In Section 333 of P.L. 112-95, enacted on February 14, 2012, Congress mandated that the Department of Transportation create a plan to integrate unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the national airspace system (NAS). On February 23, 2015, the FAA issued in theFederal Register(FR) the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) implementing the congressional mandate. (See 80 FR 9544). The FAA issued the final rule on June 28, 2016, with an effective date of August 29, 2016. (See, 81 FR 42063)

Look over the final rule, and comment on the following issues:

1. Was the length of time it took for the FAA to implement the congressional mandate with the issuance of the NPRM reasonable?
2. Was the length of time it took to get the final rule issued reasonable?
3. Does the rule present a workable scheme to carry out the mandate?

Provide any other pertinent or personal observations on the rule. For example, use a waiver provision as an implementing philosophy. (Note: Does the reasonableness of these timelines stand up to scrutiny, given the awareness of the UAS issues by the FAA as early as 2007? See 72 FR 6689. In defense of the FAA, it should be noted that early on, the FAA considered unmanned aircraft, aircraft ID.)