Marking Requirements for Towers Under 200 Feet Set to Become Federal Law
New UAS Safety Provisions
Next Steps
The bill is widely expected to pass the House and Senate within the next week as FAA spending authority expires on July 15 and the legislation must pass to keep the FAA running. While the bill could be slightly amended in the Senate, it shouldn’t change drastically. NAAA will let you know when it’s signed into law so we can all celebrate greater safety in the low-level altitude.
Must-See: NAAA’s First President on How It All Began
To commemorate NAAA’s 50th anniversary, the association has been exploring its history through a series of articles in Agricultural Aviation and in a documentary that will premiere at our annual convention in Long Beach, Calif., in December. In advance of the documentary, NAAA has produced a series of 50th anniversary “flashback” segments that highlight key moments and demonstrate why we need a strong national association for agricultural aviators. For our first flashback, NAAA’s inaugural president, Dick Reade, explains how it all began.
NAAA members and all aerial applicators owe a debt of gratitude to its founding fathers for the foresight they demonstrated in the mid-1960s. At that time, a perfect storm of new regulations confronted the aerial application industry, so Reade and a number of other visionaries established NAAA in 1966 as a national organization focused solely on advocating aerial application’s interests to the public, Congress and regulatory agencies. Federal agencies that had taken an interest in agricultural aviation included the newly formed EPA and the FAA as it was beginning to enforce its new Part 137 rules governing agricultural aircraft operations in the United States.
NAAA’s roots are one of several aspects that will be covered in our upcoming documentary. The informative video will also explore key drivers of the association’s development and growth over the course of NAAA’s history, as well as the essence of what makes NAAA NAAA. Thirty-two subjects were interviewed for the documentary, including numerous past presidents—most notably Reade, NAAA’s first president—and NAAA’s 50th and current president, Brenda Watts.
You can catch the world premiere of the NAAA documentary on Dec. 6 at the 2016 convention’s General Session in Long Beach. After the video, a panel of NAAA past presidents and industry leaders will expound on NAAA’s origins, successes and future. In that same vein, following the panelists, futurist Bob Treadway will help attendees envision what lies ahead for the agricultural aviation industry in the years to come.
Attendee registration for the 2016 NAAA Convention is open now.
NAAA’s UAV Safety Concerns Highlighted in Delta Farm Press
NAAA Executive Director Andrew Moore was interviewed by the Delta Farm Press on the aerial application industry’s reaction to the FAA’s new small UAS rule. His comments were published in the Farm Press Blog, which is frequented by farmers in the mid-South.
Moore spoke with Delta Farm Press Associate Editor David Bennett about the pros and cons of the small UAS rule in the eyes of ag pilots from a safety standpoint. NAAA is happy with the fact that the final small UAS rule requires UAV operators to give the right of way to manned aircraft and that UAVs must stay below 400 feet when they fly, but Moore said that the lack of lighting or tracking equipment means that “we’re basically depending on the UAV operators to avoid ag planes.” NAAA also feels that the FAA set the bar too low in terms of the requirements to operate a commercial UAV. “You just have to be 16 years old, pass a written test and a TSA security check. The FAA requires no type of pilot license or requirements demonstrating any operational control of the UAV,” Moore said.
2017 NAAA Membership Renewal is Around the Corner; Auto Renewal Now Available
August is right around the corner and that means you will soon receive your membership renewal information in the mail; however, there is no need to wait! You can renew your membership at AgAviation.org by logging into your account in the upper right hand corner. Once you’ve logged in, click Membership Renewal on the left-hand toolbar (as seen in the graphic below).
Auto Renewal Information
- When you receive your renewal statement in August, mark the box in the payment area for auto renewal.
- Renew your membership online and you’ll be asked during the process if you’d like auto renewal.
- Call the NAAA office at 202-546-5722 and request auto renewal.
- Return the membership form from the Summer and Winter 2016 Agricultural Aviation magazine issues and mark the box in the payment area for auto renewal.
- Stay up to date on the latest regulations. You never know what the federal government will try to do next, and NAAA helps you stay up to date on all the latest laws affecting our industry so you can avoid hefty fines.
- Protection against unnecessary and overly burdensome regulations. NAAA vows to protect the interests of its members by working with policymakers and pursuing support for policies favorable to our industry—including the exemption of NPDES pesticide general permits, and as mentioned above, continuing to push for more stringent marking requirements for towers under 200 feet and ensuring the safe integration of UAVs into the NAS while proactively safeguarding low-level aviation. Your dues provide NAAA with the advocacy resources to foster support for aerial application interests and education of elected officials about the important role aerial applicators play in agricultural production and public health protection.
- NAAA has worked with its agricultural and public health allies to support H.R. 897, the Zika Vector Control Act, which would be a major first step toward permanently eliminating NPDES PGPs for our industry and recently helped it pass through the House of Representatives.
- NAAA has succeeded in placing tower-marking requirements in both the House and Senate FAA reauthorization bills, virtually ensuring that the marking of towers below 200 feet and the creation of a tower database becomes law in the near future.
- NAAA has ensured its members are exempt from the 19.4 cents (avgas) and 21.4 cents (Jet A) per gallon fuel tax, saving our industry roughly $20 million per year.
- UAV bill stuffers that you can use in the bills that you send to your customers to ensure UAV users take into account the safety of low-flying manned aircraft, such as ag aircraft, when operating UAVs.
- Receive relevant and valuable benefits such as access to the NAAA Member’s Only section of the website, the NAAA Media Relations Kit, the new Flying for Your Food brochure, and the 2017 NAAA Membership Directory, which will be chockfull of NAAA resources available to you, NPDES pesticide general permit compliance resources, and your one-stop shop to find aerial application parts, services, equipment, pilots and/or work in the industry.
- Continue receiving this NAAA eNewsletter, which keeps you up-to-date between the published issues of Agricultural Aviation and contains significant information keeping you abreast of important things happening in the industry to help your bottom line as an ag pilot, operator, or if your business is aligned with the agricultural aviation industry.
- Continually evolving education programs and services such as the Professional Aerial Applicators’ Support System (PAASS) that reduce aviation accidents and save lives. PAASS attendees can receive potential discounts through their insurance providers. PAASS and other NAAA education programs also qualify for continuing education units applicators use to renew their commercial pesticides licenses.
- Reduced fees to attend the NAAA Convention for attendees and exhibitors.
Attention, Exhibitors! Booth Sales Begin July 11 for 2016 NAAA Convention
Five Reasons to Exhibit at the 2016 NAAA Convention!
- The world’s largest targeted audience of purchasers of ag aviation equipment, parts and services will be attending the convention and will have the opportunity to obtain more information about your company and products.
- You can educate the attendees about your products and/or services. Show a demonstration or give away a sample or a takeaway (if applicable).
- Exhibiting enhances your company’s credibility and commitment to what you are offering.
- Networking with attendees on the trade show floor will generate new sales and/or leads and potential business partnerships for your company. You can visit with current customers to ensure a strong relationship and you will walk away with new contacts and very likely sales.
- Raise awareness about your company.
Convention Details
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