Summary of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Operation and Certification of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems
On February 15, 2015, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on proposed rules to allow the operation of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS). A small UAS consists of the aircraft itself (which, as defined by statute, weighs less than 55 pounds) and the equipment necessary for the safe and efficient operation of that aircraft. Comments on the NPRM will be due 60 days after the NPRM is published in the Federal Register.
Specifically, the FAA is proposing to add a new part 107 to Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations to allow for routine civil operation of small UAS in the NAS and to provide safety rules for those operations. The major points of the proposed Part 107 rules are discussed in the full summary, which is available here.
