President Signs Bill
Date: February 15, 2012
Contact: Chris Brooks, APR
765-287-1256, ext. 276
chrisb@modelaircraft.org
President signs FAA bill, model aviation through AMA protected
M U N C I E - Last week, Congress passed the first FAA Reauthorization bill in more than four years. Last night, President Obama signed into law the legislation that includes a special provision for model aircraft protecting it from FAA regulations.
“The law recognizes community-based safety programming as an effective means of managing the modeling activity,” said Bob Brown, AMA President. “We believe this is a common sense approach to allowing hobbyists to continue as they have for generations.”
The model aircraft section of the FAA Reauthorization Bill establishes minimum criteria for safe aeromodeling operations and specifically directs the FAA to not enact rules for modeling activity conducted within the safety programming of a nationwide community-based organization, such as AMA.
“The culmination of AMA’s efforts over the past four years in achieving this recognition and obtaining the legislative safeguard is a great accomplishment for the aeromodeling community,” said Rich Hanson, AMA’s representative for Government and Regulatory Affairs. “This recognition will help with our continuing efforts with the FAA to improve safety in the national airspace to which we remain strongly committed.”
Recognition is also due to AMA members who went the extra mile by sending 90,000 letters of concern to their congressional leaders, making phone calls, and supporting the AMA with donations used for this campaign. Hanson and his government relations team have been working with the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Program Office for almost four years, refining safety standards.
Continue to monitor this important development for the aeromodeling community, visit www.modelaircraft.org/gov for further details.
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