Joel Roberson is an Associate in the
Washington D.C. office
Last week, there were two key developments in the effort to
integrate unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the national
airspace.
First, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) testified
before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at a
June 17 hearing entitled a "Drones: The Next
Generation of Commerce." During the hearing, members
of Congress expressed their frustration regarding the lack of
progress towards a final rulemaking establishing the parameters for
commercial use of small UAS – under 55 pounds –
in the national airspace. During this hearing, Michael
Whitaker, Deputy Administrator of the FAA, testified that the small
UAS final rulemaking would be issued within one year from the
hearing – i.e., by June 2016. This would finalize
the notice
of proposed rulemaking issued by the FAA on February 15,
2015. This is notable because the final rulemaking would
establish U.S.
