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By DRONELIFE Features Editor Jim Magill
In a report issued by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the agency found that the FAA and the Department of Homeland Security have to do more to be sure that FAA’s regulations requiring distant identification for drones accomplish the goals of helping law enforcement agencies combat unsafe drone operations, and of paving the best way for the total integration of drone traffic into U.S. airspace.
The report, which the GAO compiled after a few yr of study, found that the FAA “has limited resources to support tribal, state, and native law enforcement,” in using distant ID technology to quickly discover drone operators which can be flying in an unsafe manner.
It also stated that despite FAA’s promise that Distant ID technology would help usher in an era of advanced aerial operations, “industrial drone stakeholders told GAO that a broadcast-based signal isn’t sufficient for providing real-time, networked data about drone location and standing as needed for advanced operations.”
The FAA’s Distant ID regulation, which provides a “digital license plate” for drones, requires all UAVs weighing over 250 grams to broadcast identifying and positional information while in flight. Operators have the choice of flying drones which have the Distant ID software already installed or of attaching a separate Distant ID module to their drone.
Although the FAA had initially set a deadline of last September for the regulation to enter full effect, the agency granted a period of discretionary enforcement of the regulation until March 16, 2024 to provide manufacturers and operators more time to get in compliance.
Distant ID not useful for local law enforcement
The Distant ID regulation is designed partly to supply non-federal law enforcement agencies with real-time identification, location, and performance data on drones which can be being flown in an illegal or unsafe manner. Nonetheless, in response to the report, “tribal, state, and native law enforcement agencies GAO contacted had little knowledge of Distant ID or the way it might be utilized in their investigations.”
Currently, access to FAA’s drone database of Distant ID registration information is amazingly limited. For instance, on the federal level, access is provided to the FBI and to FAA’s Law Enforcement Assistance Program (LEAP) agents, who’re liable for assisting federal, tribal, state, and native law enforcement agencies on aviation-related public issues of safety.
Nonetheless, getting that information to the local law enforcement agencies on the bottom in time for them to act on a real-life situation, resembling a drone flying in an unsafe manner above a crowded football stadium, is next to unimaginable under the present system.
“FAA officials said that the LEAP agent is the first point of contact for law enforcement,” in response to the report. “As of January 2024, there have been 25 LEAP agents nationwide with responsibilities that also include assisting with and coordinating investigations of drug interdictions or aviation smuggling.”
The FAA had told the GAO that the standard time it takes for a LEAP agent to reply to a neighborhood law enforcement agency’s request for drone registration data is 48 hours.
“FAA is developing an interface to supply drone registration information from Distant ID to law enforcement but doesn’t have a plan or timeline for releasing it,” the GAO report states. As well as, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is developing an application for law enforcement to link to FAA’s interface, “but DHS similarly doesn’t have a plan or timeline for the trouble.”
Business drone operators complain about Distant ID’s limitations
Because it was preparing the ultimate Distant ID rule, FAA heard from drone industry players who advocated for the creation of a network-based system, resembling one which relied on cellular network signals, “as a foundational piece for enabling more advanced operations.” Nonetheless, citing cyber-security concerns related to network-based systems, the FAA limited the ultimate Distant ID rule to a broadcast-based system, which relied on Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to transmit data.
Drone industry stakeholders complained to the GAO that limiting the Distant ID to a broadcast system created limitations, including the limited range of broadcast signals, compared with a more robust network-based system. The FAA has said it will depend on the drone industry “to proceed developing network-based technologies that will allow for integrating advanced drone operations.”
Nonetheless, industry players have balked at having to include each sorts of Distant ID systems aboard their drones, citing issues resembling increased weight and signal interference.
The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, which President Biden signed into law last month, addresses this issue by requiring the FAA “to find out whether alternative technique of compliance, resembling network-based Distant ID, would satisfy the intent of the Distant ID final rule,” the report states.
The report makes 4 recommendations — three directed to the FAA and one to DHS — to deal with the shortcomings it present in the implementation of the Distant ID rule. It states that the administrator of FAA should:
- Develop resources to assist tribal, state, and native law enforcement use Distant ID.
- Develop a plan and timeline for deploying FAA’s interface in collaboration with DHS and [the Department of Justice].
- Discover a path forward for the way to provide real-time, networked data in regards to the location and standing of drones. This might include identifying and assessing short-term and long-term options and clarifying roles and responsibilities.
The GAO also really helpful that the Secretary of Homeland Security should develop a plan and timeline for deploying its Distant ID app in collaboration with the FAA and DOJ.
In a letter to the GAO in response to the report, Philip A. McNamara, the Transportation Department’s assistant secretary for administration, said his department concurred with the three recommendations pertaining to FAA. A DHS official sent a response concurring with the one advice pertaining to his department.
The FAA and DHS can have 180 days detailing the actions they plan to take to reply to the GAO’s advice said Heather Krause, director with GAO’s Physical Infrastructure team
“We proceed to follow up, as we do with all of our recommendations to get a way as to when those recommendations shall be addressed, Krause said. The GAO will proceed to ascertain in with the 2 agencies on an annual basis to be sure that they’re following the report’s recommendations, she said.
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