New Year: New Rulemaking
In one of the FAA’s final acts to close out 2019, it issued the long-awaited Remote Identification of Unmanned Aircraft Systems notice of proposed rulemaking. This rulemaking is the first step in giving the FAA and law enforcement the tools to identify drones in flight and the location of the drone’s control station. The proposed rule creates three categories of drones, each with different remote identification requirements.
Standard Remote Identification UAS would be required to transmit certain information via the internet to an FAA authorized third party and to broadcast the same information directly using radio frequency spectrum.
Limited Remote Identification UAS would be required to transmit certain information via the internet to an FAA authorized third party and such UAS would be operationally limited to flight within 400 feet of its control station. Operators of a Limited Remote Identification UAS would be required to keep the UAS within visual line of sight.
UAS Without Remote Identification, including all UAS purchased before the date of the rulemaking and which cannot be brought into compliance or amateur built UAS, could only be operated within the visual line of sight of the operator and within an FAA-recognized identification area or with authorization by the Administrator for specific purposes.
This rulemaking may mark the beginning of a seismic shift in UAS operations. The FAA has stated that this rulemaking will be the foundation for new technologies that will allow for expanded operations.
We will be discussing the significance of this proposed rulemaking in a series of posts, addressing issues such as:
Why is this rulemaking needed?
What does this rulemaking mean for expanded operation and other important rulemakings?
What does this rulemaking mean for local governments, owners/operators of critical infrastructure, and law enforcement?
What impact does this rulemaking have on privacy rights?
Stay tuned!