Policy & Regulation
Drone policy and regulation news from UASFeed — FAA rulemaking, BVLOS, Part 108, the DJI debate, export controls, and the rules shaping the uncrewed sky.
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Policy & Regulation
North Myrtle Beach: Amazon Says 68 Decibels, the FAA's Own Noise Report Tells a Different Story, and Nobody Will Own the Overflight Question
Amazon told North Myrtle Beach its MK30 never tops about 68 dB and sent overflight questions to the FAA. The FAA sent them back to Amazon and local leaders, and the agency's own Baton Rouge noise file puts takeoff near 82 dB at 20 feet.
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Policy & Regulation
Laredo Police Vow to Take Down Drones at a Hotel Fire, but the FAA Listed No Restriction and Federal Rules Require Mitigation Certification
Laredo's police chief said officers would "take down" drones over the DoubleTree hotel fire, but the FAA's TFR list showed no restriction for the city. Federal rules let local police mitigate drones only after certification, with ATC notice and a 48-hour report, and no one has said whether any Laredo officer is certified.
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Policy & Regulation
Bellingham's Skydio Drone-as-First-Responder Program: 23 Flights, One Real Response, and a State Law That Never Mentions Drones
Bellingham police's new Skydio-run DFR program logged 23 flights in its first seven weeks, but only one was an incident response, and the state law behind its $475,417 grant never mentions drones.
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Policy & Regulation
FAA Puts $12 Million Into 19 Drone Test-Site Projects While Part 108 Waits at OIRA
The FAA's new $12M round of drone research awards, with four going to ANRA and three to SPS Aerial, comes from money Congress already set aside, and it buys data for a BVLOS rule that has been at OIRA since July 10.
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Policy & Regulation
FBI Will More Than Double Its Counter-Drone School After 700 World Cup Seizures, but the Safer Skies Pipeline Still Runs Through One Campus
The FBI's Redstone counter-drone school will more than double capacity after 700 World Cup seizures, but with 250 more graduates expected next fiscal year and about 340 metro cities waiting, the only path to local takedown authority remains a bottleneck.
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Policy & Regulation
Ukraine Presses Washington to Sanction Suppliers of Russia's Rassvet Satellite Network, Fearing Real-Time Drone Control
Kyiv will hand Washington and Congress lists of companies supplying Russia's Rassvet LEO constellation. Ukrainian officials warn that a finished network would let Russian forces fly attack drones in real time across Ukraine, and the US administration has until Oct. 18 to choose its sanctions targets.
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Policy & Regulation
FCC's '$5 Billion' Drone Manufacturing Claim Mixes Pledges With Real Capital, Filing Shows
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr says the Covered List drone ban drove $5 billion into U.S. manufacturing, but the agency's own filing counts valuations and five-year pledges alongside cash actually raised.
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Policy & Regulation
The FCC's Component Rule Takes Effect Oct. 13: DJI or Autel Chips Inside a US-Built Drone Can Now Block Authorization
An FCC rule effective Oct. 13 bars authorization of devices containing logic-bearing components from Covered List firms like DJI and Autel, and makes online marketplaces show FCC IDs, but it rests on supplier names and applicant attestation.
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Policy & Regulation
Tallahassee Commissioner Wants Amazon Drone Rules. Florida Statute 330.41 Says the City Can't Write Them
A Tallahassee commissioner says Amazon drone delivery "needs to be regulated," but Florida Statute 330.41 bars cities from writing drone-operation rules or blocking drone ports, leaving only setbacks, landscaping and general nuisance law.
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Policy & Regulation
Federal Judge Finds Lodi's Town-Wide Drone Ban Preempted, but Pro Se Pilot Gets No Restraining Order
A New Jersey federal judge held Lodi's ban on drones below 400 feet is both field- and conflict-preempted by federal law, denying the borough's motion to dismiss while refusing the pro se pilot's TRO because enforcement isn't imminent.
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Policy & Regulation
Fifteen States and Harris County Ask the Second Circuit to Throw Out the FAA's Nationwide Drone-Delivery Environmental Clearance
New York AG Letitia James filed a Second Circuit petition for 15 states and Harris County, Texas, seeking to set aside the FAA's July 28 national environmental review for Part 135 drone package delivery, the first court challenge to the agency's NEPA shortcut.
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Policy & Regulation
Britain Gets First-Ever Foreign Access to Ukraine's Battlefield AI Data to Train Drone Swarms
The UK MOD announced Sept. 25 that up to 12 British firms will tap Ukraine's Avengers AI Labs — over 5 million annotated combat frames from the DELTA system — to train autonomous drone swarm AI, a first for any foreign government.
