FAA Announces Drone Remote ID Proposal

So do you remember the last time I had a stack of papers like this on my desk? It was a time of uncertainty, speculation, and frustration for many of you, at least for those of you who are recreational drone pilots. Now I would expect some of those same feelings from many of you today after watching this video. So the FAA recently announced a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the implementation of remote ID for all unmanned aircraft systems in the United States. Now it's been a long road, it's been probably three or four years, but it's finally here. So I've read through most of this proposal and today what I'm going to do is I'm going to break it down in simple terms so you are able to formulate an educated response to send to the FAA before March 1st of 2020. So starting on January 1st, you have until March 1st to express your opinion. So let's go through some of the most important parts of this proposal for remote identification. Hi everyone, Russ here from 51Drones. If you are new to the channel, I make videos about drones and other related tech product reviews and an occasional drone rules video just like this one. So check out a few of my videos and subscribe if you find anything of value or interest. So I'm going to get right into this behemoth of 319 pages so this video doesn't get to be too long. Now I'm not going to interject any of my personal opinions until the very end, so if you care to hear my thoughts about all of this, that's where they're going to be. So first off, let me quickly describe what remote identification is. So long ago, the FAA was tasked with developing a way to remotely identify unmanned aircraft systems and the purpose was to address safety and national security concerns as the skies continue to fill up with UAVs or drones. I'm going to say the word drones from now on. I apologize to those of you who still want to call them UAVs or quadcopters or whatever. When I say the word drones, it means I'm talking about anything that flies in the sky that's not manned. I don't want to argue about the nomenclature today and please know that these rules will also apply to traditional RC aircraft. So as more and more drones enter the national airspace system, both from a recreational standpoint as well as a commercial one, there is a correlative increase in safety concerns like who is flying where and what's their purpose of flying wherever they're flying. Do they have ill intent? Are they near other aircraft or are they flying over sensitive activities on the ground? The purpose of remote identification is to mitigate catastrophes and prevent harm to people and property. And then the biggest reason it's here is to set the foundation for everything from this point moving forward regarding commercial drone infrastructure. Nothing moves forward in the commercial sector until remote ID is established and this is why organizations like the Commercial Drone Alliance are doing their happy dance today. Now I also want to make sure that you know we're not just talking about Amazon and Pizza Hut here. The commercial drone sector includes so many different things. Things like inspections, safety, industry, agriculture, transportation and much much more. So don't just blame Jeff Bezos for this. But basically that's remote ID in a nutshell. Now the development of remote ID consists of three parts that are all happening at the same time. First is the establishment of rules for drone operators as well as production standards for manufacturers. That's where this proposal comes in. Second is the establishment of remote ID service providers that would collect real-time data from drones that are in flight. Basically these are like contractors much like we see with the Lance system today. Companies like Kitty Hawk and AirMap. And then thirdly is the collection of technical requirements that guide the production and design of these new drones. These rules if they become law will apply to every single type of drone that will be flying in the sky both recreational and commercial with three exceptions. One is amateur built drones. Two are drones that are owned by the United States government. And three drones that weigh less than 0.55 pounds or 250 grams. Now I'm going to talk a little bit more about that in just a minute. Now there's going to be two categories of remote ID. There's going to be standard and limited. Standard is going to be required to broadcast the ID and location information directly from the drone and at the same time transmit through the internet to a remote ID service provider. Limited on the other hand would be required to transmit through the internet only and not be able to broadcast directly from the drone. Now the limited category would have a 400 foot distance limit from the operator. Now any drones that don't have remote ID technology will be required to fly only in specific geographic areas. And this includes homemade drones or older drones that don't have remote ID technology on them. Now I'm going to expand on these categories in just a minute. This proposed rule would facilitate the collection and storage of data such as identity, location, and altitude of unmanned aircraft as well as the control station or the operator. And this data would be tied to the registration information of that aircraft as well. So what this means is that every drone would require registration rather than simply registering the pilot as it is now for hobbyists. Right now if you're a hobbyist and you have 10 drones, you are only required to register once as a hobbyist drone pilot. But under these new rules and regulations, each of those 10 drones would need to be registered. This proposed rule also imposes requirements on production and design for any drones being designed for operations within the United States. So let me summarize that again. All drones will need to be registered and all drones sold in the U.S. will need to have the FAA stamp of approval and certification for complying with remote ID requirements. This proposal states that everyone has a part in the new remote ID rules. Drone owners, drone operators, designers and producers, ID compliance developers, and the service providers. And everyone has three years after the final rulemaking and the rulemaking is going to take about 18 months. So at least they understand the complexity of it all and they give everyone time to get things in order. So we're effectively looking at over four years before any of this is complete. Now I did have someone ask me today, does this mean that those of us that have drones that we're flying today are going to be grandfathered in? And the answer is no, there's no grandfathering in. What will happen is if your drone has the ability to be retrofitted, to have remote ID technology like active in it, then those drones will be able to be flown under these new rules. But if you have a drone right now that cannot be retrofitted and does not have the ability to update to remote ID technology, you will not be able to fly that drone unless you're in one of those designated areas. So basically as a drone owner, you'll have to register each drone. As a drone operator, you'll have to ensure that your drone meets remote ID requirements in one of three ways. Standard remote ID, which is a system that is capable of connecting to the internet, to a service provider, as well as broadcast directly from the drone. And it has to have a serial number on it that is listed on an FAA declaration of compliance. And you need to make sure that all of your remote ID equipment is operational before each flight. Now, the second way is as a limited remote ID drone, which is a drone that is designed to fly no more than 400 feet away from the controller and is capable of connecting through the internet to a service provider, but it cannot broadcast directly from the drone. And then the third way is a drone without remote ID. If it's a drone you built yourself, you can only fly in designated areas that are predetermined and approved by a community-based organization, which are defined by the FAA. Or if you have a drone that was manufactured without remote ID equipment on it, you can only fly in those designated areas. But as this proposal is written, and this is huge, a sub-250 gram drone like the DJI Mavic Mini, for instance, will still not be required to be registered, thus being immune to remote ID requirements. So a while ago when I said that the sub-250 gram drone meant nothing in the United States, well, now it does mean something. So if you want to remain under the radar, so to speak, a drone like the Mavic Mini is the solution. Now that being said, we have four years before this happens. There's going to be a lot of different drones that come out over the next four years. My prediction, this is kind of an opinion, but it's more of a prediction, we're going to see a ton of sub-250 gram drones being released. One caveat, however, with that prediction is that they don't change the registration guidelines. Now you should know everything that I just said is just for recreational use. So if you're going to be using a sub-250 gram drone in any way commercially, you are still required to register it, thus it's going to fall under the remote ID requirements. So one more time, if your drone requires registration, it will require remote ID. And one more time, this is as proposed right now. There's nothing to say that it couldn't change before the final ruling 18 months from now. So in the future, I'm guessing in about two or three years, this is what buying a drone is going to look like. As you shop for a drone, the packaging and the marketing will be clearly labeled as standard RID, limited RID, or no RID required, or no registration required, or something like that. You're going to have some choices and the choice that you make will determine how much you're tracked. And this is going to be a slow rollout. This isn't going happen on one day where everything changes. This is going to slowly change over the next three or four years. So keep in mind that the drones that you have right now, you're still going to be able to fly those three or four years from now, but three years after the rule is made, which is 18 months from now. So three years plus 18 months, I'm not very good at math, but that far away, then you're going to only be able to fly drones that have remote ID technology. Bottom line is we have some time. Now there's a lot more to this proposal, but what I would like you to do after watching this video, there's two things I want you to do. First, there's a link to the proposal in the description down below. Go ahead and click on that link, read through say the first 20 or 30 pages. You don't have to read all 319 pages because there's a lot of stuff in there that you really don't need to know. But what I want you to do then is skip ahead and start reading on page 107 and read the scenarios that they've laid out. This kind of gives you some basic guidelines and examples that help describe what the process might look like if this proposal is passed as it is currently written. Starting on January 1st, you have two months to submit your opinion to the FAA on these remote ID proposals. When you submit your comments, use this docket number right here. I'm going to put it up on the down below. I suggest not throwing in the towel and saying you are quitting the hobby and selling all of your drones. That is the very worst possible thing that you can do. And I know some of you are going to say it. I'm going to read the comments tomorrow and they're going to say, this is it. I'm done with this hobby. I'm selling my drones. Don't do that. There's 1.5 million of us. Don't throw in the towel. If we all tell them our opinion, it will make a difference. The best thing you could do, become a part of the collective, state your opinion, and make a difference. It's the only way that this is going to get done fairly. So what's my personal opinion? I believe that recreational pilots, both of drones and RC aircraft, are not even a consideration as the commercial drone industry moves forward. There are billions of dollars to be made and countless industries to progress through commercial unmanned aircraft systems. As a society, the benefits of moving the commercial sector forward far outweigh the interests of someone wanting to have fun or take cool aerial footage. The formulation of a data collection entity that tracks every single move, literally every second that you are in the air, is a deterrent to anyone wanting to fly for fun. Now, are we still going to do it? Yes, many of us are going to continue to fly as we always have, but by doing so, we will voluntarily be surrendering any and all privacy. Who do you think wrote these 319 pages? Do you think there was a single hobbyist advocate that contributed? Aside from deterring the hobby, another negative about this proposal is that it does not consider rural areas, like the state I live in, North Dakota. The guys over at DroneU mentioned this as well, but if your drone is not able to establish an internet connection, then it will not launch. And if there happens to be an emergency situation in a rural area that could save lives with the use of a drone, but it cannot take off, then we move backwards. Also, there's the increased costs. There are many estimates to the price tag of this, but you can be sure that every single drone owner will be paying for it through registration fees and subscriptions to remote ID service providers. These contractors are going to get their money from somewhere, and it's going to come from us. Also, this proposal calls for outlawing any type of ADS-B technology because of the instability at lower altitudes and high congestion of those frequencies. But my question is, why not allow ADS-B for rural areas where there isn't so much frequency congestion? And as for drones weighing under 250 grams being immune to these new rules, page 73 of this proposal hints at the possibility of amending registration rules so that every drone, regardless of weight, would need to comply. And page 74 of this proposal basically says, yeah, you can fly as a recreational pilot, but it needs to be right here in this cage. So go ahead and enjoy taking aerials of the swamp down below you. The takeaway here, this proposal for remote ID is the foundational framework to allow beyond visual line of sight flights to advance the commercial drone sector, while at the same time, bringing the recreational drone industry to a screeching halt. I don't want this video to get much longer, so I'm going to wrap it up here. Now, I'm probably going to be making at least one more video on this topic, so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss it. Hit the like button if you received any information of value today, and if you want to move on to the next level of appreciation for my work and effort, join my Patreon by clicking right here, even if it's just for one month. I'm going to be discussing this more on that platform, and I would appreciate you joining us. So like I said, there are over 1.5 million drone pilots out there, so let's get this message out to as many of them as we can. Share this video, share the comment portal link, and let's be heard. Thank you for watching today, have a great day, and as always, fly safe and fly smart.