Drone Law Blog of Robert E. Kelly, Esq.: Section 333 Waiver

By law, any aircraft operation in the national airspace requires a certificated and registered aircraft, a licensed pilot, and operational approval. The FAA has interpreted the provisions of Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (FMRA) to allow the agency to grant waivers of the rules applicable to drones to operate prior to the proposed rules for commercial UAS operation prior to the final promulgation of the rules. This waiver process is being applied on a case-by-case basis.

As the FAA notes,

“The Section 333 Exemption process provides operators who wish to pursue safe and legal entry into the NAS a competitive advantage in the UAS marketplace, thus discouraging illegal operations and improving safety. It is anticipated that this activity will result in significant economic benefits, and the FAA Administrator has identified this as a high priority project to address demand for civil operation of UAS for commercial purposes.”

The FAA has granted 846 petitions for waiver to date.

Please contact me through the Comments function of this blog if you are interested in my assistance in preparing a Section 333 Petition to gain a a competitive advantage in the UAS marketplace for you or your business

THE DRONES ARE COMING – ARE YOU PROTECTED?

THE DRONES ARE COMING – ARE YOU PROTECTED?
Ask yourself:
-Is your business ready to take advantage of the opportunity for protection of your business's airspace from intruding UAS operations currently being considered by the FAA pursuant to Congressional mandate?
-Is your HOA informed of federal and state privacy and use laws to protect your organization and your property from unmanned aircraft and self-driving ground vehicles?

-Are you a current or future drone owner and are you aware of the FAA’s current regulations governing UAS registration?

-Are you aware of the FAA's UAS remote identification requirements and procedural requirements to establish an FAA-recognized identification area?

Contact Robert E. Kelly, Esq., for further information at kellylawuas@gmail.com"

ALERTS

In a recent Report and Order, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) in Washington, D.C., has adopted new rules to enable initial uncrewed aircraft systems (“UAS”) operations in the 5 GHz spectrum band for wireless communications. The FCC deems these new rules necessary to safely control the flights of UAS in the National Airspace System (“NAS”) becoming increasingly crowded by UAS. (According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, in 2021, there were 2 million UAS in the United States, and, by 2030, that number is anticipated to triple to 6.5 million.) To ensure that these flights are sufficiently safe for routine operation, the FCC noted that highly reliable wireless two-way communications for flight control and telemetry are required. The FCC indicated that the agency’s action establishes initial service rules that will allow operators to obtain direct frequency assignments in a portion of the 5030-5091 MHz band for non-networked operations. (The FCC defines “non-networked operations” as those communications occurring within radio line of sight, as opposed to “network-supported services”, which rely on network infrastructure to go beyond radio line of sight of the operator.) The new rules rely on dynamic frequency management systems to manage and coordinate access to the spectrum and enable its safe and efficient use. The FCC stated that these management systems will provide requesting operators with temporary frequency assignments to support UAS control link communications with a level of reliability suitable for operations in controlled airspace and other safety-critical circumstances. To enable operations in the band during the period before the dynamic frequency management systems are in operation, the FCC established rules for an interim access mechanism. UAS seeking to transmit in the band first will submit a request to the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) for deconfliction and approval utilizing the mechanism, and, upon FAA authorization, will complete an online registration form with the Commission. The interim mechanism will be made available to operators after the rules become effective and the Commission has announced by Public Notice that it will begin accepting registrations. For further information regarding this Report and Order, see the FCC web page at https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-adopts-initial-rules-drone-operations-5-ghz-band

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