You'll Soon Have to Register Your Drone With the US Government

The United States government will soon mandate that all drones be registered, under new guidelines President Barack Obama's administration is expected to announce on Monday. The guidelines are aimed at monitoring individuals who violate safety regulations with the increasingly popular unmanned aerial devices.

The announcement will be made today by US Treasury Secretary Anthony Foxx and Michael Huerta, administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, at a news conference attended by members of the drone industry. The FAA initiative will also bring together major players from the government and users of recreational drones to hammer out the specifics of the new guidelines, a source told the Associated Press on Monday.

Which type of drones will fall under the regulations has yet to be decided, according to the Associated Press, which reported that small devices will probably not be required to register.

A surge in unauthorized drone flights pushed the federal government to outline registration guidelines for the owners of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), people familiar with the matter told Reuters after the administration's plans were initially reported by NBC News on Friday.

Two sources who were informed of the plan told Reuters that the administration would also announce the formation of an independent advisory committee with the goal of creating a federal drone registry.

Related: FAA Approves Corporation's Use of Drones To Collect Data, Prompting Protest from Privacy Advocates

The sources said the new advisory and rule-making committee is expected to include representatives from the drone industry, the model aircraft community, and airline unions.

The initiative represents the administration's effort to address the rising number of unauthorized drone sightings near airports and crowded public venues. The FAA has reported more than 650 unauthorized drone sightings so far this year, as of August 9, compared with 238 for all of 2014. If sightings continue at that rate, the number would near 1,100 by the year-end.

The growth in sightings, and forecasts for more than a million US drone sales next year, have raised concerns about drones colliding with commercial aircraft during landing or takeoff, or being used as a weapon in a deliberate attack. Officials say efforts to track down the owners of rogue drones have been hindered in part by a 2012 congressional decision to bar the FAA from regulating recreational drones.

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FAA Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker told a House panel last week that the agency was considering setting up a registry with manufacturers to keep track of both commercial and recreational drone owners.

Like other federal agencies including the US Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon, FAA is also testing new technology that could be used to detect and track rogue drone flights that could pose a safety or security risk.

Republicans and industry officials have blamed the FAA for the surge in rogue drone flights, saying the US aviation regulatory agency failed to produce final regulations for commercial drone flights in time to meet a September 30, 2015, congressional deadline.

Final drone regulations are now expected early in 2016.

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