U.S. Senate Committee Advances FAA Bill Including NAAA Advocated Tower Marking and BVLOS UAS Operations Protections for Low Altitude Manned Aircraft

The United States Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved its FAA reauthorization bill, S. 1939, last week. Included within the legislation are NAAA advocated policy directives to the FAA to push tower marking rulemaking and ensure uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) operating beyond visual line of site (BVLOS) are protective of low-altitude manned aircraft. With the backing of U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD), included in the bill’s UAS BVLOS section is language that specifically directs the FAA to “ensure the safe coexistence of UAS with manned aircraft operating in the national airspace system.” This language is nearly identical to language that was included in the House of Representative’s FAA reauthorization bill that passed last summer and is intended to ensure the FAA keeps safety in the forefront of its policy mapping as it develops UAS BVLOS policy, a draft of which is expected from the agency later this year. Also included in the Senate bill is a directive to the FAA to inform it of the status of rulemaking to create a database and require marking of towers in rural areas between 50-200 feet and 10 feet in diameter or less, that was included in the 2016 FAA reauthorization extension. If the FAA has not promulgated the tower marking/logging rules within a year of enactment of its reauthorization bill it must report annually to the Senate as to: “(1) the reasons [it] failed to issue the rulemaking; and (2) a list of fatal aircraft accidents associated with unmarked towers that have occurred over the 5 years previous to the date of submission of the report.”

FAA reauthorization legislation extends and directs the agency’s authority to regulate aviation issues over a multi-year period.  The Senate bill extends FAA authority through 2028. The bill will now head to the Senate floor, though the timing is not yet clear. After the markup, Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee chair Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), suggested that another extension will likely be needed before the current one expires March 8.