FAA's drone regulations
FAA's drone regulations: Answers to common questions
The FAA is in the process of developing regulations and safety guidelines for drones and other UAVs, and TechRepublic is tracking its progress. Here's what you need to know.
By Hope Reese TechRepublic
With an estimated 400,000 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) expected to be purchased during the 2015 holiday season, the Federal Aviation Administration has been scrambling to come up with regulations to ensure the safety in the airspace. Commercial drones are currently subject to regulations, but on October 19, the FAA announced that they will also be coming up with guidelines for the registration of non-commercial drones.
That means that many of the drones consumers are buying will likely need to be registered with the FAA soon.
On November 20, a task force delivered a report to the FAA with recommendations for registering drones. In a statement about the task force recommendations, FAA administrator Michael Huerta thanked the team for "excellent and expeditious work" and announced that they will "work quickly and flexibly to move toward the next steps for registration."
This naturally brings up lots of questions. Here are some of the answers about drone registration, based on what we know so far.
Who is on this task force?
The FAA created a 25-member task force, by invite-only, which includes companies like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, 3D Robotics, and others. The group met between November 3-5 to come up with a list of recommendations for a free, streamlined registration process. According to the FAA website, topics discussed included: "how an operator might prove a UAS [the FAA's term for a UAV] is registered, how the aircraft would be marked, and how to use the registration process to encourage or require UAS operators to become educated on basic safety rules. The group also continues to gather data and analyze which types of UAS would need to be registered and which would not." The task force worked with the FAA, DOT, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of the Interior, Office of Management and Budget, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of State to develop their guidelines.
What kind of drones are included?
The new regulations apply to small (under 55 pound), independently-owned, recreational drones. The registration is intended to prevent rogue drones from causing accidents in a crowded airspace and to promote education about how to fly drones safely.
What happens next?
The FAA will now consider the recommendations, along with public comments. According to their website, they will announce the "Interim Final Rule" on the registration process in December, and it will be implemented quickly. The last step will be to receive public comments before finalizing the registration process.