The Federal Aviation Administration has asked standards organization ASTM International to develop standards that would support operations of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) beyond the line of sight of their pilots and over people—allowances that are not expected in the small UAS draft regulation the agency is currently reviewing. The new standards may be required for a “special class certification” to conduct such operations, said the chairman of ASTM’s UAS committee.

Speaking on May 4 at the Unmanned Systems conference in Atlanta, Theodore “Ted” Wierzbanowski, the chairman of ASTM Committee F38, said several new standards the organization is developing would support drone operations “above and beyond” what the FAA proposes in its small UAS draft regulation, which closed for public comment on April 24. At the FAA’s request, it is examining safety measures that would be needed for beyond visual line-of-sight operations, “extended visual line-of-sight” operations and flights over people not involved in an operation. Those capabilities are considered critical for the package deliveries by drone that Amazon envisions as well as for newsgathering and other types of operations.

Extended visual line-of-sight operations could involve using telemetry data streamed from the aircraft to monitor its performance, and would require that pilots and observers have enough time and visibility to avoid midair collisions with other aircraft, Wierzbanowski explained.

ASTM, formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials, signed a memorandum of understanding with the FAA in 2010 to develop standards for small UAS. In April 2014, the organization announced that it had approved seven standards covering design, construction, operation and maintenance requirements. But the FAA did not reference those standards in the small UAS notice of proposed rulemaking it released in February—perhaps because they are more rigorous than needed for the limited operations the agency proposes, Wierzbanowski said. “Until February this year, we thought our standards would fit in this rule. That’s no longer the case,” he said. Instead, ASTM will build on those standards to support enhanced operations.

During a separate panel discussion at the conference, Jim Williams, manager of the FAA’s UAS Integration Office, said the agency expected many more comments than it received for the proposed rulemaking, which numbered 4,542 as of this week. A year ago, the FAA issued an “interpretive rule” that generated 30,000 comments, and it expected a similar amount for the small UAS draft regulation.

The “standard timeline” from the close of the public comment period to producing a final regulation is 16 months, Williams said. “I believe the FAA will do everything within its power to meet that timeline or beat it,” he declared. “It is an administrator-level priority to get this rule done.”

Williams also emphasized that the proposed regulation represents a first step “that would be the easiest way forward” to allowing commercial small drone operations. There was speculation at the conference that the FAA will announce further regulatory developments later this week, possibly enabling the enhanced operations Wierzbanowski discussed.