Feds, states preparing new regs for commercial, personal drone use

[October 22, 2015]  By Eric Boehm /  

Over the next decade, the use of drones could add billions to the American economy, but only if red tape doesn’t snarl the take-off.

Federal regulators are beginning the long process of writing rules for when and how drones can be put to commercial use. The Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation are considering mandatory licensing and registration for all commercial drones in the U.S., and maybe for recreational drones, too.

The FAA is chiefly worried about drones interfering with planes and violating individual privacy.

But regulations, licensing rules and requirements for new drone software could be bad news for the growing industry that could one day — soon — deliver just about anything to your front door and may generate $82 billion in economic benefits by 2025, according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

“Drone technology is poised to transform the way we live and work, offering great potential for precision agriculture, aerial surveying and photography, infrastructure inspection, disaster response, parcel delivery and many other applications,” said Marc Scribner, a research fellow with CEI. “The biggest risk to drone technology is well-meaning but overzealous policy makers eager to legislate or regulate restrictions on future applications.”

Media reports of near-misses between drones and airplanes, along with coverage of incidents in which privately owned drones have spied on unsuspecting people, could generate a knee-jerk reaction that harms the growth of the industry.

For situations in which privacy is violated, Scribner says laws already on the books and the legal system should be able to sort things out, without the federal or state governments getting involved.

In announcing the plans to develop new rules for drones, FAA chief Michel Huerta said recreation drones — like the one you might already own or are planning to buy for Christmas — would require federal registration. He told Fox News registration would increase pressure on operators to fly responsibly, adding “there will be consequences” when they don’t.

“There can be no accountability if the person breaking the rules can’t be identified,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx told reporters at a news conference this week.

When it comes to managing airspace and avoiding potentially deadly crashes between airplanes and private drones, the federal government is already falling woefully behind.

The FAA has missed one self-imposed deadline to deal with the issue and won’t complete its planned revamp of airspace rules until at least 2016, according to the Government Accountability Office, which recently whacked the regulators for their tardiness.

In the absence of federal rule making, states are working on drone regulations. Just this year, 166 bills were introduced in 45 state legislatures to regulate or restrict drone usage, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Many of those proposals are duplicative or unnecessary, and they will place a heavier burden on the development of drone technology, Scribner warned.

“The law and the private sector can adapt well to this new technology without the need for stifling new regulation,” he said.