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The sky is not big enough for everyone. On Friday, the US Court of Appeals for DC Circuit overturned a decision last year that concluded that the FAA can not regulate the small UAVs used by hobbyists. New regulations should soon be adopted, which should be welcomed by companies trying to break into the commercial drone industry.
In 2015, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a provisional final rule establishing various requirements for UAVs weighing less than 55 pounds. and more than about half a pound. Although states and local governments have gradually put in place their own rules as drones become more popular, the federal government has largely stayed away from the issue. New registration requirements and other bans prompted an amateur named John Taylor to sue the FAA administrator, arguing that the agency had no jurisdiction in the matter.
Last year, a court of appeal was sided on Taylor's side. The FAA had historically stayed out of the regulation of model aircraft and the FAA's 2012 Modernization and Reform Act "codified the FAA's long-standing approach to model regulation. reduced ". Section 336 (a) specifically exempted fans of model aircraft
In today's ruling, the court found that Section 336 did not mean the FAA. abandoned its regulatory oversight forever. In his opinion, Judge Merrick Garland wrote: [TRADUCTION] "Section 336 also states that nothing in this" shall be construed to limit the power of the Administrator [FAA] to pursue people against models of aircraft that endanger Bloomberg points out that it's a win for big tech:
Friday's decision is at least a partial win for businesses, including Alphabet Inc. Project Wing and Prime Air of Amazon.com Inc., who urged regulators and legislators to impose additional standards on the millions of people who fly amateur drones. These requirements are necessary to ensure the security of the autonomous delivery systems that they develop, say the companies.
In April, when the 336 was interpreted as going against the rules of the drone, the Commercial Drone Alliance, a pressure group that counts Alphabet among its members, specifically called on Congress to repeal the law. 39, article 336, saying that "the basic rules of the road are necessary to handle all this new air traffic." While it is strange to see the big corporations claim over regulation, it is also clear that the execution of a dangerous program of commercial drones at the national level would be a nightmare with a million fans flying around and no way to know what they do. We asked Amazon and Google to comment on the decision, but we did not receive an immediate response.
Interestingly, today 's decision was drafted by President Obama for the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland. Garland has never been heard by the Senate under Republican control. Now that President Trump is seeking an empty seat on the Supreme Court, Conservative Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh is likely to be his first choice. Kavanaugh wrote the original opinion that was in agreement with Taylor that this is not the domain of the FAA. If Kavanaugh gets the appointment for life and Taylor decides to bring his case to the Supreme Court, the judge will probably recuse himself but who knows what he knows.
[US Court of Appeals, Bloomberg]
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