Regulations and Government
Air Tour Armageddon Averted in Transportation Bill

The final version of the federal highway bill that was passed on Friday narrows the focus of an amendment proposed by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and strongly supported by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to expand the powers of the director of the National Park Service (NPS) to restrict air-tour flights nationwide. Alexander and Wyden walked away with parochial victories: the final bill gives the NPS director the authority to deny air tour operations over the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and the Crater Lake National Park in Oregon without the establishment of an air-tour management plan.

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