Preemption Battle Shaping Up Over Drone Regs

Conflict over drone registration may be brewing, according to a post from Hogan Lovells, and it’s not between regulators and the industry or drone enthusiasts. (So far we haven’t heard “when drones are registered, only terrorists will have unregistered drones.”) Rather it’s between federal regulators and state and local authorities. Recently the FAA issued a fact sheet that makes it clear it that in its view only the FAA – with a few exceptions, such as laws pertaining to voyeurism – has authority to regulate drones in navigable air space, and that any additional requirements from state or local jurisdictions could be imposed only after FAA approval.