Part 91 Commercial Glider Rides to be Outlawed?

The following is from an AOPA post and I have no further information yet. I
assume that they are talking about eliminating 135.1(5) which allows nonstop
sightseeing flights within a 25-mile radius. This is bread & butter for a
lot of soaring schools and would be a serious blow to our sport. Commercial
glider rides are also an avenue that introduces thousands of people a year
to our sport, including myself. I assume that the charity flight
restrictions would also crimp some club operations.

Someone please tell me I have this wrong.

Vaughn (a guy who loves to give glider rides)


FAA PROPOSAL WOULD SQUEEZE CHARITY FLIGHTS, SIGHTSEEING OPS
An FAA notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published this week would
likely shrink the pool of pilots able to help local charities with
fundraising flights and, by the FAA's own admission, drive hundreds
of small sightseeing operations out of business. The proposal would
raise the minimum number of hours required for pilots conducting charity
fundraising flights from 200 to 500, and remove an exemption that allows
FAR Part 91 sightseeing flights within 25 nautical miles of an airport.
Operators currently conducting flights under this exception would then
be subject to the operational requirements of Part 135. "This proposed
rule is a real slap in the face to Part 91 pilots who contribute their
time and services to worthy causes, and to small businesspeople just
trying to earn an income," said Andy Cebula, an AOPA senior vice president.
"The FAA claims the change is for safety reasons, but they provide no
safety data or statistics to justify the jump in flight hours required
to conduct charitable fundraising flights."