In the face of increasing public and congressional pressure to speed up access to domestic skies for commercial drone use, the FAA granted four companies permission to use drones for aerial surveillance, construction site monitoring and oil rig flare stack inspections. This brings the total number of companies granted permits for commercial operations to 13, including the previous two oil companies in Alaska and seven aerial photography companies associated with television and film production.
The new permits, granted to Trimble Navigation Limited, VDOS Global LLC, Clayco Inc. and Woolpert Inc., allow the companies to operate drones that weigh less than 55 pounds under the condition that the companies will keep the unmanned aircraft within the line-of-sight of the operator. The decision was announced by the FAA soon before a House hearing at which lawmakers warned that if the FAA does not move faster to enact regulations, Congress may step in to speed up the process.
To date, the FAA has received 167 requests from commercial entities for exemptions, as the U.S. currently stands in contrast to many other countries that allow drones for infrastructure surveillance, agricultural use or even remote deliveries. One of the outstanding requests comes from Amazon, which sent a letter to the FAA earlier this week threatening to divert more of its research abroad if the agency does not allow it to conduct more tests domestically. The company sought permission to test drones outdoors on private property near its Seattle headquarters in July, but the FAA has yet to grant the e-retail giant an exemption to its ban on commercial drone operations. Beyond that, the FAA’s proposed regulations are unlikely to permit the sort of automated drones Amazon hopes to use for its deliveries at all, instead limiting commercial drone use to piloted flights within the site of the operator.
This latest round of permits indicate a willingness by the FAA to begin opening up the market further, yet the progress is unlikely to be enough to mollify those who argue the agency is proceeding too slowly. While the FAA finalizes its proposed rules on commercial drone use, most other regulations are stuck in a holding pattern, as states and local governments are reticent to regulate when federal action may preempt any actions they take. The agency is expected to release a proposal for drones weighing up to 55 pounds by the end of the year, yet the sheer volume of public comment expected means the rulemaking process may take months — or longer — to be finalized.
