Obama Orders Federal Agencies to Craft Commercial Drone Regulations
The Obama Administration has released new guidelines for regulating the use of commercial drones, which could revolutionize the economy and provision of goods and services across industries.
The guidelines were an Official Presidential Memorandum released by the White House. The memorandum gives federal agencies tasked with regulating drones guidance about what to consider when crafting new regulations.
The document listed responsible use, strengthening privacy, and protecting civil liberties as the primary objectives of drone regulation by the federal government. The White House listed several guidelines that it believes will help the government fulfill these goals.
Among those guidelines is that the federal government prevent the collection and sharing of information that may infringe upon the First Amendment right to free speech, or result in discrimination based on age, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, race, gender, or disability.
The memorandum also calls for making public and accessible various agency regulations relating to drones within one year. Government agencies will have to reevaluate their policies when there are marked improvements in drone technology, and barring such technological leaps, the agencies must review their drone regulations every three years.
The agencies responsible for this regulation must begin the work of crafting these rules within 90 days.
Drones are already used in limited circumstances, such as filmmaking, but many industries are not allowed to deploy drones to enhance their operations because there is no regulatory framework in place. The White House notes that drones could help industries as diverse as agriculture, law enforcement, search and rescue, construction, and military training.
Although it won't happen any time soon, these new guidelines bring the United States one step closer to the day where restaurants can use drones to deliver meals, or farmers can use them to carry out cattle counts.
