NATE Statement Lauding Passing of FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018
For Immediate Release:
October 3, 2018
NATE Statement Lauding Passing of FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018
(Washington, D.C.) – NATE today praised the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives for passing H.R. 302: The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. The act, which authorizes federal aviation programs for five years, contains a number of sections and provisions strongly supported by the Association.
In addition to enhancing safety, modernizing airport infrastructure and improving service for customers, the bill includes a comprehensive title designed to promote the safe utilization of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and outlined how UAS are to be integrated into the National Airspace System.
“NATE and our 740 member companies are “all-in” on the commercial utilization of drones in the wireless and broadcast infrastructure industries and we are pleased with the final product of the FAA reauthorization legislation,” said NATE Director of Legislative & Regulatory Affairs Jim Goldwater.
He added, “The Association commends Congress for enhancing UAS safety by giving the FAA the flexibility needed to appropriately regulate all UAS while implementing remote identification and tracking standards to help counter potentially malicious UAS operations.” NATE is also happy that this legislation will lead to a process of allowing more commercial operations over people and beyond visual line of sight. These provisions offer the flexibility our dynamic industry needs to get commercial UAS operations to scale and maximize the potential of drones.”
“The FAA act also includes important industry tower marking priorities making it clear that communication towers between 50-200 feet will not have to be marked if they are registered in an FAA location database. NATE has been collaborating for many months with key industry organizations on this specific marking issue and was grateful to see this compromise language become part of the law,” Goldwater said.
For more information on the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, visit https://www.congress.gov/. For more information on NATE, visit www.natehome.com.
###
About NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association is a non-profit trade association in the wireless infrastructure industry providing a unified voice for tower erection, service and maintenance companies. Today the Association boasts over 740 member companies located throughout the United States, Australia, Bahamas, Canada, Jamaica, Mauritius, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Trinidad and the United Kingdom. For additional information on NATE, please visit www.natehome.com.
