AMA responds to FAA registration requirements
On Monday, December 14, the FAA announced a plan to launch a registration system for small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS), or what the media commonly refers to as drones. The AMA Executive Council unanimously approved an action plan to relieve and further protect our members from unnecessary and burdensome regulations. This plan addresses this interim rule requiring federal registration of all model aircraft and sUAS weighing between 0.55 and 55 pounds.
AMA has long used a similar registration system with our members, which we pointed out during the task force deliberations, as well as in private conversations with FAA representatives. As you should already be aware, AMA’s safety program instructs all members to place their AMA number or name and address on or within their model aircraft, effectively accomplishing the safety and accountability objectives of the interim rule.
AMA has also argued that the new registration rule runs counter to Congress’ intent in Section 336 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, otherwise known as the Special Rule for Model Aircraft.
AMA
ACADEMY OF MODEL AERONAUTICS
Safety has been the cornerstone of our organization for 80 years and AMA’s members strive to be a part of the solution.
The AMA Executive Council is considering all legal and political remedies to address this issue. We believe that resolution to the unnecessary federal registration rule for our members rests with AMA’s petition before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. This petition, filed in August 2014, asks the court to review the FAA’s interpretation of the Special Rule for Model Aircraft.
The central issue is whether Congress intended to expand the definition of aircraft to include model aircraft, thus allowing the FAA to apply existing regulations intended for manned aircraft and establish operating criteria to which model aircraft operators have never been subjected.
In promulgating its interim rule for registration in mid-December, the FAA repeatedly stated that model aircraft are aircraft, despite the fact that litigation is pending on this very question. The AMA Executive Council believes that the FAA’s reliance on its interpretation of Section 336 for its authority to compel our members to register warrants the U.S. Court of Appeal’s immediate attention to AMA’s petition.
Although we continue to believe that registration makes sense at some threshold and for fliers operating outside of a community-based organization or flying for commercial purposes, we also strongly believe our members are not the problem and should not have to bear the burden of additional regulations. Safety has been the cornerstone of our organization for 80 years and AMA’s members strive to be a part of the solution.
On a parallel track, the AMA is conducting ongoing conversations with the FAA about how best to streamline the registration process for our members. This is an evolving process that is changing day to day. More details should be available by the time this magazine arrives in your mailbox.
Thank you for your continued support of AMA. We will provide you with updates through the AMA website at www.modelaircraft.org, social media, our blogs, and your email as they become available.
—Chad Budreau
Member of the AMA Government Regulatory Affairs team
ADVOCATING ON YOUR BEHALF
Chad Budreau provides answers to your questions on the Government Relations section of the AMA website: www.modelaircraft.org/gov. Visit regularly for updates.
Chad’s blog contains information about timely topics and news items. Check out the AMA government relations blog at http://amablog.modelaircraft.org/amagov. This complex issue affects the entire aeromodeling community.
