Law360 interviewed Tod Northman for its May 23 article, “Drone Test Sites Give States Expanded Regulatory Role.” The article explores the decision by the Department of Transportation to grant 10 special licenses to test unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

Tod said that the initiative is a good start that will provide important information as the FAA struggles with the issues involved in integrating unmanned aerial vehicles into United States airspace, but he remarked that the nation is still “behind the curve and could be doing more to stay ahead on drone technology.”

“It is telling that the announcement was three months behind schedule. The U.S. continues to lag well behind other countries’ efforts, and the three-year pilot project will exacerbate the problem,” Tod commented.

“Put bluntly, federal regulators are not operating with the urgency necessary to keep abreast of industry development,” he added. “For example, there is no obvious reason why the pilot project should have been limited to 10 projects; it could have been expanded to include all worthy and nonconflicting proposals, which would have produced even more information.”