A wide range of organizations that support everything from robotic vehicles, manned aircraft and farmers on Tuesday sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) asking the agency to expedite the rulemaking process for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to operate in the national airspace.
The letter from the 33 groups also asks the FAA to allow the limited use of small UAS for commercial purposes before the final rule is completed. The letter notes that the small UAS rulemaking has been delayed for nearly four years.
“The technology is advancing faster than the regulations to govern it,” the letter states. It also says that, “The current regulatory void has left American entrepreneurs and others either sitting on the sidelines or operating in the absence of appropriate safety guidelines. The recreational community has proven that community-based safety programming is effective in managing this level of activity, and we highly encourage the FAA to allow similar programming to be used to allow the small UAS industry to establish appropriate standards for safe operation.”
The Association of Unmanned Vehicles Systems International, one of the signees of the letter, estimates that the integration of UAS will create 100,000 new jobs and $82 billion in economic impacts in the first decade of integration.
Other signees include the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the Airborne Law Enforcement Association, Airports Council International—North America, American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, the National Press Photographers Association, and the Realtors Land Institute.