by Scott Kesselman
Today the Federal Aviation Administration sent out a supplemental guidance letter to the 33 companies that filed petitions under Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 before 25 Sept. 2014. On that date, the FAA released public guidance for petitions for exemption filed under Section 333. The Federal Aviation Administration is now recommending that these businesses review the guidance and submit additional information to support their petitions if necessary.
The link provided by the FAA can be found here, but the remainder of this article will go through all the steps outlined on the FAA website.
Guidelines for Petition
All of the regulations governing aircraft use fall under Title 14 CFR. This is the Code of Federal Regulations for Aeronautics and Space and can be found in its entirety here. This will be especially important for identifying sections from which exemption is needed.
Section §11.81 of 14 CFR is titled “What Information Must I Include in My Petition for an Exemption?” and contains a short, precise list of what must be included in a petition. This list can be found here on the homepage for "Guidelines for Submitting a Petition Exemption" set up by the FAA. You can also find other useful information here, including a frequently asked questions section. The list is as follows:
1. Your name and mailing address and, if you wish, other contact information such as a fax number, telephone number, or email address
2. The specific section or sections of 14 CFR from which you seek an exemption
3. The extent of relief you seek and the reason you seek the relief
4. The reasons why granting your request would be in the public interest — that is, how it would benefit the public as a whole
5. The reasons why granting the exemption would not adversely affect safety, or how the exemption would provide a level of safety at least equal to that provided by the rule from which you seek the exemption
6. A summary the FAA can publish in the Federal Register, stating:
a. The rule from which you seek the exemption
b. A brief description of the nature of the exemption you seek.
7. Any additional information, views or arguments available to support your request
8. If you want to exercise the privileges of your exemption outside the United States, the reason why you need to do so.
Section 333 Specific Guidance
This document contains information including a list of regulations that may require exemption, but the main guidelines for what must be included in an exemption request are the following:
1. How UAS operation will be safely conducted, including all information about the design and features of the UAS petitioners intend to use
2. Inspection, maintenance, repair or other procedures to ensure UAS is in safe working order. This can be included in the petition or a supporting document such as a flight manual.
3. Must describe radio frequency spectrum and any other equipment, such as sensors or cameras, that are part of the UAS and whether they comply with the appropriate government oversight agency, i.e. Federal Communications Commission
4. Description of pilot in command (PIC) qualifications, including flight times and spotter qualifications as well
5. Medical standards and certification of PIC
6. Full description of intended use and how it would provide at least an equivalent level of safety to that provided by the rule from which exemption is sought
7. Specify maximum operating speed and altitude, minimum flight visibility and distance from clouds. Discuss potential hazards and safety mitigations such as the UAS will return to a designated location if communication is lost
8. Discuss the characteristics of the intended area of use.
9. Describe any intention to operate near an airport.
10. Describe how the visual line-of-sight mandate will be met.
11. Describe procedures for preflight safety risk assessment. This can also be included in a supporting document.
12. Intention to conduct operations which have existing requirements to notify Flight Standards District Offices before operations such as motion picture filming or power line patrol and intended coordination of this requirement
13. Additionally, petitioners may require certificate of authorization which can be found here.
COAs can be applied for after a petition for exemption is submitted, and completed forms should be emailed to 9-AJV-115-UASOrganization@faa.gov.
A COA requires UAS to be registered with the FAA. Information on registering an UAS and requesting N numbers can be found on the AUVSI website here.
Preparing Your Petition
On the FAA supplemental guidance notice they provide a link to Astraeus Aerial’s Grant of Exemption as an example of a successful petition. Here you can look at the specific sections Astraeus applied for exemptions on and how they addressed each.
All other exemption decisions can be found through the Automated Exemption System at http://aes.faa.gov to help you best prepare a petition.
All submitted petitions can be reviewed at www.regulations.gov with a “Section 333” search, and sort by most recent.
Submitting Your Petition
The FAA recommends petitions be submitted through the Internet at www.regulations.gov, the Federal Docket Management System, at least 120 days before the exemption is required.
On the homepage enter “FAA-2007-0001” into the search bar. This is a Shell Docket for Exemption that has been created for all new petitions. The FAA will issue a new and unique number when they receive the request.
The docket should be titled, “Instructions on Filing a Submission to FAA for applications/petitions/exemptions and any other items for which a Docket does not exist.” If this does not appear first while sorting search results by “Best Match” you can sort by “Comments Due (Older-Newer).” Once you see the docket, click the blue button that says “Comment Now.”
Fill out all the required information and any optional information. In the Comment section, write something to the effect of “THIS IS A NEW PETITION FOR EXEMPTION. PLEASE SEE UPLOADED FILE." This section has a character limit and is not where the petition should go.
Use a word processor to create your petition and check spelling and grammar. Then upload document plus any supporting files.
Please print the confirmation sheet in case your petition is not posted within a few days.