Planning on getting your loved ones a drone for Christmas? Be prepared to pay the drone tax.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that owners of small unmanned aircraft (UAS) weighing between 0.55 pounds and 55 pounds, including payloads such as onboard cameras, must register their devices and pay a $5 fee. Owners may register via the web at www.faa.gov/uas/registration. To register, you’ll need to provide your name, home address, and e-mail address. You must be at least 13 years old to register. And if you act quickly, the FAA will waive the fee for the first 30 days: that means no fee payable if you act between December 21, 2015, to January 20, 2016.
Once you’ve registered, you’ll receive a Certificate of Aircraft Registration/Proof of Ownership with a unique identification number for the UAS owner, which must be marked on the aircraft. The registration is valid for three years and the same identification number can be used on all of your model UAS.
The FAA expects a lot of drones to go flying off the shelves this holiday season. Consumer Technology Association (CTA)™ – formerly the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® – expects the U.S. market will approach $105 million in revenue in 2015; that’s a 52% increase over 2014. Of the 700,000 units that CTA expects to be sold, nearly 400,000 units will be sold during the current holiday season.
FAA Administrator Huerta says, about the changes, “Registration gives us the opportunity to educate these new airspace users before they fly so they know the airspace rules and understand they are accountable to the public for flying responsibly.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx also touted the registration as a good move. “Make no mistake: unmanned aircraft enthusiast are aviators, and with that title comes a great deal of responsibility,” said Secretary Foxx. “Registration gives us an opportunity to work with these users to operate their unmanned aircraft safely. I’m excited to welcome these new aviators into the culture of safety and responsibility that defines American innovation.”
Not everyone is thrilled about the changes.
Douglas Johnson, vice president, technology policy, CTA, and member of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) UAS Registration Task Force, believes that a consumer drone registration system is a good step but says that the CTA disagrees with the registration fee, which he labeled a “drone tax.” The tax, he says, will hamper registration and discourage compliance.
Johnson had expressed concern about the fee even before the FAA’s announcement, saying, “Even a small fee – essentially a drone tax – could undermine the FAA’s objective of widespread compliance and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx’s goal of associating a drone with an owner as often as possible.” To be successful, Johnson says, “an efficient drone registration system with widespread compliance must be simple, easy and free.”
The new requirements, which will take effect on December 21, 2015, require owners to register their devices and pay the fee by February 19, 2016. However, any UAS purchased for use as a model aircraft must be registered before it takes off outdoors for the first time. You can read all about the new rules here (downloads as a pdf).
