President Trump has signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a $700 billion defense bill containing a provision restoring the FAA’s registration rules for small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS).

The previous registration rules for sUAS were struck down last May by a federal court because the court determined the registration requirements violated the 2012 FAA Modernization and Reform Act, which states the FAA “may not promulgate any rule or regulation regarding a model aircraft.” However, the court added Congress was “always free to repeal or amend” the 2012 prohibition on the FAA’s model aircraft rules. Congress, via the NDAA, heard the court and amended the 2012 law by restoring the sUAS registration requirements.

There should now be significantly more staying power in sUAS registration requirements, because instead of simply an FAA rule, it is now enshrined into law.

A small UAS is defined as weighing less than 55 pounds, but more than 0.55 pounds. More than 770,000 sUAS were registered before the old rule was struck down.

NAAA has long been advocating for the safe integration of UAS into the national airspace to protect manned aircraft. In addition to UAS registration requirements, NAAA has promoted the installation of an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out technology on all UAS, visible strobe lighting, rigorous training for UAS pilots and requiring all UAS to get an airworthiness certificate from the FAA.