Drone Registration: Just In Time For The Holidays?

As you may know, the FAA is working on regulations that will govern the operation of unmanned aircraft systems (“UAS”), more commonly and colloquially referred to as “drones.”

With the concern that thousands of drones will be flying off the shelves this Christmas, the concern and, in some circles panic, has gotten the FAA’s attention. Despite its efforts to educate the public regarding drone do’s and do not’s, the FAA came to the conclusion that registration of drones would be a good idea. Why, you might ask? Well, first, since the FAA considers drones to be aircraft, and under 49 U.S.C. 44101(a) a person may only operate an aircraft in the National Air Space (“NAS”) if it is registered with the FAA’s aircraft registration branch. Additionally, and perhaps more in response to the anticipated post-holiday proliferation of drones, the FAA feels drone registration will “promote a culture of accountability while achieving a maximum level of compliance.”

So, what did the FAA do? It formed a Task Force to develop recommendations for the creation of a drone registration process which the FAA would ultimately use to promulgate drone registration rules. The Task Force was comprised of number of individuals from a variety of groups and organizations representing both aviation and non-aviation perspectives on drones. After meeting several times, On November 21, 2015 the Task Force issued recommendations to the FAA addressing (1) minimum requirements for drones that would need to be registered; (2) a recommended registration process; and (3) methods for proving registration and marking of drones. Let’s take a closer look at these recommendations.

Minimum Requirements

The Task Force recommended that all drones with a maximum take-off weight under 55 pounds and above 250 grams (approximately ½ a pound) and that are operated outdoors in the NAS be subject to registration. The 250 gram minimum was apparently derived from safety studies and risk probability calculations. Drones weighing in excess of 55 pounds are already subject to registration with the FAA. Thus, if you don’t intend to ever operate your drone outside, you wouldn’t need to register. But that would probably only apply to a very small segment of drone operators. Otherwise, most drones would be subject to registration under the Task Force’s recommendation.

The Registration Process

For those drones subject to registration, the registration process recommended by the Task Force would require the drone operator to complete, at no cost to the drone operator, an electronic registration form through the web or using a yet-to-be-developed application (“App”). The drone operator would need to provide the FAA with the operator’s name and street address. The Task Force suggested that an operator could also provide its mailing address, email address, telephone number, and serial number of the operator’s drones, but that disclosure of this additional information should not be mandatory.

According to the recommendations, a drone operator would not need to register each individual drone, although the web-portal or App that would be used for registration would allow registration of individual drones. Rather, the Task Force has recommended that the drone registration system be owner/operator based. Thus, the drone operator would receive a single registration number that would be used with all drones that the operator wants or needs to register. (Sounds like “drone operator registration” to me, not “drone registration”).

The Task Force recommended that drone operators registering drones must be at least 13 years old to register, but drone operators are not subject to the U.S. citizenship requirements that apply to registration of other aircraft with the FAA. Unfortunately, the Task Force does not address how this age-limit impacts the ability of an individual younger than 13 to operate a drone in the NAS. Since the recommendation requires registration for operation in the NAS, this raises a question as to whether individuals younger than 13 will be permitted to operate a drone in the NAS at all.

Once the drone operator completes the registration process, the drone operator would then immediately receive an electronic certificate of registration, via download, or, if the drone operator requests a paper copy or registers directly with the FAA Registry, a paper copy will be sent to the drone operator. The drone operator would also receive a personal universal registration number for use on all drones owned by that drone operator (another reason this is more like “drone operator registration”). Also, the Task Force suggests that the drone operator would have to produce the certificate of registration for inspection anytime the operator is operating a drone in the NAS, although it doesn’t suggest to whom the drone operator would need to produce the certificate of registration. Presumably the FAA, law enforcement, and, perhaps, others?

Marking The Drone

Finally, the Task Force recommended that drone operators would have to place the registration number on all applicable drones before the operator could operate the drones in the NAS. Alternatively, if the drone operator provided the FAA with the serial numbers for any of the operator’s drones during the registration process, the drone operator would need to ensure that the serial number was actually affixed to each drone.

The Task Force suggests that the registration or serial number marking must be readily accessible and maintained in a way so that it will be legible and readable by someone visually inspecting the drone. And the marking does not necessarily need to be on the outside of the drone. If the registration or serial number is in an enclosed compartment, such as a battery compartment, the Task Force felt that would be considered “readily accessible” so long as the compartment can be accessed without the use of tool.

Conclusions

So, those are the Task Force’s recommendations regarding drone registration. Are they binding upon the FAA? No. Will they become part of the FAA’s final drone registration rulemaking? Maybe. Will they be the only requirements in the FAA’s rulemaking? Probably not. The FAA is under a lot of pressure on this issue, so it is possible we will see some rulemaking before Christmas. But for now, we will have to wait and see. Ho, Ho, Ho.

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