Nearly a decade after Congress directed the FAA to create a process for critical infrastructure and other sensitive sites to petition for restricted drone operations in their airspace, a long-awaited Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) has been released. This week, the FAA announced its NPRM for Section 2209 of the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016. The NPRM was published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, May 6, opening a 60-day period for public comment, with a deadline for submitting comments of July 6. Last year’s Executive Order Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty directly called for the FAA to submit this NPRM “promptly.” 

The 181-page rule proposes a new 14 CFR Part 74, establishing a petition-based framework under which eligible facility operators can apply to the FAA for a designated Unmanned Aircraft Flight Restriction (UAFR). Two tiers are proposed for this mechanism.

A Standard UAFR would create defined horizontal and vertical airspace limits around a qualifying fixed-site facility. A Special UAFR is a stricter tier designed for sensitive federal sites and certain facility types endorsed by federal security or intelligence agencies. Modeled on the existing Special Security Instructions process under 14 CFR 99.7, Special UAFRs would carry five-year designations, and in some cases, airspace designated under a Special UAFR could be treated as national defense airspace, with potential criminal penalties for unauthorized operations.

It’s important to note as well that these designations do not authorize geo-fencing or give facility operators any new authority to interfere with drone operations.

Eligibility is scoped narrowly. Applicants must operate fixed, permanent facilities that fall within the federal definition of critical infrastructure and within one of 16 critical infrastructure sectors identified in National Security Memorandum 22. Those sectors include chemical, energy, transportation, nuclear, food and agriculture, financial services, and communications, among others. 

Applicants must also demonstrate a real need, such as existing drone activity near the facility, the nature of its vulnerabilities, and the potential consequences of an incident. The FAA will weigh those arguments against its other statutory mandates.

For operators conducting work under Parts 91, 107, 108, 135, and 137, the proposed rule includes an important carve-out. Under proposed § 74.250, those operators would retain access to Standard UAFR airspace, provided they broadcast Remote ID, transit in the shortest practicable time, and notify the facility in advance. This is an important protection for commercial uses like infrastructure inspection, surveying, and public safety operations that can require proximity to the kinds of sites that may seek UAFRs.

One area in which the FAA is specifically asking the industry to weigh in is around whether restrictions could be drawn too broadly or implemented in ways that create undue friction for lawful operators.

The comment period for this NPRM runs through July 6. You can read the entire 181-page NPRM here.