Short-Term FAA Reauthorization Likely Soon; FAA May Release Final Drone Rule This Week


Legislative Activity

Short-Term FAA Reauthorization Likely Soon

The current short-term Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) extension expires on July 15, leaving just four weeks for Congress to pass another short-term extension or a long term reauthorization bill. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) recently admitted that Congress will have to pass another short-term extension to buy enough time to work out a long-term reauthorization bill, after months of saying he did not want a short-term extension or to take up the Senate’s reauthorization bill.

The Senate passed its reauthorization, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2016 (H.R. 636), months ago, but the House’s bill, the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act (H.R. 4441), has faced significant opposition from Democrats and some Republican appropriators and tax-writers.

How long the short-term extension will be is still unclear. Chairman Shuster is expected to advocate for a longer extension, while Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) will likely advocate a shorter extension to keep pressure on the House to take up the Senate’s bill. Complicating matters, FAA reauthorization is likely the only bill with a tax title that Congress will pass this year. Because of this, Members of Congress may attempt to add contentious tax provisions to the FAA bill, making an extension into 2017 more palatable to Members who want to avoid these tax fights during the lame duck period.

Regulatory Activity

FAA May Release Final Drone Rule This Week

The FAA may release its long-awaited final rule that would permit commercial use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) this week. FAA published the notice of proposed rulemaking nearly a year and a half ago, and the UAS industry has been keeping up the pressure on FAA to finalize the rule. While the commercial use of UAS is currently allowed through a limited Section 333 exemption process, the process is cumbersome and takes commercial users a significant amount of time to get approved.

The proposed rule would have restricted UAS operation to daytime hours and up to 500 feet above ground level, among other restrictions. However, the proposed rule received significant criticism from the commercial UAS industry, including because it would limit out of line-of-sight operation.

Both the House and Senate FAA reauthorization bills include significant UAS policy changes, including directing FAA to expand allowable operations and establish a risk-based permitting process.

This Week’s Hearings:


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National Law Review, Volume VI, Number 172