Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx and FAA Administrator Michael Huerta held a press conference on 19 October, 2015, announcing the agencies’ plans to make sure hobbyists register their drones so that they are traceable, newsweek.com reports. A new task force created by the FAA will provide the agency recommendations on how the registration should work by 20 November, 2015.
The document consists of guidelines for the task force to consider. More than 1 million hobbyist drones are expected to be sold this holiday season. The industry has been growing with little government oversight, as rogue drones and unmanned aircraft systems buzz across unauthorised airspaces such as airports or near forest fires.
The document poses 10 questions for the public. Some of the biggest and most open-ended ones are listed below:
How can individual drones be identified, and if so, will every drone need a serial number?
When within the timeline of assemblage to sale should the drones be registered?
Should certain drones be exempt from registration?
Should the registration be done through the Internet?
How will the registration be stored and who has access to the data?
Will there be a registration fee?
The document asks submissions to be sent to docket FAA-2015-4378 at regulations.gov by 6 November, 2015. It does not comprise all the unanswered questions regarding drone regulations. Foxx and Huerta said that fine owners who dont comply with the new regulations will be fined.
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