House Passes FAA Reauthorization Bill With Voice Cellphone Use Ban, Tower, UAV Language
The House passed the FAA Reauthorization Act (HR-302) Wednesday 398-23. The compromise bill, which the leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees released over the weekend, recertifies the FAA for five years. It includes language clarifying how wireless towers…
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should be marked to protect low-flying aircraft and several provisions aimed at unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems. All covered towers would, within a year of enactment, be required to be “clearly marked consistent” with FAA 2015 guidance. The Wireless Infrastructure Association believes the language “will protect the safety of low-flying aviation without imposing burdensome regulations that would have impeded the deployment of next-generation 5G wireless services,” said Legislative Affairs Head Matt Mandel in a statement. HR-302 would direct the Department of Transportation to issue regulations banning “an individual on an aircraft from engaging in voice communications” using a cellphone or other mobile device during flight. Flight crews, flight attendants and law enforcement officers would be exempted for duty-specific voice communications. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai earlier pulled the plug on a long-running proceeding on relaxing rules on cellphone calls on commercial flights (see 1704100066). HR-302's UAV language in part clarifies the FAA's role in regulating recreational drones and directs further study about how to delineate the extent to which the agency can pre-empt state, local and tribal governments' ability to regulate UAVs. The FAA would be required to work with DOT and NTIA on privacy-related UAV issues. HR-302 also addresses the potential use of UAVs to attack a “covered facility or asset.” CTA believes the UAV language “helps clear the way for the FAA to implement beyond-line-of-sight, flight-over-people and nighttime drone operations, which our nation needs to fully realize the benefits of drone technology,” said President Gary Shapiro in a statement. The UAV “also outlines ways consumers may fly their drones responsibly without being grounded by unreasonable rules. The drone portion of this bill provides a boost of clarity and confidence to this growing sector of the tech industry.”