The Federal Aviation Administration on May 6 published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would, nearly a decade after Congress first ordered it, establish a federal process for operators of critical infrastructure and other fixed-site facilities to petition for permanent drone flight restrictions over their property.
The 181-page proposal, filed under Docket No. FAA-2026-4558 and published in the Federal Register as RIN 2120-AL33, opens a 60-day public comment window that closes July 6.
The rule would create a new 14 CFR Part 74 codifying section 2209 of the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016, which Congress passed in July 2016 and amended in the FAA Reauthorization Acts of 2018 and 2024. The original statutory deadline for an NPRM was March 31, 2019. The rule’s release this week is directly traceable to Executive Order 14305, “Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty,” signed June 6, 2025, which directed the FAA to submit the NPRM “promptly” and to interpret critical infrastructure consistent with the order’s definition.
Two tiers: Standard and Special UAFRs
The proposal establishes two designation types under a new Unmanned Aircraft Flight Restriction, or UAFR, framework.
A Standard UAFR creates a defined volume of airspace, with horizontal limits drawn within an applicant’s property lines and a default vertical ceiling of 400 feet above ground level, within which unmanned aircraft operations are restricted. Designations may be continuous or part-time, with part-time UAFRs limited to 290 consecutive days per year to accommodate seasonal facilities such as outdoor amusement parks. The FAA notes that the lateral boundary should be drawn as the smallest practicable polygon consistent with documented protection needs, and where feasible should preserve low-risk corridors between adjacent facilities.
A Special UAFR is a more restrictive tier modeled on the existing Special Security Instructions process under 14 CFR 99.7. Eligibility is limited to facilities owned, operated, or sponsored by federal security and intelligence agencies or military departments, or to designated fixed-site facilities supported by a verified security assessment showing credible threats. Special UAFRs would carry five-year designations, replacing the temporary character of 99.7 SSIs with what the rule describes as a stable, longer-term framework. When issued for national security or homeland security purposes, the affected airspace may be designated as national defense airspace under 49 U.S.C. 40103(b)(3), which carries criminal penalties under 49 U.S.C. 46307.
Eligibility and the 16-sector limit
Eligibility for a Standard UAFR is scoped to permanent, non-mobile facilities that meet the federal definition of critical infrastructure under 42 U.S.C. 5195c(e) and fall within one of the 16 critical infrastructure sectors identified in National Security Memorandum 22 of April 30, 2024. Those sectors include chemical, commercial facilities, communications, critical manufacturing, dams, defense industrial base, emergency services, energy, financial services, food and agriculture, government services and facilities, healthcare and public health, information technology, nuclear, transportation systems, and water and wastewater.
Applicants must demonstrate a documented safety or security need: existing drone activity in proximity to the facility, the nature of the facility’s vulnerabilities, the consequences of an exploited vulnerability, and how the UAFR would supplement existing security plans. Facilities must also meet baseline protective security requirements, including restricted access, designated security personnel, monitoring, and Remote ID receiver capability sufficient to detect broadcast signals from compliant operators in the surrounding airspace.
Commercial transit access — the carve-out at § 74.250
The provision most consequential for commercial unmanned operators is proposed § 74.250, which preserves access to Standard UAFR airspace for operations conducted under Parts 91, 107, 108, 135, and 137. To transit, operators must broadcast Remote ID consistent with 14 CFR Part 89, cross the UAFR in the shortest practicable time, and notify the facility in advance through procedures set forth in § 74.255. Special UAFRs require both permission from the using agency and FAA Administrator approval, with the using agency itself authorized to operate in its own airspace without further FAA sign-off.
The FAA explicitly invites comment on what additional unmanned aircraft operations should be permitted through a UAFR, what economic impact would result if commercial operators are not allowed to transit, what information operators should be required to provide to demonstrate they are not a security threat, and what additional technological or procedural requirements should apply.
What the rule does not do
The NPRM is precise about its limits. A UAFR does not authorize geo-fencing, jamming, drone capture, or any mitigation activity, and it does not expand counter-UAS authority for facility operators. The rule states that nothing in Part 74 constrains the exercise of federal counter-UAS authorities under 6 U.S.C. 124n, 10 U.S.C. 130i, 10 U.S.C. 6227, or 50 U.S.C. 3515a. Entities with separate statutory authority to deploy detection or mitigation systems retain that authority; the rule neither grants nor restricts it.
Civil enforcement of Standard UAFR violations would parallel existing Part 91 and Part 107 enforcement, with sanctions available under 14 CFR Part 13. Violations of Special UAFRs designated as national defense airspace may carry criminal penalties.
Costs, scope, and what comes next
The FAA’s regulatory impact analysis assumes a scenario in which more than 9,000 eligible fixed-site facilities obtain UAFRs over the period of analysis, producing annualized costs of $21 million to $31 million across applicants and government review. The actual scope will be determined by the volume of applications the FAA receives and the agency’s eligibility determinations.
The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International, in a statement issued the same day, said it would press in its comments to ensure that certificated operators — including under the forthcoming Part 108 — retain meaningful access to UAFR airspace and that notification requirements scale with commercial operations rather than impede them.
Comments are due by July 6, 2026, and may be submitted via regulations.gov under Docket No. FAA-2026-4558. The full 181-page NPRM is available in the docket.
