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OMB Control No: 2120-0765	ICR Reference No: 201512-2120-002
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 201512-2120-001
Agency/Subagency: DOT/FAA	Agency Tracking No: sUAS
Title: Small Unmanned Aircraft Registration System
Type of Information Collection: New collection (Request for a new OMB Control Number)	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Emergency	Approval Requested By: 12/16/2015
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved with change	Conclusion Date: 12/16/2015
Retrieve Notice of Action (NOA)	Date Received in OIRA: 12/16/2015
Terms of Clearance: The agency corrected its burden estimates and clarified that the UAS registry will be searchable by registration number.

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	06/30/2016	6 Months From Approved
Responses	3,793,666	0	0
Time Burden (Hours)	234,950	0	0
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Abstract: This information collection is submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to request a three-year approval clearance for the information collection entitled Small Unmanned Aircraft Registration System (sUAS System). The information collected as part of the small unmanned aircraft registration system will identify to the FAA those persons owning small unmanned aircraft, whether the intended use is as a model aircraft, or as other than a model aircraft. It will also allow the FAA to provide those persons with educational materials regarding safety of flight in the national airspace system to promote greater accountability and responsibility of these new users of the national airspace system.

Emergency Justfication: The following justification is from the "Good Cause" section of the IFR. This ICR supports the immediate implementation of the IFR. Section 553(b)(3)(B) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C.) authorizes agencies to dispense with notice and comment procedures for rules when the agency for “good cause” finds that those procedures are “impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.” Under this section, an agency, upon finding good cause, may issue a final rule without seeking comment prior to the rulemaking. The Secretary and the Administrator recently affirmed that all unmanned aircraft, including model aircraft, are aircraft consistent with congressional direction in Title III, Subtitle B of Public Law 112-95 and the existing definition of aircraft in title 49 of the United States Code. 49 U.S.C. 40102. As such, in accordance with 49 U.S.C 44101(a) and as further prescribed in 14 CFR part 47, registration is required prior to operation. See 80 FR 63912, 63913 (October 22, 2015). Aircraft registration is necessary to ensure personal accountability among all users of the NAS. See id. With the current unprecedented proliferation of new sUAS, registration allows the FAA a direct and immediate opportunity to educate sUAS owners. Aircraft registration also allows the FAA and law enforcement agencies to address non-compliance by providing the means by which to identify an aircraft’s owner and operator. Congress has also directed the FAA to “develop plans and policy for the use of the navigable airspace and assign by regulation or order the use of the airspace necessary to ensure the safety of aircraft and the efficient use of airspace.” 49 U.S.C. 40103(b)(1). Congress has further directed the FAA to “prescribe air traffic regulations on the flight of aircraft (including regulations on safe altitudes)” for navigating, protecting, and identifying aircraft; protecting individuals and property on the ground; using the navigable airspace efficiently; and preventing collision between aircraft, between aircraft and land or water vehicles, and between aircraft and airborne objects. 49 U.S.C. 40103(b)(2). The FAA estimates that in calendar year 2014, 200,000 small unmanned aircraft were operated in the NAS in model aircraft operations. During this period, the FAA received 238 reports of potentially unsafe UAS operations. The estimate for 2015 sales indicates that 1.6 million small unmanned aircraft intended to be used as model aircraft are expected to be sold this year (including approximately 50 percent of that total during the fourth quarter of 2015). For 2016, the FAA estimates sales of more than 600,000 sUAS intended to be used for commercial purposes. Additionally, as evidenced by recent FAA enforcement action against SkyPan International, the Department and the FAA have become aware that there may be commercial operators who may be risking operating without the requisite authority. Since February 2015, reports of potentially unsafe UAS operations have more than doubled, and many of these reports indicated that the risk to manned aviation or people and property on the ground was immediate. For example, the agency has received reports of unmanned aircraft at high altitudes in congested airspace, unmanned aircraft operations near passenger-carrying aircraft or major airports, and interfering with emergency response operations such as efforts to combat wildfires. As recently as August 2015, the FAA investigated reports by four pilots who spotted an unmanned aircraft flying between eight and thirteen miles from the approach to Newark Liberty International Airport. The FAA also investigated a similar incident at John F. Kennedy International Airport in August. The risk of unsafe operation will increase as more small unmanned aircraft enter the NAS, and are flown by individuals who have little to no knowledge of airspace restrictions or safety implications.

Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 49 USC 41101(a)

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
2120-AK82	Final or interim final rulemaking	80 FR 78594	12/16/2015

Federal Register Notices & Comments
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 1

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
sUAS Registration System	1	sUAS Registration System

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Change Due to Agency Discretion
Annual Number of Responses	3,793,666	3,793,666
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	234,950	234,950
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Increase Due to: Changing Regulations

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: This is a new information collection developed in support of an interim final rule

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $500,000

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Is the Supporting Statement intended to be a Privacy Impact Assessment required by the E-Government Act of 2002? No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? Uncollected

Agency Contact: Ronda Thompson 202 267-1416 ronda.thompson@faa.gov

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