Proposed Regulations for Drones Are Released

Drones are expected to be hot sellers this holiday season. Now it looks as if owners of nearly all those machines will have to register with the federal government and have the information placed in a national database, as officials look to address concerns over safety and the mischief caused by unmanned aircraft.

The proposed regulations were outlined in a report released on Monday by the Federal Aviation Administration. The recommendations came from a task force created by the agency and are widely expected to be approved in a few weeks, ahead of what is expected to be a big increase of drone owners after Christmas.

The Consumer Technology Association, a trade group, has estimated that 400,000 drones will be sold this holiday season.

The task force said that in addition to being entered in a federal database, drone owners should display a government-issued registration number on the machines. It recommended that owners submit their names and addresses, but said email addresses and phone numbers should be optional. The rules would apply to drones weighing half a pound to 55 pounds.

The task force did not go as far with its recommendations as some advocates of stricter regulations had hoped. It said owners of aircraft should not have to submit any information about their aircraft, for example. It also said there should not be a requirement for drone users to be citizens or permanent residents.

The task force wrote that the goal of the registration process was to “ensure accountability by creating a traceable link between aircraft and owner, and to encourage the maximum levels of regulatory compliance by making the registration process as simple as possible.”

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