Many In Congress Feel The FAA Is Moving Too Slowly On The Issue

One of the biggest topics of discussion during AUVSI’s annual Hill Day on Wednesday, Sept. 25 was remote identification and the progress, or lack thereof, on this rulemaking.

“This is one issue we’re not going to let up on,” said Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-IL).

Like many in the UAS community, Lipinski, who co-chairs the House UAS Caucus, believes the FAA is moving too slow on the rules for remote ID. These sentiments were echoed by Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO), the ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. “I think that has a lot to do with the simple fact that I don’t think they really know which direction they’re going,” Graves said.

With this in mind, progress on the remote identification and tracking rulemaking is a priority on a “very aggressive agenda” for AUVSI’s UAS Advocacy Committee. According to Committee Vice-Chair Anne Bechdolt, the committee’s agenda is heavily tied to the 2018 reauthorization directives. “That bill set forth a very clear agency directive for both DOT and our interagency partners at DOD and DHS,” Bechdolt said.

Bechdolt, the managing director at FedEx Express, noted that as of Sept. 12, remote ID rulemaking is now under review with the administration of the office and management budget, which is a “significant step forward for addressing those interagency concerns.” Additionally, “that rulemaking is key in order to advance some of the more advanced operations like operations over people and operations beyond visual line of sight,” Bechdolt added.

Unmanned systems are slowly being integrated into society through a variety of pilot programs and testing efforts. As this technology is tested more and more, failures are a real possibility, but Graves said he hopes these potential failures don’t undo all of the positive progress that various entities across the country have made. “What I worry about, more than anything else, is there being an accident and then the pendulum swinging way too far,” Graves said, adding that Congress has a “nasty habit” of doing that, “because then emotion plays into it, and we quit using data as a driver for legislation, and all of sudden now we use emotion.”

This, Graves said, leads to industries and innovation being stifled.

Aside from potential technology mishaps, bad actors could also cause great damage, Graves said, which could also lead to long-term negative ramifications. “Every industry out there has the folks out there that don’t play by the rules, and that’s what we have to worry about,” Graves said.

Graves said the industry needs to focus on being positive and proactive, but it also needs to be ready to react when something negative occurs.

AUVSI’s Trusted Operator Program (TOP) has certified almost 200 remote pilots and organizations since its launch, according to Tracy Lamb, AUVSI’s vice president of Regulatory and Safety Affairs & chief pilot. A certification program for professional remote pilots and training organizations, TOP is a “really good example of how the industry has come together and collaborated to solve some of the challenges that we have in the absence of regulations,” she said.

“We’re not waiting for the FAA to make our remote pilots safer and stronger, or our systems smarter and safer. We’re actually harnessing the industry and industry consensus standards to do that,” Lamb said.

“This industry consensus certification program was built by the industry, for the industry, to go out there and solve real problems and provide solutions to those issues of unification of remote pilot training and safety framework.”

(Image provided with AUVSI news release)

FMI: www.auvsi.org