Beware ‘Stringent’ Rules on Batteries for Commercial Drones, Group Warns
Navigating the Federal Aviation Administration for an exemption may well not be the only challenge for companies or groups seeking permission to operate commercial drones. A day after the FAA’s chief issued a sweeping call that his agency “is open to receiving petitions from anyone” seeking an exemption like those granted Thursday to filmmakers to operate commercial unmanned aircraft systems (CD Sept 26 p6), an industry group representing major battery suppliers issued a stern advisory warning that “companies should be aware of the stringent transportation regulations applicable to the lithium ion batteries that power virtually every” commercial drone.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
"Major companies” like Amazon and Google, and several industries, “are discovering ways to maximize the commercial viability of small unmanned aircraft,” said PRBA-The Rechargeable Battery Association, Thursday in an advisory (http://bit.ly/1CtOhfr). With the FAA expected to release a rulemaking later this year on commercial operations of small drones, lithium ion batteries, the “engine” of virtually all commercial drones, “are already stringently regulated by the FAA as hazardous materials,” said the PRBA. “Failure to comply with these regulations can result in significant civil penalties levied against companies whose employees are found to be in violation of these regulations."
If a company assigns an employee to travel with a commercial drone and spare lithium ion batteries, U.S. and international hazardous materials regulations “strictly prohibit spare lithium ion batteries from being placed in checked baggage,” the group said. “Lithium ion batteries carried on the aircraft by passengers generally may not exceed 100 Watt-hours. However, slightly larger lithium ion batteries exceeding 100 Wh, but not exceeding 160 Wh, may be carried onboard the aircraft with the approval of the airline. No more than two of these slightly larger lithium ion batteries may be carried on the aircraft."
The PRBA said “we have received a number of inquiries” on the transport of drones “and whether they can be carried on board passenger aircraft along with spare li ion batteries,” Executive Director George Kerchner emailed us Friday. The advisory also was to address a recent report in Australia on an in-flight incident involving a drone and spare lithium ion batteries (http://bit.ly/1xq1ENM), said Kerchner, a senior regulatory analyst at Wiley Rein. Friday’s advisory “was simply a way of alerting and educating professionals and average citizens who may ship or travel” with drones and spare lithium ion batteries, he said.
The PRBA has no “specific policy” on the regulation of lithium ion batteries and commercial drones, Kerchner said, nor does it expect to participate in the FAA rulemaking. The rulemaking is unlikely to address the hazards of transporting lithium ion batteries and commercial drones, because those issues fall under the jurisdiction of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the FAA’s sister agency within the Department of Transportation, he said.
CEA and NAB representatives didn’t respond to our queries whether they plan to take the FAA up on Administrator Michael Huerta’s open invitation for other industry associations to follow the lead of MPAA and “develop similar procedures for their memberships to help facilitate petitions” at the agency for commercial drone exemptions. In Thursday’s news briefing, Huerta said “any commercial entity wishing to use an unmanned aircraft can apply for appropriate exemptions.” The FAA has the authority to grant exemptions for “tightly controlled, low-risk situations,” Huerta said.
In the example of the exemptions granted Thursday to the filmmaking companies, Huerta defined those low-risk situations as “a movie set that’s closed to the public.” What the FAA must consider “when we look at an activity such as newsgathering and photography activities is how we address the question of ensuring that it is a low-risk situation,” Huerta said. “We do have petitioners that have made specific requests. We're evaluating and working with them on the types of operations they're considering, and that’s a process that will be ongoing, and we encourage more people to put petitions before us.”