US Senator Mike Lee has reintroduced the Drone Integration and Zoning Act for the 119th Congress, which, among other measures, would require a rulemaking proceeding to update the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) definition of navigable airspace.
The FAA currently regulates navigable airspace, which is typically 500 ft. However, Lee said that the FAA has “taken some liberties in recent years and stated that minimum altitudes of flight for drones is above a blade of grass”.
The bill would require the FAA to designate the area between 200 feet and 400 feet above ground level as “for use of civil uncrewed aircraft systems under the exclusive authority of the Federal Aviation Administrator; and for use by both commercial operators or hobbyists and recreational uncrewed aircraft systems, under rules established by the Administrator”.
The text of the bill continues that the Administrator “shall not authorise the operation of a civil uncrewed aircraft in the immediate reaches of airspace above property without the permission of the property owner”. In addition, in the case of a structure that exceeds 200 feet above ground level, the Administrator “shall not authorise the operation of a civil uncrewed aircraft within 50 feet of the top of such structure; or within 200 feet laterally of such structure or inside the property line of such structure’s owner, whichever is closer to such structure”. Finally, the Administrator “shall not authorise the physical contact of a civil unmanned aircraft, including such aircraft’s take-off or landing, with a structure that exceeds 200 feet above ground level without permission of the structure’s owner”.
If the bill were to pass, the Federal Aviation Administration would establish a process for the designation of routes as authorised commercial routes. The bill states that “no area within 200 feet above ground level may be included in a designated authorised commercial route”. The FAA would approve or decline a route application within 90 days.
The act would also require the Secretary of Transportation to “establish a process under which a state, local, or tribal government may submit an application to the FAA Administrator for the designation of an area as an area of ‘complex airspace’’’.
It would also require changes to the FAA Reauthorisation Act, to include the involvement of state, local and tribal governments. For example, the bill calls for the FAA to establish a process for the interoperability and sharing of data between federal government, state, local, or tribal government, and private sector uncrewed traffic management (UTM) services.
At the same time as presenting the Drone Integration and Zoning Act, Senator Lee also re-introduced the SHIELD-U Act for counter-drone operations, which we have covered separately here.
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