Sens. Roger Wicker (R-MS), chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and Gary Peters (D-MI) sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) last week urging representatives from rural America be included on the Drone Advisory Committee (DAC).
The DAC was established last year to provide independent advice and recommendations to the FAA regarding Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The committee helps identify challenges and provides safety and efficiency advice.
“We appreciate the FAA’s efforts to assemble a diverse DAC,” the letter said. “However, due to the ever-increasing use of UAS in the agriculture, forestry, and rangeland sectors, as well as the inherently different uses for UAS in the less populated parts of our nation, we believe it is important that the DAC include direct representatives from rural parts of America, particularly in the agriculture, forestry, and rangeland sectors of our economy. We, therefore, request that you take steps to ensure broad rural representation on the DAC.”
The FAA said DAC membership must be balanced in terms of points of view, the letter said.
There are no agriculture, forestry or rangeland stakeholders on the DAC.
DAC members include airports and airport communities, UAS manufacturers, and navigation, communication, surveillance, and air-traffic-management providers.