I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4432 

To establish an interim rule for the operation of small unmanned aircraft 

for commercial purposes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2016 

Mr. BLUMENAUER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the 

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish an interim rule for the operation of small unmanned aircraft for commercial purposes, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commercial UAS Mod5 ernization Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INTERIM RULE FOR THE OPERATION OF SMALL UN2 MANNED AIRCRAFT FOR COMMERCIAL PUR3 POSES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title III of the FAA 

5 Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (Public Law 112– 

6 95) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 337. OPERATION OF SMALL UNMANNED AIRCRAFT 

8 FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An individual may operate a 

10 small unmanned aircraft for commercial purposes without 

11 an airworthiness certificate within the United States, sub12 ject to the requirements under subsection (b) and the op13 erating restrictions under subsection (c) during the period 

14 beginning on the date of the enactment of the Commercial 

15 UAS Modernization Act and ending on the effective date 

16 of a final rule based on the notice of proposed rulemaking 

17 issued on February 23, 2015, entitled ‘Operation and Cer18 tification of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems’ (80 Fed. 

19 Reg. 9544). 

20 ‘‘(b) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) LIABILITY INSURANCE.—A small un22 manned aircraft may not be operated for commercial 

23 purposes during the period set forth in subsection 

24 (a) unless the Administrator receives an attestation 

25 that the owner of such aircraft has a liability insur26 ance policy covering the operation of such aircraft. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REGISTRATION.—A small unmanned air2 craft may not be operated for commercial purposes 

3 unless the owner has registered the aircraft as re4 quired by the Federal Aviation Administration. 

5 ‘‘(3) TESTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) EXAM DEVELOPMENT.—Not later 

7 than 30 days after the date of the enactment of 

8 the Commercial UAS Modernization Act, the 

9 Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis10 tration shall develop an initial aeronautical 

11 knowledge test that meets the requirements set 

12 forth in the notice of proposed rulemaking re13 ferred to in subsection (a). 

14 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—An individual may 

15 not operate a small unmanned aircraft for com16 mercial purposes unless such individual has— 

17 ‘‘(i) received a passing grade on the 

18 test developed under subparagraph (A); 

19 ‘‘(ii) passed a proficiency test admin20 istered by a test site selected pursuant to 

21 section 332(c); and 

22 ‘‘(iii) demonstrated the ability to fly 

23 the aircraft in accordance with the oper24 ating restrictions set forth in subsection 

25 (c). 


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1 ‘‘(4) CERTIFICATION.—A small unmanned air2 craft may not be operated for commercial purposes 

3 until the operator of a test site selected pursuant to 

4 section 332(c), in collaboration with a designated 

5 airworthiness representative, certifies that the small 

6 unmanned aircraft— 

7 ‘‘(A) meets the requirements for small un8 manned aircraft set forth in the notice of pro9 posed rulemaking referred to in subsection (a); 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(B) is capable of operating within the 

12 limits described in subsection (c). 

13 ‘‘(c) OPERATING RESTRICTIONS.—During the period 

14 set forth in subsection (a), small unmanned aircraft oper15 ated for commercial purposes— 

16 ‘‘(1) may only be operated under visual line of 

17 sight rules; 

18 ‘‘(2) may not be operated higher than 500 feet 

19 above ground level; 

20 ‘‘(3) may not be operated unless the operator 

21 has prior authorization from the air traffic control 

22 facility having jurisdiction over that airspace— 

23 ‘‘(A) in Class B, Class C, or Class D air24 space; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) within the lateral boundaries of the 

2 surface area of Class E airspace designated for 

3 an airport; 

4 ‘‘(4) may only be operated in daylight condi5 tions; 

6 ‘‘(5) shall yield right of way to all other users 

7 of the National Airspace System; 

8 ‘‘(6) may not be operated by any individual 

9 with any physical or mental condition that the indi10 vidual knows, or has reason to know, would interfere 

11 with the safe operation of the aircraft; and 

12 ‘‘(7) may only be operated after a preflight in13 spection (as described in the notice of proposed rule14 making referred to in subsection (a)). 

15 ‘‘(d) ACCIDENT REPORTING.—The operator of a 

16 small unmanned aircraft that is involved in any accident 

17 causing personal injury or property damage, other than 

18 to the small unmanned aircraft, shall report such accident 

19 to the Federal Aviation Administration not later than 2 

20 days after such accident. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 338. MICRO UAS OPERATIONS. 

22 ‘‘(a) MICRO UAS CLASSIFICATION.—The Adminis23 trator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall provide 

24 for a micro UAS classification of unmanned aircraft sysVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:02 Feb 03, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4432.IH H4432

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1 tems, the aircraft component of which may not weigh more 

2 than 4.4 pounds, including payload. 

3 ‘‘(b) MICRO UAS OPERATIONAL LIMITATIONS.—The 

4 operation of a micro UAS shall be subject to the exemp5 tions under subsection (c) only if the micro UAS is oper6 ated— 

7 ‘‘(1) less than 400 feet above ground level; 

8 ‘‘(2) at an airspeed of not greater than 40 

9 knots; 

10 ‘‘(3) within the visual line of sight of the oper11 ator; 

12 ‘‘(4) during daylight; and 

13 ‘‘(5) at least 5 statute miles from the geo14 graphic center of an airport as denoted on a current 

15 aeronautical chart published by the Federal Aviation 

16 Administration, except that upon notice to the air17 port operator and air traffic control tower, such air18 port operator may allow an individual to operate a 

19 micro UAS within 5 statute miles of a tower-con20 trolled airport. 

21 ‘‘(c) MICRO UAS EXEMPTIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) An operator of a micro UAS that complies 

23 with the limitations of operation under subsection 

24 (b) shall not be required to pass any aeronautical 

25 knowledge test or meet any age or experience reVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:02 Feb 03, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4432.IH H4432

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1 quirement, including any requirements under section 

2 44703 of title 49, United States Code, part 61 of 

3 title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, and any other 

4 rule or regulation pertaining to airman certification. 

5 ‘‘(2) A micro UAS and the component parts 

6 and equipment of such micro UAS shall not be re7 quired to meet airworthiness certification standards 

8 or to obtain certificates of airworthiness.’’. 

9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

10 in section 1(b) of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act 

11 of 2012 is amended by inserting after the item relating 

12 to section 336 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 337. Operation of small unmanned aircraft for commercial purposes. 

‘‘Sec. 338. Micro UAS operations.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. DEPUTY ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR UN14 MANNED AIRCRAFT. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title III of the FAA 

16 Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (Public Law 112– 

17 95), as amended by section 2(a), is further amended by 

18 adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 339. DEPUTY ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR UN20 MANNED AIRCRAFT. 

21 ‘‘(a) APPOINTMENT.—The Administrator of the Fed22 eral Aviation Administration (referred to in this section 

23 as the ‘Administrator’) shall appoint a Deputy Associate 

24 Administrator for Unmanned Aircraft (referred to in this 


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1 section as the ‘Deputy Associate Administrator’), who 

2 shall report to the Administrator and to the Secretary of 

3 Transportation. 

4 ‘‘(b) PRINCIPAL DUTIES.—The Deputy Associate Ad5 ministrator shall create an achievable comprehensive re6 search and development plan for the safe integration of 

7 unmanned aircraft into the National Airspace System 

8 that— 

9 ‘‘(1) takes into account work being done at 

10 other Federal agencies, in conjunction with their in11 dustry collaborators; 

12 ‘‘(2) is based on an initial audit of current un13 manned aircraft activity across the Federal Govern14 ment in order to identify gaps and overlaps; and 

15 ‘‘(3) allows for programmatic exemptions based 

16 on previous analysis. 

17 ‘‘(c) OTHER ISSUES.—The Deputy Associate Admin18 istrator, in consultation with the Administrator, shall de19 velop strategies for resolving— 

20 ‘‘(1) unmanned aircraft spectrum issues; 

21 ‘‘(2) barriers to unmanned aircraft operating 

22 beyond line of sight; 

23 ‘‘(3) barriers to allowing payload carriage and 

24 the feasibility of developing a classification of small 

25 UAS air carriers; and 


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1 ‘‘(4) barriers to utilizing automated unmanned 

2 aircraft systems. 

3 ‘‘(d) EXEMPTIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

5 after the date of the enactment of the Commercial 

6 UAS Modernization Act, the Deputy Associate Ad7 ministrator, in consultation with the Administrator, 

8 shall expedite and expand exemptions from the in9 terim operating restrictions otherwise applicable to 

10 unmanned aircraft under section 337. 

11 ‘‘(2) EXEMPTIONS.—The exemptions authorized 

12 under paragraph (1) may include— 

13 ‘‘(A) beyond line of sight operations; 

14 ‘‘(B) programmatic exemptions based on 

15 previous analysis; 

16 ‘‘(C) extended visual line of sight and mar17 ginal visual flight rules weather conditions; and 

18 ‘‘(D) heavier unmanned vehicles.’’. 

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

20 in section 1(b) of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act 

21 of 2012 is amended by inserting after the item relating 

22 to section 338, as added by section 2(b), the following: 

‘‘Sec. 339. Deputy Associate Administrator for Unmanned Aircraft.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. JOINT AIRCRAFT SYSTEM RESEARCH AND DEVEL2 OPMENT DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS 

3 PROGRAM. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the 

5 Federal Aviation Administration shall establish a joint air6 craft system research and development data collection and 

7 analysis program at the William J. Hughes Technical Cen8 ter (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Center’’). 

9 (b) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES.— 

10 The Director of the Center shall set priorities for data 

11 collection, analysis, and research under the program estab12 lished under subsection (a), including identifying safety 

13 standards for detect and avoid, command and control, au14 tonomous aircraft systems, and air traffic management for 

15 beyond visual line of sight operations for such aircraft. 

16 (c) USE OF TEST SITES.—The program established 

17 under subsection (a) shall utilize the 6 unmanned aircraft 

18 system test sites of the Federal Aviation Administration 

19 to— 

20 (1) conduct research; 

21 (2) collect data; 

22 (3) develop quarterly milestones to expedite 

23 commercial unmanned aircraft system operations; 

24 and 

25 (4) work with other Federal agencies, the Cen26 ter of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, 


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1 federally funded research and development centers, 

2 industry, academia, and others, as appropriate, to 

3 implement commercial unmanned aircraft system op4 erations. 

5 (d) AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PILOT PROGRAM.— 

6 (1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Administrator of 

7 the Federal Aviation Administration, acting through 

8 the Center, and the Administrator of the National 

9 Aeronautics and Space Administration, shall imple10 ment an air traffic management pilot program to re11 search and test a new regulatory structure for com12 mercial and other operations of small unmanned air13 craft in controlled and uncontrolled airspace below 

14 1,200 feet above ground level. 

15 (2) MANAGEMENT TESTING.—The Center shall 

16 partner with a neutral third party to test the man17 agement of small unmanned aircraft in the airspace 

18 described in paragraph (1). 

19 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

20 of the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days there21 after, the Director of the Center shall submit a report that 

22 summarizes the actions taken under subsections (b), (c), 

23 and (d) to— 

24 (1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

25 Transportation of the Senate; 


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1 (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

2 Senate; 

3 (3) the Committee on Transportation and In4 frastructure of the House of Representatives; and 

5 (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

6 House of Representatives. 

Æ 


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