We’ve heard from a credible (non-government) source that the FAA’s Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) for small drones (sUAS) should be released this Friday, February 13th (yes, Friday the 13th).  Unfortunately, I will be in the air on my way to a long weekend of skiing in Colorado, so (assuming the NPRM is released this week) I probably won’t get around to publishing my initial comments until sometime next week.

Note that the NPRM will be just one step in the process.  There will be a comment period of several months before any rules can have the force of law.  Then there may be challenges in the courts, which could take years to resolve.  And, of course, Congress could step in at any point along the way to pass legislation that might effectively repeal FAA regulations, in whole or in part, and replace them with a different or modified framework.  We still don’t really know how all of this is going to play out.

Until some enforceable rules are in place, the only option for commercial operators to comply with FAA requirements will continue to be to apply for exemptions under Section 333.