Few companies have as much reason to be interested in America’s drone regulations than Amazon, as the company has some big dreams for a nationwide drone delivery service. The problem with operating a nationwide service, however, is that if certain states ban or restrict the use of commercial drones, then Amazon is kinda screwed. That’s why the company is urging the federal government to prevent individual states from being able to implement their own drone regulations.
Amazon.com, seeking to bolster its efforts to deliver products via drone, said on Tuesday that states and local communities should not be allowed to regulate unmanned aerial systems (UAS) authorized by federal aviation regulators. “Uniform federal rules must apply,” Paul Misener, the e-commerce retailer’s vice president for global public policy, said in written testimony released by a U.S. House of Representatives oversight committee ahead of a Wednesday hearing. “Given the interstate nature of UAS operations, states and localities must not be allowed to regulate UAS that the FAA has authorized, including with respect to airspace, altitude, purpose of operations, performance and operator qualifications.” Misener is scheduled to appear Wednesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as part of a witness panel that also includes a senior Federal Aviation Administration official and a privacy advocate.
