Regulations and Government
FAA To Designate Areas for Non-ID UAS Ops
The FAA has released a draft environmental assessment for areas where UAS can be flown without remote identification equipment.
drone lifts off with pilot in background silhouetted sunset
The FAA has released a draft environmental assessment for areas where UAS can be flown without remote identification equipment. (Photo: FAADroneZone Facebook)

A draft programmatic environmental assessment (PEA) for FAA-recognized identification areas (FRIA) is available for public review and comment. An FRIA is a defined geographic area where uncrewed aircraft can be flown without remote identification equipment. The Draft PEA analyzes and discloses the potential environmental impacts associated with the establishment of FRIAs.

Based on the analysis of the PEA, the FAA has preliminarily determined there “will not be a significant impact to the human environment.” Therefore, the agency said an environmental impact statement will not be initiated at this time. The FAA intends for this PEA to be a framework that can be used for project-specific actions. If additional analysis is required, “environmental reviews will be conducted to supplement the analysis in this PEA.”

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