[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 37 (Friday, February 26, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11623-11624]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04093]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Parts 11, 21, 43, and 107

[Docket No. FAA-2018-1087]
RIN 2120-AK85


Operation of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Over People; Delay 
of Effective Date; Correction

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

ACTION: Final rule; delay of effective; correction.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the memorandum of January 20, 2021, from 
the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, titled ``Regulatory 
Freeze Pending Review,'' the Agency delays the March 1, 2021 effective 
date of the final rule, Operation of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems 
Over People, until March 16, 2021.

DATES: As of February 26, 2021, the March 1, 2021 effective date of the 
final rule published on January 15, 2021, at 86 FR 4314, is delayed to 
March 16, 2021. The corrections are effective March 16, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Machnik, General Aviation and 
Commercial Division, Flight Standards Service, Federal Aviation 
Administration, 55 M Street SE, 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20003; 
telephone 1-844-FLY-MYUAS; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access and Filing

    A copy of the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) (84 FR 3856, 
Feb.

[[Page 11624]]

13, 2019), all comments received, the final rule, and all background 
material may be viewed online at http://www.regulations.gov using the 
docket number listed above. A copy of this final rule will also be 
placed in the docket. Electronic retrieval help and guidelines are 
available on the website. It is available 24 hours each day, 365 days 
each year. An electronic copy of this document may also be downloaded 
from the Office of the Federal Register's website at http://www.ofr.gov 
and the Government Publishing Office's website at http://www.gpo.gov.

Background

    On January 20, 2021, the Assistant to the President and Chief of 
Staff issued a memorandum titled, ``Regulatory Freeze Pending Review.'' 
The memorandum requested that the heads of executive departments and 
agencies (agencies) take steps to ensure that the President's 
appointees or designees have the opportunity to review any new or 
pending rules. With respect to rules published in the Federal Register, 
but not yet effective, the memorandum asked that agencies consider 
postponing the rules' effective dates for 60 days from the date of the 
memorandum (i.e., March 21, 2021) for the purpose of reviewing any 
questions of fact, law, and policy the rules may raise.
    In accordance with this direction, the Agency has decided to delay 
until March 16, 2021, the effective date of the final rule, Operation 
of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Over People (RIN 2120-AK85), 
including the amendments to Sec. Sec.  107.61, 107.63, 107.65, 107.73, 
and 107.74. The final rule permits routine operations of small unmanned 
aircraft over people, moving vehicles, and at night under certain 
conditions. The final rule also makes changes to the recurrent testing 
framework and expands the list of persons who may request the 
presentation of a remote pilot certificate. The delay in the rule's 
effective date will afford the President's appointees or designees an 
opportunity to review the rule and will allow for consideration of any 
questions of fact, law, or policy that the rule may raise before it 
becomes effective.
    Additionally, as a result of the delay in the effective date, 
several corrections are necessary. The compliance date for Sec.  
107.29(a)(1) regarding the operation of a small unmanned aircraft 
system at night must be corrected so that it does not precede the new 
effective date. Similarly, a correction to Sec.  107.65(d) regarding 
the timing of passing the recurrent aeronautical knowledge test or 
satisfying training requirements must also be made to conform to the 
delayed effective date.

Waiver of Rulemaking and Delayed Effective Date

    Under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553), the 
Agency generally offers interested parties the opportunity to comment 
on proposed regulations and publish rules not less than 30 days before 
their effective dates. However, the APA provides that an agency is not 
required to conduct notice-and-comment rulemaking or delay effective 
dates when the agency, for good cause, finds that the requirement is 
impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest (5 
U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and (d)(3)). There is good cause to waive both of 
these requirements here as they are impracticable. A delay in the 
effective date of the final rule, Operation of Small Unmanned Aircraft 
Systems Over People, is necessary for the President's appointees and 
designees to have adequate time to review the rule before it takes 
effect, and neither the notice and comment process nor the delayed 
effective date could be implemented in time to allow for this review.

Corrections

    In FR Doc. 2020-28947 (86 FR 4314) published on January 15, 2021, 
the following corrections are made:


Sec.  107.29  [Corrected]

0
1. On page 4382, in the second column, in Sec.  107.29, in paragraph 
(a)(1), the date ``March 1, 2021'' is corrected to read ``March 16, 
2021''.


Sec.  107.65  [Corrected]

0
2. On page 4383, in the first column, in Sec.  107.65, in paragraph 
(d), the date ``March 1, 2021'' is corrected to read ``March 16, 
2021''.

    Issued in Washington, DC, under the authority provided by 49 
U.S.C. 106(f), 40101 note and 44807, on February 23, 2021.
Steve Dickson,
Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021-04093 Filed 2-24-21; 4:15 pm]
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