Trump Adminstration Moves to Establish Drone Policy
A new drone policy proposed by the Trump Administration allows drone operations up to 200 feet above ground or even 400 feet where appropriate. Photo: UPS
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A new drone policy proposed by the Trump Administration allows drone operations up to 200 feet above ground or even 400 feet where appropriate. Photo: UPS
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The Trump Administration is making moves to establish a coherent federal policy governing the use of drones in delivery applications, according to the political blog Politico. The report notes that a presidential memorandum, issued Wednesday, Oct. 25th, directs the Department of Transportation to establish a pilot program inviting state and local governments, in partnership with private entities, to enter into agreements with the Federal Aviation Administration for sweeping waivers of current regulations on activities like flying at night and over people.
Politco says DOT has six months to enter into at least five agreements pertaining to delivery drone operation, and the program is set to last three years. The information gathered from local and state experiments with drone operations will inform future regulatory actions, but the report notes, FAA has been clear that it thinks state and local participation will be necessary for the foreseeable future. The memorandum allows for proposals for drone operations up to 200 feet above ground or even 400 feet where appropriate. More details will come in a federal register notice in the coming days or weeks.
Rep. Jason Lewis (R-Minn.), who had previously proposed a similar program, said the pilot should go even further in allowing states and municipalities to set restrictions on drone flights. “Amazon wants to take that delivery right down your avenue on Sunday morning,” Lewis told POLITICO. “The question is, who should decide that?”
Additionally, Politico reports, FAA is looking for applications submitted jointly from a state or municipality and a private entity for a specific program. Ideally, the applications would be from “a commercial operation or first responder operation or, quite frankly, anything innovative that a …Read the rest of this story
