Bill paves the way in which for integrating UAS into U.S. airspace system
By DRONELIFE Features Editor Jim Magill
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The bill to reauthorize the FAA, which President Biden signed into law on May 16, marks a giant step toward promoting the expansion of the drone ecosystem, by streamlining regulations, enhancing drone technological advancement and pilot training, and implementing measures to completely integrate drones into the U.S. airspace system.
In crafting the huge, 854-page bill congressional leaders listened to the input of representatives of all facets of the unmanned aircraft system (UAS) world, as to what improvements they sought to existing FAA rules and regulations that will encourage the increased use of drones for business and recreational purposes.
Environmental reviews and noise certification
“The language on environmental reviews and noise certification, I believe was something we repeatedly heard as a difficulty for the drone industry and so something that I believe we prioritized addressing,” a Republican staff aide to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee said.
As such, Congress directed the FAA to determine noise criteria using standardized metrics, which might pertain to all drone operations across the county.
“I believe one among the things we heard from the industry is that even for substantially similar operations, the FAA and others are treating them as essentially brand-new things,” the staffer said. “So, we’re attempting to create a system by which the FAA can review these in a standardized, programmatic approach to addressing noise certification and the necessity for reviews for drones.”
As well as, the laws directs the FAA to chill out its regulations on the transportation of hazardous material, which is aimed toward expanding the opportunities for drone carriers by way of what they’re allowed to move.
Under current regulations, drone delivery services are unable to move certain items, corresponding to nail polish and other common household goods. Current regulations prohibit drone delivery of some medications and pharmaceutical products. “We expect that it will really open doors for getting individuals who don’t have access to pharmacies greater access to medical necessities,” the congressional staffer said.
Opportunities for drone development, testing and training
The reauthorization laws also opens up greater opportunities for drone testing and pilot training. Section 925 of the laws amends the present U.S. Code in regard to the establishment and operation of drone test ranges.
“The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall perform and update, as appropriate, a program for using unmanned aircraft system … test ranges to: A) enable a broad number of development, testing and evaluation activities related to UAS and associated technologies; and B) to the extent consistent with aviation safety and efficiency, support the protected integration of unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system.”
There are currently seven UAS test ranges across the country. The bill directs the administrator of the FAA to pick out and designate as much as two additional test ranges through a competitive selection process.
The bill also extends the “Know Before You Fly” campaign, which had expired last yr, through 2028. The campaign is organized as a partnership, which incorporates the FAA, the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA), the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). The tutorial campaign provides prospective drone users with the knowledge and guidance they should fly safely and responsibly.
The reauthorization also gives the FAA administration the authority to expand the administration’s BEYOND program “to incorporate additional State, local, and Tribal governments to check and evaluate using recent and emerging aviation concepts and technologies to guage and inform FAA policies, rulemaking, and guidance related to the protected integration of such concepts and technologies into the national airspace system.”
“I believe that there’s a whole lot of buy-in in Congress for the BEYOND program,” the congressional staffer said. “I believe the dialogue was essentially how can we attempt to get more out of this system, a greater profit for business industry.”
Integrating drones into the U.S. airspace
The reauthorization laws also directs the FAA administrator, inside a yr of the passage of the bill, to offer a briefing to the suitable congressional committees on plans to completely integrate UAS into the U.S. airspace. The briefing is to incorporate estimates of the associated fee of achieving that goal in addition to identifying any regulatory or policy changes required to execute the mixing.
To further the mixing, the FAA administrator is directed to “establish procedures, which can include a rulemaking, to approve third-party service suppliers, including third-party service suppliers of unmanned aircraft system traffic management.” Allowing third-party suppliers to grow to be a part of the ustraffic management system will help speed up the event of that system, said Michael Robbins, President and CEO on the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI).
“The bill begins to maneuver forward on supporting third-party services that provide uncrewed traffic management (UTM) services and getting UTM right goes to be necessary for advancing airspace awareness and strategic deconfliction,” Robbins said.
“Getting that right for drones at low altitude goes to showcase how that will be used, and the way more advanced technologies will be used for other forms of airspace as well.”
As well as, the reauthorization bill directs the FAA administrator to review and evaluate the ultimate rule for Distant Identification of Unmanned Aircraft, “to find out whether unmanned aircraft manufacturers and operators can meet the intent of such final rule through alternative technique of compliance, including through network–based distant identification.”
This might allow for the establishment of a network distant ID system, “which in fact lays the inspiration for an eventual unmanned traffic management solution,” said Lisa Ellman, executive director of the Industrial Drone Alliance.
Other sections of the reauthorization are also designed to advance the business use of drones, corresponding to: directing the FAA to create an approval process to facilitate the operation of drones offshore and in international waters; promoting using drones in wildfire response; and establishing a pilot program to make use of drones within the inspection of FAA infrastructure, corresponding to air traffic control towers and radar facilities.
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