The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has released a regulatory framework for the use of drones and calls for new regulation to be proposed by December 2015.
Building on the
Drones, also known as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), have been the subject of headlines across Europe. From debates about their impact on privacy to reports of near-misses with aircraft, since I Iast wrote about the technology for ABE in 2014, it has been hard to miss them.
Reports show that officially sanctioned drone operations in Europe far outpace those in the rest of the world. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the EU’s aviation safety authority, believes that the 2,495 operators of drones weighing less than 150kg in Europe is more than those in the rest of the world combined.
Their use in the mining and aggregates industry is also on the increase, where they offer opportunities to gather information and monitor operations in a cost effective way and with limited exposure to risk by employees.
Last year the European Commission proposed new standards to regulate the use of drones, covering safety, security, privacy, data protection, insurance and liability. The aim was to allow the European industry to become a global leader for this new technology, while balancing safety issues.
Set against this background the EASA clearly understands the potential for innovation, job creation and growth to come as the use of this technology becomes more common place. The organisation has recently released a regulatory framework, which would be “proportionate, progressive and risk based”.
The EASA framework has been prepared based on input from users and manufacturers and aims to implement safety requirements in relation to the risk an activity poses to the public or the operator of the drone.
As the EASA puts it: “the greater the risk the higher the requirements”.
Its “concept of operations” covers three categories, which increase in risk level: open, specific and certified.
The open category is for simple operations and will not require authorisation by aviation authorities. The drone must be flown within direct line of sight of the operator no higher than an altitude of 150 metres above the ground or water. Airports, military installations and protected environmental areas cannot be used and flights above crowds prohibited.
The specific category is for operations that pose a significant aviation risk to people on the ground, or involve sharing airspace. For each operation that falls within this category, an assessment of the aviation risks and mitigation steps must be agreed with aviation authorities (either national aviation authorities or a specially approved accrediting body) before the operation begins. Approved operators will be allowed to self-certify, without the need to seek this approval for each operation, so long as the operations take place in non-segregated areas.
An operations manual will be required, outlining the operating procedures, airworthiness and competence of staff.
The final category, certified, is for operations akin to normal manned aviation. The operations and drones involved will be treated like ordinary aircraft. It may be that this category is not required often, if the specific category has no upper limit for riskier operations, but the EASA has included it as it may be required for “political” or “practical” reasons.
The EASA has identified the introduction of new regulation as a priority for this year, citing the need to harmonise the operations of small drones across Europe.
The next steps will be a stakeholder consultation on the regulatory framework to be published by the middle of 2015. The stakeholder consultation on the regulatory proposal for the open category is to be published for consultation in June 2015. Thereafter the draft regulatory framework will be presented to the European Commission by the end of 2015, along with concrete regulatory proposals for the open category.
It is encouraging to see the European authorities prioritising this area and taking a risk based approach to regulation, which will hopefully allow the use of the technology to continue to flourish, with the right safeguards in place.
It is clear that drones are not going away: expect to see one surveying a quarry floor near you soon!
Simon Trahair-Davies is a partner in the mining and minerals team at Stephens Scown LLP in the UK. The firm has more than 70 years’ experience representing mining and minerals clients and its specialist team has recently been recognised once again by independent guides to the law Legal 500 and Chambers. Simon can be contacted on +44 (0)1872 265100 or email [email protected]. For more information visit www.stephens-scown.co.uk.
