An act passed by Congress in 2012 required the Federal Aviation Administration to complete rules to integrate nonmilitary drones into U.S. airspace by 2015. The FAA has only met seven of 17 steps to safely integrate unmanned aircraft systems into American skies, so commercial drone entrepreneurs will have to wait longer than Congress expected.

The FAA is struggling with a series of “technological, regulatory, and managerial barriers” on how to integrate drones into the national airspace, including how to ensure a drone does not collide with a jet and how to train drone pilots, according to hearing testimony from Calvin Scovel, inspector general for the Department of Transportation.

“It remains unclear when FAA will complete [unmanned aircraft systems] integration,” Scovel said.

Drones are more complicated to regulate than conventional aircraft since they vary in size and some can fly longer than airplanes, said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. Government agencies are also developing privacy standards for the use of drones that comply with state and federal laws, which will be made available to the public, Huerta said.

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