Final Supplemental Environmental Assessment February 2000 Special Flight Rules in the Vicinity of Grand Canyon National Park Prepared For U. S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration Final Environmental Assessment Special Flight Rules in the Vicinity of Grand Canyon National Park Foreword The Draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA) was published in June 1999. Since the document was published, parts of the proposed rule have been altered in response to public and agency comments. The major changes between the Draft SEA and Final SEA are as follows: · The operations in support of the Hualapai Tribe’s economic development at Grand Canyon West are exempted from the proposed operations limitation rule. · A turnaround has been added in the Zuni Point Corridor in the vicinity of Gunthers Castle. · Operational counts have been modified based on more up to date information. · The Desert View FFZ has been modified to extend eastward only to the GCNP boundary. · The SFRA boundary has been modified on the southeast corner in response to comments from the general aviation community regarding the Sunny Military Operating Area, and latitude and longitude dimensions within the proposed final rule have been corrected. · The description of the future Bright Angel Incentive Corridor has been corrected. · The Toroweap/Shinumo FFZ has been modified to not include any Hualapai reservation lands. · The wording in the document has been clarified based on agency and public comments. Grand Canyon National Park Environmental Assessment TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER ONE – BACKGROUND AND PROPOSED ACTION 1.1 BACKGROUND ..................................................................................... 1-1 1.2 PURPOSE AND NEED .......................................................................... 1-5 1.3 CONSULTATION AND SCOPING...................................................... 1-5 1.4 PROPOSED ACTION............................................................................ 1-6 CHAPTER TWO - ALTERNATIVES 2.1 PREVIOUSLY CONSIDERED ALTERNATIVES.............................. 2-1 2.2 COMMERCIAL AIR TOUR ROUTE ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED.................................................................................................. 2-5 2.3 ALTERNATIVES STUDIED IN DETAIL ........................................... 2-9 2.3.1 Alternative 1 – No Action .....................................................................................2-9 2.3.2 Alternative 2 – Central Route (Preferred Alternative)..........................................2-10 2.3.3 Alternative 3 – Northern Route...........................................................................2-12 2.3.4 Alternative 4 – Southern Route...........................................................................2-13 2.3.5 Summary Comparison Evaluation of Alternatives................................................2-13 CHAPTER THREE - AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT 3.1 REGIONAL CONTEXT ........................................................................ 3-1 3.2 GRAND CANYON ................................................................................. 3-2 3.3 NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES ............................................. 3-2 i Grand Canyon National Park Environmental Assessment TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 3.4 GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK ............................................... 3-5 3.4.1 South Rim.............................................................................................................3-6 3.4.2 North Rim.............................................................................................................3-7 3.4.3 Marble Canyon .....................................................................................................3-7 3.4.4 Tuweep.................................................................................................................3-7 3.4.5 Inner Canyon ........................................................................................................3-7 3.5 CLIMATIC CONDITIONS ................................................................... 3-8 3.6 PHYSICAL RESOURCES..................................................................... 3-9 3.6.1 Popular Trails and Sights at GCNP .......................................................................3-9 3.6.2 Grand Canyon West Tourism and Recreation Areas in the Hualapai Reservation .........................................................................................3-10 3.6.3 Historic/Cultural/Archaeological Sites in the GCNP ............................................3-10 3.6.4 Historic/Cultural/Archaeological Sites in the Hualapai Reservation......................3-12 3.6.5 Wild and Scenic River Segments in GCNP ..........................................................3-15 3.7 NATURAL RESOURCES.................................................................... 3-15 3.7.1 Wilderness and Wildlife Resources in the GCNP .................................................3-15 3.7.2 Wilderness and Wildlife Resources in the Hualapai Reservation...........................3-16 3.7.3 Noise Environment .............................................................................................3-18 3.8 POPULATION AND GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS .................. 3-19 3.8.1 National Park Visitors.........................................................................................3-19 3.8.2 Hualapai Reservation Residents and Visitors .......................................................3-20 3.8.3 Local Communities .............................................................................................3-20 3.9 RELATIONSHIP OF PROPOSED ACTION TO NATIONAL PARK SERVICE GOALS FOR GCNP............................................... 3-22 CHAPTER FOUR - ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES 4.1 NOISE ..................................................................................................... 4-1 4.1.1 Noise Criteria........................................................................................................4-2 4.1.2 Noise Modeling.....................................................................................................4-5 ii Grand Canyon National Park Environmental Assessment TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 4.1.3 Aircraft and Operational Data for Modeling ..........................................................4-8 4.1.4 Model Output .....................................................................................................4-13 4.1.5 Noise Modeling Results ......................................................................................4-17 4.1.6 Conclusions ........................................................................................................4-22 4.2 HISTORIC, ARCHAEOLOGICAL, AND CULTURAL RESOURCES........................................................................................ 4-22 4.3 DOT SECTION 4(f).............................................................................. 4-28 4.4 WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS............................................................ 4-36 4.5 VISUAL IMPACTS.............................................................................. 4-37 4.6 SOCIAL/ SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS......................................... 4-37 4.7 ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE........................................................... 4-38 4.8 NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES ........................................... 4-40 4.9 ENDANGERED SPECIES................................................................... 4-41 4.10 AIR QUALITY.................................................................................. 4-43 4.11 CUMULATIVE IMPACTS .............................................................. 4-44 4.12 OTHER IMPACT CATEGORIES .................................................. 4-45 4.13 MITIGATION ................................................................................... 4-45 CHAPTER FIVE – LIST OF PREPARERS................................................... 5-1 iii Grand Canyon National Park Environmental Assessment TABLE OF CONTENTS Page APPENDICES APPENDIX A – NOISE RESULTS.................................................................A-1 APPENDIX B – GLOSSARY...........................................................................B-1 APPENDIX C – NOISE BASICS.....................................................................C-1 APPENDIX D – TECHNICAL MEMORANDA ............................................D-1 APPENDIX E – OPERATIONS DATA ..........................................................E-1 APPENDIX F – SUPPLEMENTAL ANALYSIS ...........................................F-1 APPENDIX G – COMMENTS AND RESPONSES ...................................... G-1 APPENDIX H – CONSULTATION............................................................... H-1 APPENDIX I – CONTACT LIST.....................................................................I-1 iv Grand Canyon National Park Environmental Assessment LIST OF TABLES Table Page 2.1 Summary Comparison of Alternatives .........................................................................2-14 3.1 Species of Special Concern In and Adjacent to Grand Canyon ....................................3-17 3.2 Visitors to GCNP Rating Natural Quiet as Extremely Important .................................3-20 3.3 GCNP Visitor Activity Level ......................................................................................3-21 4.1 Categories of Aircraft Flying in SFAR...........................................................................4-9