Watch and Share! NAAA Produces UAV Safety Video

In conjunction with our UAV safety campaign, NAAA has produced a short video titled “Safe UAV Operations Around Low-Flying, Manned Aircraft.” We encourage you to watch and share it with your social and professional networks.

Language Supportive of Aerial Application Research Included in 2016 House Ag Appropriations Markup

NAAA is pleased to report that the association continues to be successful in ensuring the importance of aerial application research to USDA and Congress. The House Appropriations Committee approved the Fiscal Year 2016 Agriculture Appropriations Bill and included language endorsing the continued support of the USDA-ARS Aerial Application Technology Program. The Committee recommended an appropriation of approximately $1.122 billion for the Agricultural Research Service, a small reduction compared with $1.132 billion of funding that the ARS received in Fiscal Year 2015, and equal to what ARS received in 2014.  

 

Since 2002 NAAA has been successful in lobbying the government for an additional $7,112,500 to be invested in aerial application research.

 

The mention of aerial application within House legislation is once again no small feat, as it is one of only a few programs specifically mentioned. The language reads as follows and can be found by going to page 17 here:

Aerial Application Research.—The Committee recognizes the importance of the ARS Aerial Application Technology Program. The program conducts innovative research making aerial applications more efficient, effective, and precise. Research for aerial application serves the public good as a vital tool for the future, as agriculture strives to meet the food, fiber, and bio-energy demands of a growing population.   

The Senate has given no indication as to when it plans to introduce or vote on a bill. NAAA will continue to work for adequate USDA-ARS funding for the continued design of aerial application technologies, tools and techniques that mitigate drift, result in fuel savings and make aerial applications more efficacious. Favorable committee report language sends a strong message to the USDA to continue to sustain appropriate funding for aerial application research, and this message couldn’t be more important as USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), where the aerial application research unit is housed, has had its budget cut over the past few years resulting in the shutdown of 10 research units.

Appropriators Talk UAS in Their 2016 Spending Measures

Both the Senate and House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committees have developed 2016 spending bills with report language containing provisions that call for increased study of UAV technologies.

 

The House Transportation Appropriations bill calls for study of sense-and-avoid technologies, as well as tracking technologies and orders the FAA to deliver a report on the feasibility of using such technologies 180 days after the bill is passed. The language states:

The FAA is directed to assess the feasibility of integrating proven UAS mitigation technology with airport operations in order to detect, identify and track both the air vehicle and ground controller to explicitly identify the UAS without interference to existing airport operations. This assessment should review techniques to defeat an errant or hostile UAS without causing any collateral damage to essential navigation systems, wireless communications, the general public or other airport operations. The Committee directs that FAA [is] to provide a letter report on its findings no later than 180 days after enactment of this Act.

The Senate Transportation Appropriations bill calls for the FAA’s Pathfinder program to be expanded. Pathfinder is a partnership with CNN, BNSF and PrecisionHawk to evaluate UAV uses in the newsgathering, rail monitoring and agriculture sectors, respectively.

 

Both bills call for additional use of the six UAV test sites. The House provides $3 million above President Obama’s budget request for UAS research. The Senate wants the FAA to consider using its six test sites to help decide on applications that can be exempt from the prohibition against commercial use of UAVs.

 

The full House passed its bill June 9; the Senate bill was passed by the Appropriations Committee at the end of June and awaits final passage on the Senate floor. 

U.S. Court of Appeals Rules in Favor of EPA in Major TMDL Case

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit has upheld EPA’s landmark multi-state Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan, rejecting industry claims that the agency exceeded its Clean Water Act (CWA) authority both in crafting the total maximum daily load (TMDL) plan and in its related rules that allow EPA to limit nonpoint pollution in TMDLs. The ruling in EPA’s favor, if it stands and is not appealed, is likely to lead to additional onerous CWA regulations. 

 

In a unanimous June 6 opinion, a three-judge panel of the court backed the agency’s arguments in American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), et al. v. EPA, et al., paving the way for the Chesapeake TMDL policy to proceed—and potentially serve as a model for other interstate water cleanup efforts.

 

AFBF and its ag allies were asking the court to rule that EPA exceeded its CWA authority when it set separate allocations in the TMDL for point and nonpoint sources. Industry also argued that EPA erred when it required “reasonable assurance” that states would meet those goals; and when it set an implementation timeline that states are expected to follow in reducing nutrients and sediment in the bay. The court ruled that AFBF’s arguments lacked merit. AFBF is expected to appeal.

 

Had the court sided with industry it would have vacated the plan just as many of the Chesapeake states are preparing to implement new water rules to meet the TMDL's targets.

 

EPA intends to reassess the plan in 2017 to determine how much progress is being made in cleaning up the Bay. Ahead of that review, environmentalists are beginning to target advanced waste water treatment techniques as a key strategy in offsetting the loss of a substantial trap for sediment and nutrients that is nearly full. NAAA will continue to monitor TMDL developments and keep members informed. 

Attendee Registration Now Open for 2015 NAAA Convention

We look forward to seeing you at the 49th Annual NAAA Convention & Exposition in Savannah, Ga., Dec. 7–10 at the Savannah International Trade & Convention Center and the Westin! You can now register online for the NAAA Convention or you can print and mail a registration form.