They will have it done by Christmas. All they need to do is eliminate any requirement for input from the people.
The Federal Aviation Administration has the right under federal law to issue emergency regulations related to air safety. But an emergency has to exist first. Just because an rogue drone might cause an accident is not an emergency and smacks of "Minority Report". I am not opposed to ensuring that people fly responsibly, including taking responsibly if their drone causes a problem. But this rush to judgement through an emergency SFAR to register all drones and model aircraft is simply a hysterical solution to an imagined problem. But that's what bureaucracies do - make regulations to appear to be doing something.
The normal approach to rulemaking is notice, comment, and then publishing the rule. Publishing a direct final rule which skips the notice step appears to violate the Administrative Procedures Act (APA); however, the APA allows the FAA to issue a direct final rule (also called a Special Federal Aviation Regulation, SFAR) without any notice when the FAA has good cause. 5 USC §553(b)(3)(B) in the APA says:
"(B) when the agency for good cause finds (and incorporates the finding and a brief statement of reasons therefor in the rules issued) that notice and public procedure thereon are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest."
The FAA explains that it issues direct final rules in two situations defined in 14 C.F.R. § 11.29:
"(a) We may issue a final rule without first requesting public comment if, for good cause, we find that an NPRM is impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. We place that finding and a brief statement of the reasons for it in the final rule. For example, we may issue a final rule in response to a safety emergency.
(b) If an NPRM would be unnecessary because we do not expect to receive adverse comment, we may issue a direct final rule."
In typical 21st Century style, these new laws (they are laws) are being passed not by Congress, but by unelected bureaucrats. Only Congress has the power to create taxes. If the FAA requires money, it's more proof that we bow to civil servants.
Congress makes laws and Federal departments and agencies make rules and regulations to comply with those laws. Registering model aircraft has absolutely nothing to do with money. If you think the agency charges fees to raise funds, then you do not understand how the US economic system works. Further, the fees collected would amount to couch lint in a $9 billion budget. 31 USC § 9701 – “Fees and charges for Government services and things of value” says the fees should consider “the value of the service or thing to the recipient”. Model aircraft registration is of no value to the recipient and is only an illogical response to the public hysteria over something that's never happened. In my opinion there should be no fee to the model aircraft owner for a service that contains no benefit or value to the recipient.