In cities and towns, we expect a certain level of machine-generated background noise. For many people visiting national parks — in Hawaii and elsewhere — among the draws is to enjoy a combination of natural quiet and stunning views.
It’s frustrating, then, that in these public spaces, where potential for people to connect with the great outdoors is greatest, air tour noise has long been disrupting that experience.
Following two decades of largely unsuccessful efforts to regulate commercial sightseeing overflights, it’s encouraging that a federal court has ordered the National Park Service and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to adopt limits on tours above 23 national parks — including Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes national parks — within two years.
Tight limits on overflight numbers, timing and routes are long overdue to protect park resources and the visitor experience. Of all the parks, Hawaii Volcanoes is the most affected by tour helicopter flights, according to a National Park Service report that counted upwards of 8,300 flights in a recent 12-month period.
The order, issued last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, came in response to a lawsuit by Hawaii Island Coalition Malama Pono and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which pegged last year’s nationwide park overflights count at more than 47,000.
The suit is the latest push to end a bureaucratic stalemate that has left parks with what’s essentially unmitigated noise pollution. The court order forces a step toward progress by requiring the agencies to produce a schedule within four months for bringing all 23 parks into compliance with the National Park Air Tour Management Act.
Enacted in 2000, the law initially gave the FAA, in tandem with the Park Service, two years to create air tour management plans for the parks. But due to unwillingness to give up control in certain regulatory areas and bickering over matters such as the proper way to measure baseline noise levels, 12 years passed with the agencies unable to come up with a single plan.
The gridlock then prompted Congress to amend the act, permitting agencies to instead enter into voluntary agreements with tour operators. But with the exception of deals at two Florida parks that secured compliance with the federal law, this Plan B effort also failed. The voluntary tactic largely stalled because it was voluntary.
Not surprisingly, in the absence of a mandatory management plan, many tour operators have balked at the idea of signing up for regulation that could impose constraints on their operations.
For its part, the Hawaii Helicopter Association pointed out last week that operators have invested in quieter aircraft and technologies over the past several decades and are working to ensure “responsible operations for both our residents and visitors.” The investment includes a digital tracking system that addresses several areas of concern.
That marks improvement. Still, given an overall increase in flights in recent years — increasing alongside the tourism industry’s record-breaking figures for Hawaii visitor arrivals until recently — more needs to be done to address this pollution problem as the islands prep for post-pandemic tourism.
Last fall, long-standing complaints about decibel levels near and in sightseeing magnets, along with aircraft safety concerns, spurred U.S. Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, to introduce the “Safe and Quiet Skies Act,” which is pending in the U.S. House. Among other aims, it seeks to in part prohibit tour flights over national parks.
While Case’s legislation holds potential to eliminate much of the noise, the just-secured court order serves as a much-needed immediate directive to comply with the intent of National Park Air Tour Management Act.
