The National Defense Authorization Act that Congress passed on Nov. 16 reinstates the Federal Aviation Administration’s registration rules for small, model-aircraft-sized drones.
The NDAA is on its way to the White House for the president’s signature.
The rule for small drones, which the FAA classifies as unmanned aircraft weighing less than 55 pounds and more than 0.55 pounds, were set in 2015 and aimed at managing the growing numbers of the aircraft in increasingly crowded national airspace. The online registration requirement included a $5 fee for both commercial and recreational drone operators using such aircraft.
