with FAA's
Western-Pacific Regional Office to develop air tour management plans
under the two acts. The Natural Sounds Program's budget for fiscal year
2006 is about $1.4 million, according to a program official.
The Grand Canyon Act, which was enacted 6 years before the fees
legislation, instructed FAA and the Park Service to prepare a
management plan for air traffic over Grand Canyon. Due to the unusually
high level of air tour activity over the canyon and some aircraft
accidents in its vicinity--including a collision in June 1986 between
an air tour airplane and a tour helicopter resulting in 25 deaths--the
act directed the Park Service to submit recommendations to FAA
concerning the actions necessary for the protection of resources and "—
substantial restoration of the natural quiet and experience of the park
[Grand Canyon] and protection of public health and safety from adverse
effects associated with aircraft overflight." The act authorized FAA to
issue regulations to implement the plan and authorized the Park Service
to enforce the plan's requirements under that agency's own rules and
regulations. To date, the two agencies have not developed an air tour
management plan for Grand Canyon and are currently engaged in an
alternative dispute resolution process with other stakeholders to
develop the plan. However, after receiving recommendations from the
Secretary of the Interior, as the Grand Canyon Act required, FAA
revised special federal aviation regulations in June 1988 to regulate
air traffic over Grand Canyon.[Footnote 17] These regulations, among
other things, created flight-free zones, minimum flight altitudes, and
specific flight paths for air tours; required air tour operators to
report their air tours over Grand Canyon to FAA; and established
procedures for setting a limit on the number of air tours allocated to
operators over Grand Canyon. Subsequently, FAA issued a final rule in
December 1996 to codify the special regulations and, in 2000, FAA set
the allocations and issued special authority to the operators based on
their level of air tour activity over Grand Canyon from May 1, 1997, to
April 30, 1998.[Footnote 18] Since then, some air tour operators have
transferred or sold their air tour allocations with FAA's knowledge.
FAA has changed the total number of allocations only once, in
accordance with a recommendation from Interior to raise the regulated
airspace "ceiling" above Grand Canyon from 14,500 feet to 18,000 feet
above sea level; in February 2005, FAA granted 3,711 air tour
allocations to one operator that had previously been unregulated, which
increased the total number of air tour allocations for Grand Canyon to
93,971.
The Air Tour Management Act, which was enacted 7 years after the fees
legislation, arose from noise and safety concerns, like the Grand
Canyon Act, but applies to all park units, with the exceptions of (1)
Grand Canyon or tribal lands within or abutting that park unit, (2) any
air tour operator flying over or near Lake Mead National Recreation
Area solely as a transportation route to conduct an air tour over Grand
Canyon, and (3) any land or waters in Alaska. The Air Tour Management
Act also prohibits any air tours over Rocky Mountain National Park.
This act directed FAA, in cooperation with the Park Service, to develop
air tour management plans for national park units and abutting tribal
lands where air tour operators apply for authority to conduct air
tours. The Air Tour Management Act defines a "commercial air tour
operation" (air tour) as any flight conducted for compensation or hire
in a powered aircraft where a purpose of the flight is sightseeing over
a national park unit, within one-half mile outside its boundary, or
over an abutting tribal land. In the regulations implementing the Air
Tour Management Act, FAA further defined air tours regulated under that
act to include only flights below 5,000 feet above ground
level.[Footnote 19] To implement the Air Tour Management Act, FAA and
the Park Service signed an interagency memorandum of understanding that
established procedures the two agencies would follow in coordinating
the development of air tour management plans, including a provision
that FAA would fund 60 percent of the cost of developing the plans, and
the Park Service would fund 40 percent. This agreement describes the
qualifying costs as external contractor costs required to produce the
plans. These qualifying costs exclude staff salaries, benefits, and
travel for agency personnel; agency equipment and supplies; and any
costs for in-house contractors hired by either agency.
In our January 2006 report on the Air Tour Management Act, we found,
among other things, that the Park Service has not fulfilled its
agreement with FAA to fund 40 percent of the cost of developing the air
tour management plans. The Park Service had not requested or received
any dedicated funding for the program until fiscal year 2006, when
Congress provided $500,000 toward air tour management. For fiscal year
2007, the Park Service has requested $2.4 million for air tour
management. Meanwhile, from fiscal years 2001 through 2005, FAA has
funded 100 percent of the initial plans' development through distinct
budget appropriations totaling $27 million. Although the Park Service
has, like FAA, contributed staff time to work on the development of air
tour management plans, the cost of doing so does not count toward its
40 percent obligation, according to the agreement. Officials from both
agencies told us that if the Park Service does not meet its obligation
within the next 2 years, development of future air tour management
plans may be hindered.
Largely through Voluntary Compliance, the Park Service Has Collected
Some, but Not All, Air Tour Fees at Three Park Units:
The Park Service, relying largely on voluntary compliance, has
collected some, but not all, air tour fees from air tour operators at
Grand Canyon, Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes. The Park Service
established air tour fees at Grand Canyon, Haleakala, and Hawaii
Volcanoes in March 1994. In order to collect payments from air tour
operators, Park Service officials sent notice letters to relevant
operators that air tours over these three park units would be subject
to the fees beginning in March 1994. However, officials at Haleakala
reached an informal agreement with air tour operators to not pay fees
from 1994 through 2001 if operators followed a specific flight path.
The voluntary agreement established terms such as air tour routes and
no-fly areas and was signed by a group of operators and Park Service
officials at Haleakala; it kept air tours out of the park unit's
boundary, except for one small corner of the park unit. However, when
Haleakala acquired more land where the air tours were conducted, it
negotiated a new voluntary agreement with operators, which included
paying the $25 air tour fee. Thus, Haleakala did not begin charging air
tour fees until January 2002. Haleakala officials believe that
operators have been mostly compliant with the air tour fee as a result
of the voluntary agreement. Grand Canyon and Hawaii Volcanoes requested
each air tour operator to voluntarily report monthly to the appropriate
park unit the number of air tours conducted, as well as to send a
payment covering all appropriate $25 fees for that month. Under the
fees legislation, only park units charging an admission fee--which
could include per-person admission fees--may charge air tour fees. The
Park Service has chosen to charge air tour fees only at park units that
charge a per-vehicle admission fee.
Since the Park Service began collecting air tour fees 12 years ago, it
has collected about $19 million at the three park units:[Footnote 20]
more than $16 million at Grand Canyon; about $970,000 at Haleakala; and
about $1.9 million at Hawaii Volcanoes. In general, at least 80 percent
of recreation fees, including air tour fees, collected at a specific
park unit remain available for expenditure, without further
appropriation, at that park unit.[Footnote 21] The fees must be used
for repair, maintenance, and facility enhancement directly related to
visitor enjoyment and access; interpretive and visitor information;
certain habitat restoration and law enforcement; direct costs
associated with the recreation fee program; and other qualifying costs.
For example, at Haleakala, these "80 percent funds" are being used to
build new restrooms for visitors, complete deferred maintenance
projects, rehabilitate exhibits, maintain trails, remove alien and
invasive species, and construct a new entrance station. The balance
(generally 20 percent) of recreation fees collected, including air tour
fees, is available to the Park Service on an agency-wide basis for the
same types of projects as the 80 percent funds.
However, voluntary compliance with the air tour fee requirement has
been inconsistent across the three park units, and several operators
are not paying the required fees. For example, we found that 13 of the
21 air tour operators that conducted air tours over Grand Canyon from
May 2000 through December 2003, underpaid their air tour fees by more
than $1.5 million. Specifically, in comparing the data that air tour
operators reported to FAA with the data they voluntarily supplied the
Park Service, we found that 6 operators underreported their tours to
the Park Service and underpaid their fees, while 7 operators reported
no tours to the Park Service and paid no fees. Table 1 shows the data
that air tour operators at Grand Canyon reported to FAA and the data
the operators voluntarily supplied the Park Service for paying air tour
fees over those 4 years. Similarly, at Hawaii Volcanoes, one operator,
who owed more than $360,000 as of January 2005,[Footnote 22] has
publicly stated that it stopped paying air tour fees in July 2003
because other operators were not paying--although this operator resumed
paying fees in November 2005 and has consistently paid fees at
Haleakala. One operator at Haleakala also told us it has not been
paying air tour fees.
Table 1: Differences in Flight Information Air Tour Operators at Grand
Canyon National Park Reported to FAA and to the Park Service, Calendar
Years 2000-2003:
Calendar year: 2000[A];
Air tours reported to the Park Service: 36,282;
Air tours reported to FAA: 51,112;
Number of air tours not reported to the Park Service: 15,438;
Fees owed from unreported air tours: $385,950.
Calendar year: 2001;
Air tours reported to the Park Service: 30,739;
Air tours reported to FAA: 48,915;
Number of air tours not reported to the Park Service: 18,632;
Fees owed from unreported air tours: $465,800.
Calendar year: 2002;
Air tours reported to the Park Service: 20,402;
Air tours reported to FAA: 39,415;
Number of air tours not reported to the Park Service: 19,296;
Fees owed from unreported air tours: $482,400.
Calendar year: 2003;
Air tours reported to the Park Service: 35,902;
Air tours reported to FAA: 43,728;
Number of air tours not reported to the Park Service: 7,827;
Fees owed from unreported air tours: $195,675.
Total:
Air tours reported to the Park Service: 123,325;
Air tours reported to FAA: 183,170;
Number of air tours not reported to the Park Service: 61,193;
Fees owed from unreported air tours: $1,529,825.
Sources: GAO analysis of FAA and Park Service information (not adjusted
for inflation).
[A] Data for 2000 covers May through December 2000.
[End of table]
Since 1994, the Park Service's efforts to collect unpaid fees have been
uneven. All three of the park units that assess an air tour fee have
sent letters to air tour operators encouraging the payment of fees at
various times from 1994 through today. For example, officials at Hawaii
Volcanoes sent letters in 1994, 1997, 2004, and 2005 to encourage air
tour operators that they believe fly over that park unit to pay the
fee. These letters also sought payment for past fees that were unpaid,
or evidence from the operators that they did not fly over the park
unit. In response, some air tour operators supplied the requested
evidence and/or started paying fees for current air tours. At Grand
Canyon, the Park Service filed lawsuits against three operators that
had conducted air tours over that park unit but had not paid all
appropriate fees. The lawsuits resulted in settlements in July 2000 in
which each operator agreed to make back payments and continue to
conduct air tours by paying $50 per air tour--$25 for the current tour
and $25 for a past tour--until the settlement amounts were paid, which
totaled about $800,000 from all three operators. However, Park Service
officials stated that all three operators have stopped making back
payments: two of the operators are still conducting air tours but
report that they are unable to afford the payment, and the third
operator is no longer in business over Grand Canyon. Although the
officials say that the operators are required to continue making
payments under these settlements, the Park Service has not pursued
their compliance.
Collections of Air Tour Fees Are Hindered by Several Factors:
The Park Service's ability to collect air tour fees is hindered by
several factors: the agency cannot verify air tour activity over the
three park units, it cannot effectively enforce compliance, and two key
laws have different geographic applicability.
The Park Service Cannot Verify Air Tour Activity Over the Three Park
Units:
The Park Service is unable to verify the number of air tours that
operators conduct over Grand Canyon, Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes,
thus limiting the agency's ability to ensure that operators are making
all the required payments. Except for Grand Canyon, current laws and
regulations do not require air tour operators to record and report
their air tour activity over national park units to either the Park
Service or FAA. At Grand Canyon, FAA regulations require air tour
operators to report all their air tours to FAA under the special
federal aviation regulations implementing the Grand Canyon Act,
although in practice, the operators report all their flights (not just
air tours) over Grand Canyon to FAA. Under these special regulations,
air tour operators report quarterly to FAA, for each flight over Grand
Canyon, the aircraft make, model, and identification number; the
departure date, time, and airport; and the type of flight--such as a
tour, pilot training, or the movement of aircraft among landing
locations--and the route flown.
However, FAA does not collect these data for the purpose of verifying
whether air tour operators are reporting to the Park Service all their
air tours and paying the appropriate fees, and FAA has generally been
unwilling to share these data with the Park Service. Officials in the
FAA district office that is responsible for managing air tours over
Grand Canyon explained that they are unwilling to share these data
because they are concerned their involvement with fees could cause
operators to underreport their air tour activity, which could reduce
safety.
Consequently, the Park Service relies on air tour operators to
voluntarily report all their air tours and pay the required fees.
Without the ability to verify operators' air tour activity, the Park
Service cannot ensure that operators are making all the required
payments. In our January 2006 report, we recommended that FAA establish
procedures for air tour operators to record and report their air tours
conducted under the Air Tour Management Act to both FAA and the Park
Service. The Department of Transportation agreed with our findings in
that report and agreed to consider our recommendations as FAA moves
forward with the air tour management program.
The Park Service Cannot Effectively Enforce Compliance Due to the Lack
of Air Tour Data:
The Park Service--the agency charged with collecting air tour fees--has
limited ability to enforce compliance because it does not have
jurisdiction over airspace and lacks sufficient air tour data.
Conversely, FAA--the agency with authority over airspace and air tour
operators--is not required to assist with collecting, or enforcing the
collection of, air tour fees. Neither the Grand Canyon Act nor the Air
Tour Management Act requires that air tour management plans establish
specific mechanisms for air tour fee collection and enforcement.
Furthermore, neither act requires fee compliance as a condition for
operators' authority to conduct air tours over park units. As a result,
both Park Service and FAA officials told us the agencies currently have
little or no ability to take enforcement action against noncompliant
operators.
Although the Park Service could potentially pursue compliance in
court,[Footnote 23] as occurred at Grand Canyon, or through debt
collection by the Department of the Treasury,[Footnote 24] neither of
these options are feasible at the other two park units without evidence
that an air tour operator flew over a park unit and did not pay all the
fees owed. The lawsuits over air tour fees at Grand Canyon were
successful for the Park Service because FAA, in those instances,
supplied a sufficient amount of data showing that operators had
conducted air tours over the park unit and should have paid a
commensurate amount of fees. Alternatively, the Park Service could
refer outstanding air tour fees owed to the Department of the Treasury
for debt collection. In this case, the Department of the Treasury would
attempt to collect whatever amount is owed by noncompliant operators.
The Park Service would be in a better position to take these more
aggressive collection actions, which would likely result in increased
collections, if the agency had the necessary evidence to prove an
operator had conducted air tours and not paid the required fees.
Different Geographic Applicability of Two Laws Complicates Efforts to
Collect Air Tour Fees:
The fees legislation and the Air Tour Management Act and/or their
respective implementing guidelines and regulations have different
geographic applicability, which complicates the Park Service's efforts
to collect air tour fees. Under the fees legislation, an air tour
operator is required to pay a fee when a tour enters the airspace over
a park unit, whereas the Air Tour Management Act defines air tours as
flights over a national park unit or within a half-mile outside its
boundary. Furthermore, the applicable flight altitudes used by the Park
Service to determine the air tours that are subject to the fees
legislation differ from the flight altitudes established by FAA to
determine the air tours that are subject to the Air Tour Management
Act. For example, at Haleakala, payment of the air tour fee is
triggered when air tours cross the park unit's boundary and fly below
an altitude of 12,000 feet mean sea level. However, air tours are
regulated under the Air Tour Management Act at this park unit when they
fly over or within a half-mile of its boundary and below 5,000 feet
above ground level. Figure 1 shows the difference in the geographic
scope of the acts as they apply to Haleakala.
Figure 1: Geographic Applicability of the Fees Legislation and the Air
Tour Management Act at Haleakala National Park:
[See PDF for image]
Source: GAO analysis of Park Service information.
[End of figure]
The different geographic applicability of the two laws has complicated
the Park Service's efforts to collect air tour fees by providing some
air tour operators with a plausible explanation for why they are not
paying fees. Under the existing system, air tour operators can assert
that they only fly within a half-mile of a park unit boundary but do
not cross it; therefore, their air tours are covered by the Air Tour
Management Act but not by the fees legislation. For example, two air
tour operators told Park Service officials in November 2004 that they
did not cross Hawaii Volcanoes' boundary during their air tours of the
park unit and, therefore, did not owe any fees, despite the Park
Service's perception that they crossed the boundary. To enable the Park
Service to verify air tour activity under both laws and determine the
appropriate level of fees owed under the fees legislation, air tour
operators would have to track and report two sets of data: one for air
tours that cross the park unit boundary for fee collection, and another
for air tours that fly within a half-mile of a park unit boundary for
the Air Tour Management Act. As an alternative, the fees legislation
and the Air Tour Management Act would have to be reconciled to have
consistent geographic applicability.
Expanding Air Tour Fees to Additional Park Units Should Be Balanced
against Potential Impacts on Air Tour Operators:
As of March 2006, air tour operators had authority from FAA to conduct
air tours over 86 park units,[Footnote 25] yet only 3 of those park
units charge air tour fees. In specifying that additional park units
could assess such fees only if their level of air tour activity matched
that of Grand Canyon or Haleakala, the fees legislation set a high
threshold. As a result, only one additional park unit, Hawaii
Volcanoes, has qualified to charge fees in the past 12 years. According
to FAA data, operators had authority to conduct a combined total of
91,250 air tours annually over Grand Canyon; 28,441 over Hawaii
Volcanoes; and 26,325 over Haleakala. However, several other park units
have relatively high levels of authorized air tour activity, although
not as high as any of those three park units (see appendix
II).[Footnote 26] For example, operators have authority to conduct a
combined total of 14,074 air tours annually over Glen Canyon National
Recreation Area. This park unit charges an admission fee, which is the
fees legislation's other requirement for a park unit to assess air tour
fees. Park Service officials told us they would like to charge air tour
fees at additional park units that charge admission fees (see table 2),
but the fees legislation would have to be changed to lower the air tour
activity threshold.
Table 2: Park Units with Authorized Air Tours, Grouped by Types of
Admission Fees:
Park units with air tours that charge air tour fees:
Number of park units: 3;
Total number of authorized air tours per year: 146,016;
Percentage of authorized air tours per year: 49.0%.
Park units with air tours that charge both per-person and per-vehicle
admission fees:
Number of park units: 34;
Total number of authorized air tours per year: 46,048[A];
Percentage of authorized air tours per year: 15.4%.
Park units with air tours that charge only a per-person admission fee:
Number of park units: 21;
Total number of authorized air tours per year: 3,990;
Percentage of authorized air tours per year: 1.3%.
Park units with air tours that do not charge any type of admission fee:
Number of park units: 28;
Total number of authorized air tours per year: 102,119;
Percentage of authorized air tours per year: 34.3%.
Total: Number of park units: 86;
Total number of authorized air tours per year: 298,173[A];
Percentage of authorized air tours per year: 100.0%.
Sources: GAO analysis of FAA and Park Service data.
Note: There are no park units with air tours that charge only a per-
vehicle, and not a per-person, admission fee.
[A] We are excluding 55,934 of the 68,814 authorized air tours over
Lake Mead National Recreation Area because FAA believes most of the
authorized "air tours" are actually transportation-only flights en
route to Grand Canyon, not air tours over Lake Mead. Operators
nonetheless applied for the authority to conduct tours over Lake Mead
because of their uncertainty in how the Air Tour Management Act would
be implemented. We are therefore including the remaining 12,880
authorized air tours over Lake Mead because FAA believes the total
number of air tours conducted annually over Lake Mead by 3 operators
may be as low as 12,880. However, FAA acknowledged it may discover more
air tours are being conducted over Lake Mead as the agencies develop
the air tour management plan for that park unit.
[End of table]
Expanding air tour fees to other park units could generate additional
funding for the Park Service, but such an expansion would require a
legislative change and should be balanced against any potential impacts
on air tour operators. The legislation could explicitly provide for the
use of additional funding to develop air tour management plans, which
officials from both agencies told us may otherwise be hindered due to
insufficient Park Service funding. In January 2006, we reported that
the Park Service had not funded its share of the development costs for
air tour management plans required by the Air Tour Management Act.
With respect to the effects that air tour fees are likely to have on
operators, FAA drafted a report in January 2001, which is still pending
review at the Department of Transportation. The FAA draft report said
that, due to the nature of the industry, air tour fees have been and
will continue to be shifted to consumers in the form of higher tour
prices in most cases. While the draft report said FAA had no specific
information regarding passenger price sensitivity for air tours, it
said estimates suggest that if ticket prices were raised by 1 percent,
a reduction of 2 percent to 4 percent in tickets sold would be
expected. The draft FAA report also said that if air tour fees were not
charged at any park units other than Grand Canyon, there would be an
estimated 2.0 million or 2.1 million air tours over the next 10 years,
assuming a 3 percent or 5 percent growth rate, respectively. If fees
were to be established at all park units, the draft report continued,
that estimate would drop to 1.8 million or 1.9 million at the same
growth rates. To offset the impact of such fees on operators, the draft
FAA report stated, air tour fees could potentially be used as a credit
against aviation excise taxes. However, the draft report said such a
credit would present serious concerns because FAA relies on these taxes
for its expenditures. Consequently, any shortfall would need to be made
up by spending reductions, increased payments by other aviation system
users, or the general taxpayer. The draft FAA report also said the Park
Service could use air tour fees to help finance the development of air
tour management plans and, subsequently, for monitoring air tour
activities--but that these applications should not be linked to a
reduction in aviation taxes. Once FAA submits its report, Congress, the
Park Service, and other stakeholders will have additional information
to evaluate whether air tour fees should be expanded to additional park
units.
Conclusions:
The current process for the Park Service's collection of air tour fees
has three significant limitations: (1) fee payments are based on
operators' voluntary compliance, (2) there is no verification that the
correct fees have been paid, and (3) there is little or no ability to
take enforcement actions against operators that do not pay their fees
because the Park Service lacks the necessary air tour data. While each
one of these factors in isolation may not cause an insurmountable
problem, combined they have led to the ineffective collection of air
tour fees. Voluntary compliance could be effective if it were combined
with (1) reliable data to verify that operators are complying with the
fee requirement and (2) appropriate enforcement actions against
operators that do not pay. However, the current process for collecting
air tour fees has emboldened some operators not to pay the required
fees. As a result, those air tour operators that are paying their fees
are put at a competitive disadvantage against those operators that are
not paying the required fees.
The different geographic applicability of the fees legislation and the
Air Tour Management Act has complicated collection efforts and created
an additional disincentive for operators to accurately report their air
tours and pay the appropriate fees. If the geographic applicability of
the acts were consistent, operators could record and report one set of
data to the Park Service for verification and collection of fees and
for air tour management plans.
In our January 2006 report, we recommended that FAA take steps to
require that operators record and report their air tours under the Air
Tour Management Act to FAA and the Park Service. The implementation of
this recommendation, combined with making the geographic applicability
of the acts consistent, would provide the Park Service with the
necessary data to verify that the proper fees are being paid at
Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes--and any future park unit that develops
an air tour management plan, if air tour fees are expanded to
additional park units. However, a gap exists in the reporting
requirement for Grand Canyon because the special federal aviation
regulations implementing the Grand Canyon Act required the data be
reported to FAA but not the Park Service.
Finally, by stipulating that additional park units could charge air
tour fees only if they charge admission fees and if their level of
activity meets that of Grand Canyon or Haleakala, the fees legislation
sets the bar very high: in the past 12 years, only one additional park
unit has qualified. Lowering the threshold for air tour activity would
allow the Park Service to expand air tour fees to additional park units
and use the proceeds as appropriate under the recreation fee program.
The Air Tour Management Act required FAA to report to Congress by
October 2000 on the effects that air tour fees are likely to have on
air tour operators. Although FAA drafted this report in January 2001,
FAA officials told us the Department of Transportation has not approved
it for submission to Congress. Releasing that report would enable
Congress, the Park Service, and the air tour community to understand
the impacts of air tour fees on operators' businesses and help
stakeholders to determine whether such fees should be expanded to
additional park units.
Matter for Congressional Consideration:
To enhance the collection of air tour fees, Congress should consider
amending the fees legislation or the Air Tour Management Act to
reconcile the geographic applicability of the two laws.
Recommendations for Executive Action:
In order to improve compliance with air tour fee payments and to help
understand the impacts of such fees on air tour operators' businesses,
we recommend that the Secretary of Transportation direct the
Administrator of FAA to take the following two actions:
* Establish a procedure for air tour operators at Grand Canyon National
Park to report their air tour information simultaneously to the Park
Service and FAA, or ensure that the air tour information is forwarded
to the Park Service once it is reported to FAA by air tour operators.
* Report to Congress on the effects that air tour fees are likely to
have on air tour operators as required by the Air Tour Management Act.
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
We provided the Departments of the Interior and Transportation with a
draft of this report for review and comment. Interior agreed with our
findings, conclusions, and recommendations, particularly those that
address the need for more accurate and reliable air tour data.
Interior, representing the Park Service, also said it supports lowering
the threshold for the level of air tour activity in order to expand
collection of air tour fees to additional park units. Interior provided
written comments that are included in appendix III, along with our
specific response. The Department of Transportation, representing FAA,
offered substantive and technical comments and, after our revisions
discussed below, generally agreed with our findings, conclusions, and
recommendations.
Our draft report contained a Matter for Congressional Consideration
that stated Congress should consider amending the Grand Canyon Act and
the Air Tour Management Act to require compliance with air tour fee
payments as a condition for operating authority to conduct air tours
over national park units. In providing oral comments on the draft
report, FAA's Regional Administrator for the Western-Pacific Region
disagreed with this matter. The Regional Administrator stated that fee
collection, and enforcement of fee collection, is the responsibility of
the Park Service. FAA was also concerned that since the Park Service
currently lacks an administrative process to provide air tour operators
with legal due process before potentially revoking their operating
authority, that this administrative burden would likely fall on FAA and
distract from FAA's primary focus of aviation safety. We believe that
the collection and enforcement of air tour fees should be largely the
responsibility of the Park Service. However, in those cases where FAA
exclusively receives data that the Park Service needs to perform this
function, FAA should share the data with the Park Service, as we have
recommended. We also agreed with FAA that there was a risk that much of
the administrative burden for making operators' air tour operating
authority conditioned on fee compliance could unduly fall on FAA. As a
result, we have removed that matter from the report. We now emphasize
in the report that the Park Service could take more aggressive
enforcement actions once it has the necessary air tour flight data.
We are sending copies of this report to the Secretaries of
Transportation and the Interior, and other interested parties. We will
also make copies available to others upon request. In addition, the
report will be available at no charge on the GAO Web site at
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov].
If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please
contact me at (202) 512-3841 or [Hyperlink, nazzaror@gao.gov]. Contact
points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs
may be found on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made major
contributions to this report are listed in appendix IV.
Signed By:
Robin M. Nazzaro:
Director:
Natural Resources and Environment:
List of Requesters:
The Honorable Daniel Inouye:
Co-Chairman:
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Jeff Bingaman:
Ranking Minority Member:
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Daniel K. Akaka:
Ranking Minority Member:
Subcommittee on National Parks:
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Lamar Alexander:
United States Senate:
The Honorable John McCain:
United States Senate:
[End of section]
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology:
We identified and analyzed applicable laws, regulations, National Park
Service (Park Service) policies, guidance, procedures, and other
relevant documents to assess the Park Service's collection of air tour
fees and operators' compliance in paying fees. In addition, we visited
the three relevant park units--Grand Canyon, Haleakala, and Hawaii
Volcanoes National Parks--and reviewed the Park Service's data on the
collection of air tour fee payments at these three park units. We then
adjusted these figures to express them in inflation-adjusted 2005
dollars. We also reviewed the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA)
data on the number of air tours reported by operators at Grand Canyon
National Park. We determined that both agencies' data were sufficiently
reliable for the purposes of this report. We also interviewed Park
Service and Department of the Interior (Interior) officials at
headquarters, Park Service officials at the three park units that have
established air tour fees, and FAA officials at headquarters and at the
two relevant district offices.
In addition, we interviewed a probability sample of 18 operators of the
33 that had authority from FAA to conduct air tours at the time of our
visits in 2005 over the three relevant park units. The sample was
selected in such a way as to serve the purposes of both this report and
our January 2006 report on the National Parks Air Tour Management Act
of 2000 (Air Tour Management Act).[Footnote 27] To choose the air tour
operators to interview, we stratified the operators at each park unit
into three groups based on the number of annual air tours FAA
authorized at each park unit: small (3,000 or fewer air tours), medium
(between 3,001 and 10,000 air tours), and large (more than 10,000 air
tours). The 18 air tour operators we interviewed were: Air Grand
Canyon, Inc.; Aris, Inc.; Aviation Ventures, Inc.; Big Island Air,
Inc.; Call Air, Inc.; Grand Canyon Airlines, Inc.; Helicopter
Consultants of Maui, Inc.; K&S Helicopters, Inc.; King Airelines, Inc.;
Manuiwa Airways, Inc.; Maverick Helicopters, Inc.; Mokulele Flight
Service, Inc.; Rainbow Pacific Helicopters, Ltd.; Safari Aviation,
Inc.; Scenic Airlines, Inc.; Schuman Aviation, Co. Ltd.; Sunshine
Helicopters, Inc.; and Vista Helicopter Services, Inc.
For Grand Canyon National Park (Grand Canyon), 11 of the 17 operators
that had authority to conduct air tours in July 2005 also had authority
to conduct air tours over nearby Lake Mead National Recreation Area
(Lake Mead).[Footnote 28] For purposes of this report and our January
2006 report, we needed to focus on those operators that had authority
to conduct air tours at both park units, so we randomly selected
operators from those 11 operators. Specifically, we interviewed 3 of
the 6 small, 3 of the 3 medium, and 1 of the 2 large operators that had
authority to conduct air tours over both Grand Canyon and Lake Mead.
For Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes National Parks (Haleakala, Hawaii
Volcanoes), 8 operators had authority to conduct tours over both park
units, and 8 other operators had authority to conduct tours over either
Haleakala or Hawaii Volcanoes, but not both. Ten of these 16 operators
were small, 5 were medium, and 1 was large. We interviewed the 1 large
operator, 3 of the 5 medium operators (selected randomly), and 7 of the
10 small operators (selected as follows). For purposes of our January
2006 report, we needed the perspective of operators that had authority
to conduct air tours over all 6 national park units in Hawaii, so we
first selected all operators (3 small operators) that met that
criterion. This meant we interviewed those 3 small operators, plus we
randomly selected 4 of the remaining 7 small operators that had
authority at either Haleakala or Hawaii Volcanoes, but not both. Table
3 details the selection of our sample of operators.
Table 3: Air Tour Operators We Interviewed, and the Total Number of
Operators, at the Three Park Units That Charge Air Tour Fees:
National park unit: Grand Canyon National Park:
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Small: 3;
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Medium: 3;
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Large: 1;
Number we interviewed; Total: 7.
National park unit: Grand Canyon National Park:
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour
operators: Small 6;
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour
operators: Medium: 3;
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour
operators: Large: 2;
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Total: 11[A].
National park unit: Haleakala National Park(only):
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Small: 0;
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Medium: 1;
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Large: 0;
Number we interviewed; Total: 1.
National park unit: Haleakala National Park(only):
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour
operators: Small: 1;
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour
operators: Medium: 1;
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour
operators: Large: 0;
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour
operators: Total: 2.
National park unit: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park(only):
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Small: 4;
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Medium: 1;
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Large: 0;
Number we interviewed; Total: 5.
National park unit: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park(only):
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour
operators: Small: 4;
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour
operators: Medium: 2;
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour
operators: Large: 0;
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Total: 6.
National park unit: Both Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes:
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Small: 3;
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Medium: 1;
Number we interviewed; Size of air tour operators: Large: 1;
Number we interviewed; Total: 5.
National park unit: Both Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes:
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour
operators: Small: 5;
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour
operators: Medium: 2;
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Size of air tour
operators: Large: 1;
Total number with authority to conduct air tours; Total: Grand Canyon
National Park: 8.
Source: GAO.
[A] As noted above, 17 operators had authority to conduct air tours
over Grand Canyon at the time of our visit in July 2005, but for the
purposes of our January 2006 report, we selected from the 11 operators
that also had authority to conduct air tours over nearby Lake Mead.
[End of table]
We assessed budget data describing the Park Service's requests for
annual appropriations and FAA's funding dedicated to developing air
tour management plans. This budget information covered fiscal years
2001 through 2006 and were obtained from budget appropriation reports,
the agencies' budget requests, and budget summaries provided by FAA and
a contractor. We determined that these data were sufficiently reliable
for the purposes of this report.
To identify what factors hinder the collection of air tour fees, and to
provide information on the possible expansion of air tour fees to
additional park units, we considered the results of our January 2006
report, particularly the sections on the lack of data on air tour
activity over park units and the Park Service's not funding its share
of the cost of developing air tour management plans. We also
interviewed Park Service, Interior, and FAA officials and reviewed
FAA's January 2001 draft report to Congress on the likely effects that
air tour fees will have on air tour operators. In addition, we reviewed
Park Service data on the park units that charge admission fees. We also
assessed data reflecting the number of annual air tours authorized by
FAA for operators over various national park units under the Air Tour
Management Act and the National Parks Overflights Act of 1987. We
interviewed agency officials regarding a series of data reliability
questions addressing areas such as data entry, data access, quality
control procedures, and data accuracy and completeness. We asked follow-
up questions whenever necessary. We determined that these data were
sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this report.
We performed our work from January 2005 through April 2006 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
[End of section]
Appendix II: Number of Authorized Air Tours over National Park Units
and Admission Fee Information:
Name of park unit: Grand Canyon National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 91,250;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Lake Mead National Recreation Area (includes part of
Parashant National Monument);
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 68,814[C];
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Statue of Liberty National Monument (includes Ellis
Island National Monument);
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 35,837;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Governors Island National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 29,432;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 28,441;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Haleakala National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 26,325;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Glen Canyon National Recreation Area;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 14,074;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Rainbow Bridge National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 10,175;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Cape Hatteras National Seashore;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 8,170;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Mount Rushmore National Memorial;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 5,608;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Acadia National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 4,585;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Badlands National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 4,117;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Bryce Canyon National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 3,488;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Golden Gate National Recreation Area (includes
Alcatraz Island, Muir Woods National Monument, Presidio of San
Francisco, and Fort Point National Historic Site)[D];
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 2,900;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Point Reyes National Seashore;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 2,900;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 2,900;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Kalaupapa National Historical Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 2,250;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Great Smoky Mountains National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 1,920;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Glacier National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 1,793;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Big Cypress National Preserve;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 1,260;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Canyonlands National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 1,039;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Zion National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 742;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Arches National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 675;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Everglades National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 674;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: North Cascades National Park (includes Lake Chelan
National Recreation Area);
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 437;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Capitol Reef National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 334;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Navajo National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 277;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Timpanogos Cave National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 254;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Biscayne National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 200;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Natural Bridges National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 195;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Montezuma Castle National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 185;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Canyon de Chelly National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 177;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Mount Rainier National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 173;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Yellowstone National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 148;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Chaco Culture National Historical Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 147;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Colonial National Historical Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 147;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Olympic National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 139;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Bandelier National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 126;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Yosemite National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 115;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Dry Tortugas National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 100;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 98;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Hovenweep National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 92;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Lassen Volcanic National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 89;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Aztec Ruins National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 83;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Cedar Breaks National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 79;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Grand Teton National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 74;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Death Valley National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 67;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Mesa Verde National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 63;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Yucca House National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 63;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Tuzigoot National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 62;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Petrified Forest National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 60;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Voyageurs National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 60;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Wupatki National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 60;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Colorado National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 57;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Walnut Canyon National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 49;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Petroglyph National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 45;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: El Malpais National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 43;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: El Morro National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 43;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Fort Union National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 32;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Pecos National Historical Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 32;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 27;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 26;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Pipe Spring National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 26;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Devils Tower National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 22;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Saguaro National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 20;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: San Juan Island National Historical Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 20;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Carlsbad Caverns National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 18;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Guadalupe Mountains National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 18;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 17;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 16;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Mojave National Preserve;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 15;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A
Name of park unit: Capulin Volcano National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 13;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 12;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Golden Spike National Historic Site;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 11;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 10;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Dinosaur National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 9;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 7;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Casa Grande Ruins National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 6;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Big Bend National Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 5;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Coronado National Memorial;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 5;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Fort Bowie National Historic Site;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 5;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Fort Davis National Historic Site;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 5;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Hohokam Pima National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 5;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A.
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 5;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: Check.
Name of park unit: Rio Grande Wild & Scenic River;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 5;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: N/A;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Name of park unit: Tumacacori National Historical Park;
Total number of air tours authorized per year[A]: 5;
Park unit charges a per-person admission[b]: Check;
Park unit charges a per-vehicle admission fee[b]: N/A.
Sources: FAA and the Park Service.
[A] With the exception of Grand Canyon National Park, this information
reflects interim operating authority that FAA has granted under the Air
Tour Management Act as of November 2005. For Grand Canyon, FAA
determined the number of authorized air tours under the Grand Canyon
Act based on operators' air tour activity from May 1, 1997, to April
30, 1998, and made one adjustment in 2005 with an increase of 3,711 air
tour allocations due to a change in the regulations. Collectively, air
tour operators have authority from FAA to conduct air tours over 86 of
the nation's 390 national park units.
[B] The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 uses the term
"admission fees" to refer to the fees charged at some park units'
entrances, which the Park Service also calls "entrance fees."
[C] At the time of our review, FAA officials believed that the total
number of air tours conducted annually over Lake Mead National
Recreation Area may be as low as 12,880. FAA officials believe most of
the authorized "air tours" are actually transportation-only flights en
route to Grand Canyon National Park. Transportation-only flights are
exempt from the Air Tour Management Act, but operators nonetheless
applied for operating authority over Lake Mead because of their
uncertainty in how that act would be implemented.
[D] Of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area's subunits listed, Muir
Woods National Monument charges a per-person admission fee but no per-
vehicle admission fee; all the other subunits do not charge any
admission fees.
[End of table]
[End of section]
Appendix III: Comments from the Department of the Interior:
United States Department of the Interior:
Office Of The Secretary:
Washington, DC 20240:
Take Pride In America:
Robin M. Nazzaro:
Director:
Natural Resources and Environment:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street, NW:
Washington, DC 20548:
Dear Ms. Nazzaro:
The Department of the Interior has reviewed the U.S. Government
Accountability Office's (GAO) draft report, "National Parks Air Tour
Fees: Effective Verification and Enforcement Mechanisms are Needed to
Improve Compliance," GAO-06-468. We are pleased that GAO incorporated
the majority of our suggestions and appreciate the clarification they
added to further discuss the role of managing air tour fees and the
recommendation to strengthen the National Park Service's guidance for
setting tour fees.
Specific comments are listed in the enclosure. If you have any further
questions, please contact Karen Trevino, NPS Natural Sounds Program, at
970-225-3563.
Signed By:
Acting Assistant Secretary and for Fish and Wildlife and Parks:
Enclosure:
U.S. Government Accountability Office Draft Report:
National Parks Air Tour Fees: Effective Verification and Enforcement
Mechanism are Needed to Improve Compliance GAO-06-468:
The National Park Service (NPS) supports lowering the threshold for the
level of air tour activity in order to expand collection of air tour
fees to additional park units. In addition, it may be necessary to
review the requirement that air tour fees may only be collected at
parks that charge admission fees. Revenue generated from air tour fee
collection could be used to help mitigate the impacts from air tours by
offseting the cost of air tour management plans. As the report notes,
the current fee legislation sets the bar very high for when the air
tour fee requirement applies (e.g., over the level of 26,325 flights at
Haleakala) and only when that park unit charges an admission fee. The
rationale for the implementation of air tour fees was based on the
recognition that commercial air tours impact park unit resources and
personnel; therefore, a modest fee was a reasonable and justifiable
means of addressing those impacts (Draft report, page 10). However, the
level at which significant impacts occur to park resources is likely
much lower than the threshold set by the fee legislation. Moreover, the
level at which an impact would be considered adverse is as much a
function of the specific resources of any particular unit as it is the
number of air tours (i.e., sensitive ecological or cultural areas would
be impacted from a lower number of flights than other areas). For
example, preliminary aircraft noise modeling results for the draft
Mount Rushmore and Badlands Air Tour Management Plan Environmental
Assessments suggest that the threshold is already occurring at flight
levels authorized by Interim Operating Authority (5,608 and 4,117
flights respectively). It should be noted that admission fees are
charged at Badlands but not at Mount Rushmore.
NPS agrees with the findings, conclusions and recommendations made by
the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in this report, particularly
those that address the need for more accurate and reliable reporting.
Given the interrelationship with other overflight issues, it is
necessary to reiterate some of the comments made on GAO's January 2006
report on the National Parks Air Tour Management Act. The lack of
enforcement mechanisms and inability to verify the number of
overflights for Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes National Parks has had a
notable impact on our efforts to prepare supportable Air Tour
Management Plans for both parks due to the uncertainty about the actual
level of air tour activity occurring. The size of the discrepancy
between the amount of flights air tour operators requested in their
applications for Interim Operating Authority under the National Parks
Air Tour Management Act, the amount the operators say they are
currently flying, and the amount of flights based on fees paid to the
parks is too large to be accounted for by the different geographic
applicability of the two laws.
GAO stated in its previous report that some operators had deliberately
inflated estimates in their application. Several operators admit they
are not paying the required fees.
Without reliable air tour data, the NPS cannot determine whether
operators are complying with their operating authority or paying the
fees that they owe the parks. Lack of information gives operators who
are not paying their fees an unfair competitive advantage over those
that do. Moreover, there is the potential for adverse impacts to park
visitors and natural and cultural resources without accountability.
The NPS concurs with the GAO's recommendation and urges the FAA to
develop, in a timely manner, a process that will allow for verification
of air tour overflights and other information necessary to implement
the National Parks Air Tour Management Act. As previously noted in the
comments on the report on the National Parks Air Tour Management Act,
an accurate accounting of air tour overflights is crucial in
determining the impacts of the flights as part of the NEPA process.
Without accurate data, the air tour management plans will be
vulnerable. In addition, accurate reporting will allow the NPS and the
FAA to pursue the illegal non-payment of fees by operators in a more
rigorous manner.
The following are GAO's comments on the Department of the Interior's
letter dated April 20, 2006.
GAO Comments:
1. Our draft report did not contain any recommendations to the National
Park Service.
[End of section]
Appendix IV: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
GAO Contact:
Robin M. Nazzaro, (202) 512-3841, nazzaror@gao.gov:
Staff Acknowledgments:
In addition to the individual named above, Jeffery D. Malcolm,
Assistant Director; Josey Ballenger; Alisha Chugh; Wyatt R. Hundrup;
Richard Johnson; Alison O'Neill; Judy Pagano; Anne Rhodes-Kline; and
Carol Herrnstadt Shulman made key contributions to this report. Also
contributing to the report were Roy Judy, Steve Martin, and Jena
Sinkfield.
(360667):
[End of section]
FOOTNOTES
[1] In this report, we use the phrase "national park units" or simply
"park units" to refer to all units in the national park system,
including national historic sites, memorials, monuments, parks,
recreation areas, and other designations.
[2] Pub. L. No. 103-66, title X, § 10002(c), 107 Stat. 404 (1993).
[3] The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 uses the term
"admission fees" to refer to the fees charged at some park units'
entrances, which the Park Service also calls "entrance fees."
[4] Pub. L. No. 100-91, 101 Stat. 676 (1987).
[5] Pub. L. No. 106-181, title VII, 114 Stat. 185 (2000). The Air Tour
Management Act does not apply to (1) Grand Canyon National Park or
tribal lands within or abutting that park unit; (2) any air tour
operator while flying over or near Lake Mead National Recreation Area
solely as a transportation route to conduct an air tour over Grand
Canyon National Park; and (3) any land or waters in Alaska. The Air
Tour Management Act also prohibits any air tours over Rocky Mountain
National Park.
[6] Special Flight Rules in the Vicinity of Grand Canyon National Park
(14 C.F.R. Part 93, Subpart U).
[7] A "commercial air tour operator" is any person who conducts a
commercial air tour operation, including individuals, companies, and
corporations.
[8] The Grand Canyon Act requires FAA to "— prepare and issue a final
plan for the management of air traffic in the air space above the Grand
Canyon." While the air traffic management plan required by the Grand
Canyon Act must meet different legislative requirements than the air
tour management plans required by the Air Tour Management Act, to
simplify the presentation of information in this report, we will refer
to all the plans simply as "air tour management plans."
[9] During calendar years 2000 to 2003, 21 operators had authority from
FAA to conduct air tours over Grand Canyon, but as of March 2006, that
number had dropped to 14. In addition to the 91,250 total annual air
tours authorized over Grand Canyon, FAA was retaining 2,721 allocations
(from operators that had gone out of business) for potential future
distribution, as of March 2006.
[10] GAO, National Parks Air Tour Management Act: More Flexibility and
Better Enforcement Needed, GAO-06-263 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 27, 2006).
[11] U.S. Senate, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
Hearing on National Park Overflights, October 3, 2002, S. Hrg. No. 107-
1123, at 27, 34, and 36 (2002); and U.S. Senate, Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources, Subcommittee on National Parks, Hearing on the
National Parks Air Tour Management Act, July 22, 2004, S. Hrg. No. 108-
731, at 21 and 25-27 (2004).
[12] Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, Pub. L. No. 108-447,
Div. J, title VIII, 118 Stat. 3377 (2004).
[13] Pub. L. No. 103-66, title X, § 10002(c), 107 Stat. 404 (1993).
[14] H.R. Rep. No. 103-111, at 371 (1993).
[15] Pub. L. No. 100-91, 101 Stat. 676 (1987).
[16] Pub. L. No. 106-181, title VII, 114 Stat. 185 (2000).
[17] 53 Fed. Reg. 20264 (June 2, 1988).
[18] Special Flight Rules in the Vicinity of Grand Canyon National Park
(14 C.F.R. Part 93, Subpart U).
[19] 67 Fed. Reg. 65662 (Oct. 25, 2002).
[20] These dollar values are in inflation-adjusted 2005 dollars; other
dollar values in this report have not been adjusted.
[21] The Park Service may reduce the amount of fees retained by a park
unit, but not below 60 percent, for a fiscal year if the Secretary of
the Interior determines that the revenues collected exceed the
reasonable needs of a particular park unit for which expenditures may
be made that fiscal year.
[22] In March 2006, Interior's Office of Inspector General reported,
among other things, that Hawaii Volcanoes had not been able to collect
millions of dollars' worth of air tour fees due to insufficient air
tour data. U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Inspector
General, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Improved Operations Should
Enhance Stewardship and Visitor Experience, P-IN-NPS-0074-2004
(Washington, D.C.: March 2006).
[23] According to an official in Interior's Office of the Solicitor,
the Park Service has general enforcement authority to take action
against air tour operators that do not pay their required air tour
fees. The possible fines and prison sentences associated with such an
enforcement action are found in 18 U.S.C. §§ 3571 and 3581,
respectively. For example, a class A misdemeanor can result in a
maximum sentence of 1 year imprisonment and a fine of up to $100,000
for individuals or $200,000 for organizations; a class B misdemeanor
can result in a maximum sentence of 6 months imprisonment and a fine of
up to $5,000 for individuals or $10,000 for organizations.
[24] If a nontax debt owed to a federal agency has been delinquent for
a period of 180 days, the agency must generally transfer the debt or
claim to the Department of the Treasury, which must take appropriate
action to collect the debt or claim.
[25] In addition, under the Air Tour Management Act, "new entrant"
operators that do not already have authority to conduct air tours over
park units may apply for such authority, and existing operators may
apply for such authority at additional park units, in the future.
[26] As of November 2005, operators conducting air tours over Statue of
Liberty National Monument and Governors Island National Monument also
had authority to conduct a combined 35,837 and 29,432 air tours
annually, respectively--a higher level of activity than Haleakala
National Park. However, Statue of Liberty and Governors Island National
Monuments do not charge admission fees, which makes those park units
ineligible under the fees legislation for charging air tour fees. In
addition, air tour operators had authority to conduct a combined 68,814
air tours annually over Lake Mead National Recreation Area, but FAA
believes that the total number of air tours conducted annually over
Lake Mead may be as low as 12,880. FAA believes most of the authorized
"air tours" are actually transportation-only flights en route to Grand
Canyon National Park. The Park Service charges fees for those tours
over Grand Canyon.
[27] GAO, National Parks Air Tour Management Act: More Flexibility and
Better Enforcement Needed, GAO-06-263 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 27, 2006).
[28] Three of the 17 operators that had authority to conduct air tours
over Grand Canyon (but did not have authority for Lake Mead) at the
time of our visit in July 2005 have subsequently gone out of business
and have therefore lost their authority to conduct air tours, according
to FAA.
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