Prior to August 29, 2016, where the latest FAA regulations in regard to UAS operation went into effect, the FAA document number N 8900.227 entitled “National policy: The Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Operational Approval” is used to describe the regulation surrounding the UAS operation in the United States. The policy carefully explains all aspects of UAS operation, from the airworthiness of the aircraft to the operator training and risk mitigation. Getting familiar with these regulations was necessary for anyone who was planning to own or operate a UAS. The document was temporarily issued until the future regulations that proposed in the FAA roadmap replaces what the above document mandated. It took the FAA few years to amend its regulations to allow the legal operation of small unmanned aircraft systems in the National Airspace System. The new rules were published in the Federal Register (Vol. 81 Number 124 Part II [1]) on June 28, 2016 and it went into effect on August 29, 2016. The new rules were added as a new part 107 to Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) to allow for routine civil operation of small UAS in the NAS and to provide safety rules for those operations. The new rules, which are publicly known as PART 107, become the latest official policy to govern the commercial operation of small UAS in the National Airspace System (NAS). The article "What You Need to Know to Legally Operate Your Drone Under New FAA Regulation [2]" briefly describes the new rules, and it is a good read for anyone that is trying to understand PART 107.
Prior to the issuing of PART 107, the FAA achieved one of its most important milestones, which is the selection of the 6 sites for the "UAS Test Site Program." The 6 sites selection represented the first serious step by the FAA toward the integration of the UAS into the NAS. Among tens of applicants, the FAA On December 30, 2013 announced the selection of the following 6 agencies to operate UAS test sites as it is quoted below:
In totality, these six test applications achieve cross-country geographic and climatic diversity and help the FAA meet its UAS research goals of System Safety & Data Gathering, Aircraft Certification, Command & Control Link Issues, Control Station Layout & Certification, Ground & Airborne Sense & Avoid, and Environmental Impacts.
Each test site operator manages the use and scheduling of the test site in a way that it gives access to parties interested in using the site. The FAA’s role is to ensure that each operator sets up a safe testing environment and to provide oversight that ensures each site operates under strict safety standards.
Watch the hearing in the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on March 15, 2017 on "Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Innovation, Integration, Successes, and Challenges [7]
Links
[1] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog892/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog892/files/PART107_Federal_Register.pdf
[2] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog892/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog892/files/images/lesson05/FAA-Part-107-7-Things-to-Know.pdf
[3] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog892/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog892/files/PART107_RIN_2120-AJ60_Clean_Signed.pdf
[4] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog892/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog892/files/FAA-2013-0061-0104_test-site-program.pdf
[5] https://www.faa.gov/uas/programs_partnerships/test_sites
[6] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog892/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog892/files/TRB2013_Regulations.pdf
[7] https://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/hearings?ID=FD65111D-3DD5-472B-8C91-AEED13D00AE0