F AA’s progress toward enacting the
Special Rule for Model Aircraft
in Public Law 112-95, Sec 336,
has been slow at best. On February 14,
President Barack Obama signed the
FAA Modernization and Reform Act
of 2012 (H.R. 658). Contained in the
bill is language that instructs the FAA
Administrator to not enact rules affecting
model aircraft activity conducted within
the safety programming of a nationwide
community-based organization.
Shortly after the bill was passed, AMA
communicated with the manager of
FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Program Offi ce
(UAPO) and expressed our interest in
working with the UAPO in “establishing
the provisions for enacting and complying
with the language and the spirit of H.R.
658.”
In a follow-up to this communication,
the AMA requested the UAPO staff to
meet with the FAA leadership to discuss
the model aircraft provision and to work
toward establishing the necessary policies
and procedures for complying with
the new criteria. A response was never
received.
The language contained within the FAA
reauthorization bill refl ects Congress’s
recognition of community-based safety
programming as an effective means of
managing the aeromodeling activity. It
can be argued that this is because of the
excellent safety record achieved by AMA’s
75-year program of voluntary compliance
with a simple and comprehensible safety
code.
There are those within the FAA who
question this approach and favor a more
regulatory tactic through the use of
consensus-based and federally accepted
and approved operating standards.
This has been the UAPO’s tack since
the Aviation Rulemaking Committee
submitted its report to the FAA in 2009.
During the past six to eight months,
the UAPO has gone through a transition.
In March 2012, an executive-level
manager, James Williams, was assigned
to the operation and the offi ce was
offi cially renamed the Unmanned Aircraft
Systems (UAS) Integration Offi ce. The
restructuring was intended to bring
together specialists from the aviation
safety and air traffi c organizations and
to serve as a one-stop portal for all
matters related to civil and public use of
unmanned aircraft systems in the National
Airspace System (NAS).
Public Law 112-95 puts forward
several mandates regarding UAS, and the
resources of the UAS Integration Offi ce
have been stretched thin in its efforts
to address and meet the Congressional
directives. AMA recognizes the demands
being placed on the offi ce and waited
several months before again requesting a
meeting with the FAA leadership.
In congressional briefi ngs about the
UAS mandates, the FAA leadership was
queried on its progress toward enacting
the model aviation provision. Through the
urging of the congressional staff to move
forward on this issue and with the help
of AMA’s political liaison, a meeting was
fi nally scheduled for September 5.
On that Wednesday, AMA President
Bob Brown, Executive Director Dave
Mathewson, and I met with James
Williams, Bill Crozier, and members of the
UAS Integration Offi ce staff.
AMA presented its position that PL
112-95 is specifi c in its approach to
managing model aviation and it expressly
exempts model aviation from regulation
provided certain safety criteria are met
and the activity is conducted within the
auspices of a community-based safety
program. It was commented that the new
law enables the FAA to fulfi ll its stated
intention to, “regulate model aircraft
by exempting it from regulation and
pointing to a community-based safety
program.”
AMA provided the FAA with a copy of
its comprehensive AMA Safety Program
that is continually adapting to new
technologies and guidelines, and asked
that it be acknowledged as meeting the
congressional intent. It was suggested
that a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) be drawn up recognizing AMA
as a community-based organization as
described in the law. The MOU would
also establish the criteria for enacting
the model aviation provision and create
a mutually supportive relationship
between the AMA and the FAA aimed
at maintaining safe aeromodeling
operations within the National
Airspace System (NAS).
In the meeting, representatives of the
UAS Integration Offi ce again expressed
concern regarding Congress’s approach
and expressed the belief that federal
law requires a regulatory approach and
the use of consensus-based, federally
accepted and adopted operating
standards.
Ultimately the offi ce leadership
agreed to review the AMA Safety
Program and to consider AMA’s
suggestion of establishing an MOU.
Although nothing defi nitive was
decided in this meeting, there was a
commitment to revisiting the issue.
So, what about the small UAS Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)?
In the recent meeting with the FAA
representatives, we were again told
that the proposed rule is still under
executive-level review. This is where
the rule has been since September
2011.
There was no indication that the
proposed rule will be published any
time soon; it may well be after the
2012 presidential election or early
2013 before the NPRM is released.
In any case, the sUAS NPRM remains
on the horizon and is still a signifi cant
issue for the modeling community.
Make sure everyone you know is aware
of the impending regulation, and
ensure that everyone who shares our
love for this hobby is well informed
and participates in the response to the
proposed sUAS rule when the NPRM
is published.
Timely updates regarding the sUAS
rule making can also be found on
Facebook by Liking ‘AMAGov,’ and on
Twitter at <Twitter.com/AMAGov>.
—Rich Hanson
Government and Regulatory Affairs
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/11
Page Numbers: 15,16
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/11
Page Numbers: 15,16
F AA’s progress toward enacting the
Special Rule for Model Aircraft
in Public Law 112-95, Sec 336,
has been slow at best. On February 14,
President Barack Obama signed the
FAA Modernization and Reform Act
of 2012 (H.R. 658). Contained in the
bill is language that instructs the FAA
Administrator to not enact rules affecting
model aircraft activity conducted within
the safety programming of a nationwide
community-based organization.
Shortly after the bill was passed, AMA
communicated with the manager of
FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Program Offi ce
(UAPO) and expressed our interest in
working with the UAPO in “establishing
the provisions for enacting and complying
with the language and the spirit of H.R.
658.”
In a follow-up to this communication,
the AMA requested the UAPO staff to
meet with the FAA leadership to discuss
the model aircraft provision and to work
toward establishing the necessary policies
and procedures for complying with
the new criteria. A response was never
received.
The language contained within the FAA
reauthorization bill refl ects Congress’s
recognition of community-based safety
programming as an effective means of
managing the aeromodeling activity. It
can be argued that this is because of the
excellent safety record achieved by AMA’s
75-year program of voluntary compliance
with a simple and comprehensible safety
code.
There are those within the FAA who
question this approach and favor a more
regulatory tactic through the use of
consensus-based and federally accepted
and approved operating standards.
This has been the UAPO’s tack since
the Aviation Rulemaking Committee
submitted its report to the FAA in 2009.
During the past six to eight months,
the UAPO has gone through a transition.
In March 2012, an executive-level
manager, James Williams, was assigned
to the operation and the offi ce was
offi cially renamed the Unmanned Aircraft
Systems (UAS) Integration Offi ce. The
restructuring was intended to bring
together specialists from the aviation
safety and air traffi c organizations and
to serve as a one-stop portal for all
matters related to civil and public use of
unmanned aircraft systems in the National
Airspace System (NAS).
Public Law 112-95 puts forward
several mandates regarding UAS, and the
resources of the UAS Integration Offi ce
have been stretched thin in its efforts
to address and meet the Congressional
directives. AMA recognizes the demands
being placed on the offi ce and waited
several months before again requesting a
meeting with the FAA leadership.
In congressional briefi ngs about the
UAS mandates, the FAA leadership was
queried on its progress toward enacting
the model aviation provision. Through the
urging of the congressional staff to move
forward on this issue and with the help
of AMA’s political liaison, a meeting was
fi nally scheduled for September 5.
On that Wednesday, AMA President
Bob Brown, Executive Director Dave
Mathewson, and I met with James
Williams, Bill Crozier, and members of the
UAS Integration Offi ce staff.
AMA presented its position that PL
112-95 is specifi c in its approach to
managing model aviation and it expressly
exempts model aviation from regulation
provided certain safety criteria are met
and the activity is conducted within the
auspices of a community-based safety
program. It was commented that the new
law enables the FAA to fulfi ll its stated
intention to, “regulate model aircraft
by exempting it from regulation and
pointing to a community-based safety
program.”
AMA provided the FAA with a copy of
its comprehensive AMA Safety Program
that is continually adapting to new
technologies and guidelines, and asked
that it be acknowledged as meeting the
congressional intent. It was suggested
that a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) be drawn up recognizing AMA
as a community-based organization as
described in the law. The MOU would
also establish the criteria for enacting
the model aviation provision and create
a mutually supportive relationship
between the AMA and the FAA aimed
at maintaining safe aeromodeling
operations within the National
Airspace System (NAS).
In the meeting, representatives of the
UAS Integration Offi ce again expressed
concern regarding Congress’s approach
and expressed the belief that federal
law requires a regulatory approach and
the use of consensus-based, federally
accepted and adopted operating
standards.
Ultimately the offi ce leadership
agreed to review the AMA Safety
Program and to consider AMA’s
suggestion of establishing an MOU.
Although nothing defi nitive was
decided in this meeting, there was a
commitment to revisiting the issue.
So, what about the small UAS Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)?
In the recent meeting with the FAA
representatives, we were again told
that the proposed rule is still under
executive-level review. This is where
the rule has been since September
2011.
There was no indication that the
proposed rule will be published any
time soon; it may well be after the
2012 presidential election or early
2013 before the NPRM is released.
In any case, the sUAS NPRM remains
on the horizon and is still a signifi cant
issue for the modeling community.
Make sure everyone you know is aware
of the impending regulation, and
ensure that everyone who shares our
love for this hobby is well informed
and participates in the response to the
proposed sUAS rule when the NPRM
is published.
Timely updates regarding the sUAS
rule making can also be found on
Facebook by Liking ‘AMAGov,’ and on
Twitter at <Twitter.com/AMAGov>.
—Rich Hanson
Government and Regulatory Affairs