Homeland Security and Public Safety : Drone Regulations Won't Land Until 2017

The Federal Aviation Administration says drone regulations are years away, but some big names want them now.

News Staff | December 11, 2014

Flickr/John Mills

Drones are here, and more are coming, but drone regulations are yet to arrive. In February, Government Technology reportedthat drone test sites across the nation were working to establish guidelines for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) by September 2015. But now, it looks like the deadline won’t be met -- and may even be pushed back to 2017.

More specifically, “The consensus of opinion is the integration of unmanned systems will likely slip from the mandated deadline until 2017 or even later," Gerald Dillingham, director of civil aviation for the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), told the Washington Post.

Some think drone regulations are needed as soon as possible to prevent dangerous situations or knee-jerk legislation. And in a recent address to a congressional house panel, Margaret Gilligan, associate administrator of the FAA, agreed that the process is taking too long.

Without regulations, commercial applications like package delivery and agricultural work continue to live in the concept world, and some, like Amazon, have threatened to move drone research overseas if they don’t get approval to operate domestically.

“Amazon is increasingly concerned that, unless substantial progress is quickly made in opening up the skies in the United States, the nation is at risk of losing its position as the center of innovation for the UAS [unmanned aircraft systems] technological revolution, along with the key jobs and economic benefits that come as a result," Amazon policy executive Paul Misener wrote to the FAA.

A proposal on drone regulations is now under executive review, the FAA reported, but once approved, that proposal must be published for public comment before final review, a process expected to take months.

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