Part of the discussion on the drag sails was that while they are decreasing the time in orbit, they are increasing the collision area and therefore the general

Part of the discussion on the drag sails was that while they are decreasing the time in orbit, they are increasing the collision area and therefore the general risk of collision remains the same. Tethers are somewhat better but hard to work with. Propulsion is the best bet at the moment. One consequence of this ruling could also be in the orbit insertion strategy. Currently agencies are not too worried about your satellite being in working condition in orbit as long as you demonstrate the risk of collision is low enough through natural means. Now that we are likely required to use active deorbiting system (and possibly active collision avoidance), the rules may be more tightened regarding testing and analysis.