US Government Reinstates FAA Drone Registration

Back in 2015, the FAA began requiring small drone owners to register their drone and attach a registration code on their sides. Many were critical of the registration rules and believed that, while registration made sense for more commercial drones, it didn’t make sense to put additional regulations onto the public drone community. Regardless, owners of drones weighing more than 0.55 pounds and less than 55 pounds had to pay a $5 registration fee to keep their drones legal. However last May, a D.C. Circuit judge overruled the FAA’s enforced registration rules. Since then, drone owners no longer had register their drones with the FAA, but thanks to a recently passed bill, that’s all about to change.

President Trump this week signed a bill that will reinstate the required registry of drones weighing between 0.55 pounds and 55 pounds into law. The registry was small a part of a $700 billion National Defense Authorization Act.

https://youtu.be/NmQ19BNTHoQ

The FAA is happy with the registry rules being signed into law, having said that “Ownership identification helps promote safe and responsible drone operation and is a key component to full integration.”

It appears that the rules will be similar to the registration before. Small drone owners must register their drones at the FAA’s site for Unmanned Aircraft System registration service. The registration will also still be $5 and you still have to put the registration code on the side your drone.

So, if you own a drone that falls into that weight category (which pretty much every drone does) you now have to register it for it to be legal. You can get the full list of rules here.

Sean Berry
Sean Berry
Sean Berry is Videomaker's managing editor.

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