Currently Under Review By The OMB, May Be Released By Year's End

The FAA is close to releasing its long-awaited rule for small UAVs, according to UAS Integration Office manager Jim Williams.

Williams made the remarks at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International annual program review on November 5. The publication National Defense reports that Williams said that the rule is currently being reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget, and could be released before the end of the year.

“We’re taking great strides to authorize commercial operations in the U.S., and the small unmanned aircraft systems rule that we’ve all been waiting on so long is getting really close to being done. We hope that it will be published before the end of this year,” Williams said.

Williams said that the agency has received 117 requests for exemptions from the FAA's ban on flying small UAVs for commercial purposes. He said that despite widespread criticism of the agency, it is on track to meeting its 2015 deadline, though that does not necessarily mean full integration. “If you go look carefully at what the legislation actually says for the 2015 deadline, it says we have to have a comprehensive plan that describes what safe integration looks like by 2015, which we have, and we’ve got milestones along the way. We’re going to show progress by 2015 toward that safe integration, but the bottom line is Congress wanted us to be safe,” he said.

FMI: www.faa.gov/uas/