UPDATE TO FAADRONEZONE REGISTRATION AND RENEWAL PROCESS
By Tyler Dobbs, Government Affairs Director | tylerd@modelaircraft.org
YOU MIGHT HAVE NOTICED that the FAA has updated the FAADroneZone website to be compliant with Remote ID, a step with which recreational users are not required to comply until September 2023.
The current FAA website now requests that recreational users enter information for each of their UAS upon registration and renewal. AMA feels that this request was in error and has already been in discussions with the FAA regarding this latest update. The FAA has investigated our concerns and informed us that it is working to resolve the issue.
Until this issue is resolved, we have created a guided walk-through for members to follow when registering or renewing with the FAA, which can be found at https://amablog.modelaircraft.org/amagov.
AMA has informed FAA Flight Standards, the department within the FAA that is responsible for recreational registration, that we will be instructing our members with the process outlined in the AMA Advocacy blog until the FAADroneZone website issue is resolved, or until a policy to justify the updated registration process is provided.
Advisory Circular 91-57C
As you might remember from last month’s column, AMA recently met with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to discuss the importance of
Advisory Circular (AC) 91-57C and its release. Although it was expected to be released sometime in late 2020, the AC was delayed at the OMB because of President Joe Biden’s regulatory freeze.
AMA has learned that AC 91-57C has left the OMB and again resides with the FAA. This AC will go through a few procedural processes within the FAA, and then will be published to the Federal Register. It will likely be released sometime in late 2021 or early 2022.
As a reminder, this latest AC version will contain the safety requirements that recreational users are to follow. It also will detail a process for community-based organization (CBO) recognition, information regarding the knowledge and safety test, and operating requirements for night flying in controlled airspace.
