Lawmakers Emphasize Need for ‘Critical’ FAA Remote ID Rule

Establishing remote identification standards for unmanned aircraft is essential for addressing national security and privacy standards, lawmakers told us. A lobbyist said senior-level officials at the Department of Transportation and the FAA haven't shown any urgency.

The FAA needs “to get the remote ID done. They just have to,” Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., told us. “It’s going to be absolutely critical to be able to determine who’s doing what, from a national security standpoint, from a privacy standpoint.” After a recent hearing with FAA Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Office Director Earl Lawrence (see 1805080059), Tester said he contacted staff to ensure the agency has adequate funding for the remote ID rule. He will seek budget answers when the agency budget comes up, even though he doesn’t sit on the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, with FAA jurisdiction.

Tester is on the Senate Commerce Aviation Operations, Safety and Security Subcommittee, which held the recent hearing with Lawrence. “Remote ID is essential, and privacy concerns need to be dealt with, and the security issues will largely be dealt with remote ID, but that’s going to have to be a system that works,” Aviation Chairman Roy Blunt, R-Mo., told us. Lawrence told lawmakers his office is working on a remote ID NPRM and his office has adequate resources. The Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs announced in its most recent quarterly agenda that the NPRM is expected in May 2019.

Michael Drobac, who lobbies for the Small UAV Coalition for McGuireWoods Consulting, said there has been “a total lack of clarity as to where this is, or who’s in charge.” He said Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and FAA Administrator Daniel Elwell haven't given any indication on the timeline or scope of the NPRM. Lawrence suggested his office can glean information for the NPRM from the unmanned aircraft system traffic management (UTM) pilot program and the three-year innovation pilot program. The UTM program was supposed to begin in April 2017, but just recently started, and IPP recently announced program participants.

Since December 2016, the FAA hasn't been permitted to issue drone-related rules because DOJ put an informal hold until federal law enforcement has a method for tracking drone operators. DOJ, DOD and the Department of Homeland Security consult FAA on national security components of regulating drones, and there's no indication from those agencies they are taking those actions, Drobac said: “We haven’t heard of any companies being asked these questions.” Drobac said Lawrence signaled the program is moving forward, but he needs a nudge from the White House and Chao. Without strong movement from FAA and DOT, he said, the industry will just “freeze,” allowing other countries to move ahead of the U.S.

“These important security measures will help pave the way for expanded UAS operations, including flights over people and beyond-line-of-sight operations,” said Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International CEO Brian Wynne, who testified with Lawrence. Douglas Spotted Eagle, an FAA safety and training adviser who works for Sundance Media Group, a production company with commercial drone expertise, said the concept of remote ID has been discussed since 2012, but the conversation began accelerating two years ago with the growth of the industry. Drobac said remote ID came into the spotlight when lawmakers realized foreign countries threatened to outpace U.S. innovation. Spotted Eagle said remote ID will have public safety benefits, identifying who's flying what and where, plus helping to identify nefarious actors and holding operators accountable for incidents.

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, told us drones have been “underutilized” in disaster response and management. He wants to ensure the Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Agency for International Development take full advantage of technology that’s emerging quickly: “I want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to maximize potential to save lives. Examining infrastructure, getting cool photography -- that’s cool to me, but this can save lives and a lot of them if we deploy the technology quickly.” FAA and DOT didn't comment.