Federal Issues
Earlier this month, the AMA Government Affairs team met with Congressional members and staff from Indiana, Texas, Alaska, Louisiana, Virginia, Oregon, Massachusetts, Arizona, Missouri, and Washington. We also had meetings with the House Transportation Committee, Senate Commerce Committee, the FAA, and various media outlets who wanted to sit down with AMA to discuss the impact of new federal regulations. These meetings will help our long-standing hobby as we begin to work through the implementation of Section 349 with the FAA.
State & Local Issues
To date, we have tracked and monitored nearly 270 proposed state level legislation in 2019, as local governments look to restrict unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) due to privacy and safety concerns. One such problematic bill in New Jersey (A 2880) seeks to require geofencing on all unmanned aircraft sold or operated in the state. At this point, we do not expect this bill to gain support, but our New Jersey members should continue to monitor email in case we need to call upon our members to engage.
We have also been in contact with local lawmakers in North Carolina, South Dakota, and Oklahoma to offer resources and help shape burdensome city ordinances. If you hear of any proposed problematic legislation in your area, please reach out to our government affairs team at amagov@modelaircraft.org.
FAA Registration and External Marking
On February 15, 2019 the FAA posted a rule in the Federal Register requiring all unmanned aircraft owners to display their FAA registration number on an outside of the aircraft. UAS operators may no longer place registration numbers in an interior compartment of the aircraft. The rule went into effect on February 25, 2019. In response to this Interim Final Rule, AMA submitted a public comment you can read in full here.
We continue to receive a lot of questions regarding FAA registration requirements and how to renew current registrations. If you were already registered with the FAA and never requested to have the registration reversed, your registration was automatically extended through December of 2020. Go to https://faadronezone.faa.gov/#/ and click “Log In” in the upper right-hand corner. Use the email address you originally registered with to login. If you do not recall your password, click on the “Forgot Password” link. You’ll receive an email to walk you through resetting your password. Once in your account, you can print a copy of your UAS certificate.
However, any individual who specifically requested that his or her name be taken off the FAA registration database no longer has an FAA registration number in the system and would need to process as a new registrant.
We strongly advise to avoid registering your model aircraft anywhere but at the official FAA website. If you register under Section 336, the fee is $5.00 for a three year registration and hobbyists receive one identification number for all the aircraft he or she owns. Please be aware of unofficial registration websites that charge exorbitant fees or require separate registration fees for each recreational aircraft.
Please contact our government affairs team at 765-287-1256 ext 236 or amagov@modelaircraft.org with any additional questions or concerns. The latest information can be found at www.modelaircraft.org/gov, Model Aviation, and on social media.
As always, thank you for all of your support!
AMA Government Affairs Team