CDA Welcomes Proposal on Section 2209
WASHINGTON, D.C. – May 5, 2026 – The Commercial Drone Alliance (CDA) commends the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Department of Transportation, and the broader Administration for today’s announcement of the long-anticipated Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to protect certain fixed site facilities from unauthorized drone operations. This is an important step in creating a low altitude airspace ecosystem that enables authorized drone operations while protecting important national security assets from the dangers of malicious drone use.
This action fulfills a decade-old Congressional mandate—Section 2209 of the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016—as well as a White House directive in last year’s Executive Order on Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty. The CDA has long advocated that innovation and security are two sides of the same coin. We look forward to reviewing the draft rule and providing comment to ensure that an appropriate balance is maintained, and that unauthorized drone operations do not hamper the potential for commercial and public safety drone operations to provide public benefits.
“We welcome today’s announcement and look forward to engaging with our members and the broader industry to ensure this rule truly enables the good while preventing the bad,” said Lisa Ellman, CEO of the CDA. “This long-awaited proposal reflects an important milestone in creating a comprehensive framework for safe, scalable commercial operations while protecting our nation’s sensitive fixed sites from unauthorized drones. We appreciate the Administration’s focus on advancing this crucial initiative.”
“This proposal represents a significant step forward in modernizing how our low altitude ecosystem works,” added Liz Forro, Policy Director of the CDA. “Everyone who flies drones legally, or who is experiencing rogue unauthorized drone overflight, should participate in this comment period to provide concrete advice to regulators on how to further refine the proposal.”
Once the proposal is published in the Federal Register, the public will have 60 days to comment. The CDA looks forward to providing feedback to the Federal Government to help advance American drone leadership and ensure innovation and security policy keep pace with technology advances.
About the Commercial Drone Alliance
The CDA is the leading U.S. non-profit organization focused on U.S. leadership in drone technology and the integration of commercial drones into the NAS. The CDA consists of key leaders in the commercial drone industry and actively participates in regulatory and policy efforts to facilitate the safe and secure development and expansion of domestic commercial drone operations. The CDA collaborates with all levels of government on policies for industry growth and educates on the safe and responsible use of commercial drones to achieve economic benefits and humanitarian gains. We bring together commercial drone end-users, manufacturers, service providers, drone security companies, and vertical markets including oil and gas, precision agriculture, construction, security, communications technology, infrastructure, newsgathering, filmmaking, package delivery and logistics, and more.
Learn more at www.commercialdronealliance.org.
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