UAS UPDATE

June 17, 2016

Congressional developments on small UAS

On March 16, 2016, the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved an amended version of Senate Bill 2658, the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2016. The bill included a mandate for the FAA Administrator to initiate a collaborative process to develop risk-based, consensus industry airworthiness standards related to the safe integration of small UAS (sUAS) (55 pounds or less) into the National Air Space (NAS) – the culmination of which must result in the development of an approval process without type certification requirements (or exemptions or certificates of waiver therefrom) already in place under current FAA regulations. After approval by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Senate Bill 2658 will be considered by the entirety of the Senate later this year.

FAA advisory committees convened to propose potential UAS and MicroUAS regulations

Following Congressional mandates issued in both the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 and the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2016, and in conjunction with general sUAS policies proposed by DOT and the FAA in a joint NPRM released on February 15, 2015, the FAA has announced its intention to establish a broad-based UAS advisory committee to provide an open venue for FAA and other key decision-makers to develop policies to support the safe integration of UAS into the NAS. The Committee is an outgrowth from the already successful stakeholder-based UAS registration task force and MicroUAS aviation rulemaking committees previously set up to identify and prioritize UAS integration challenges and improvements, while also creating broad support for an overall integration strategy to be implemented by the FAA in a final rule at a later date.

If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6665).

Share This Post

Author