Alert 08.15.25
FAA Releases Long-Awaited BVLOS Proposed Rule
The proposed rule signals a departure from previous one-size-fits-all regulatory approaches to a new, holistic, flexible and scalable stance.
Media Coverage
Source: Law360, MT Newswires
Media Coverage
Press Contacts: Erik Cummins, Matt Hyams, Taina Rosa, Olivia Thomas
08.15.25
On August 5, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed a landmark rule—Part 108—to enable Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) drone operations without requiring case-by-case waivers. The move is expected to significantly broaden commercial drone applications, including package delivery, infrastructure inspection, agriculture, disaster response and more.
“The case-by-case waiver process could be slow, unpredictable and fragmented, with the FAA, at times, issuing rounds of RFIs [requests for information],” Aviation, Aerospace & Transportation special counsel Laura Jennings Ochoa said in an interview with Law360. “We currently have a patchwork of individual waivers. Under the proposed rule, we will have a standardized, predictable approach to BVLOS operations creating regulatory certainty.”
Since the level of authorization is tied to operational risk, Ochoa noted, “Rather than propose a one-size-fits-all regulatory framework, the proposed rule scales the regulatory requirements and permissions to the type of the drone operation.”
She also pointed out that the FAA will prohibit drones from transmitting ADS-B Out signals, instead requiring them to use remote identification systems and detect-and-avoid technology to broadcast key flight data like location, speed and altitude.
“None of the above solutions are completely routine or off-the-shelf at scale, but there are many viable solutions that will likely be successful under the FAA’s proposed framework,” Ochoa concluded.
Click here to read the full article.
In a separate interview with MT Newswires, Ochoa considered the impact of the new rule on the unmanned traffic management (UTM) subsector, particularly as it related to authorized drone delivery services.
“By defining the role of automated data service providers, which would include UTM, and requiring specific functions, such as strategic deconfliction and conformance monitoring, the FAA is shaping the contours of these service providers and limiting the range of acceptable, scalable architectures,” she said.
Additionally, responding to concerns that the FAA is using the rule to influence which software architectures gain adoption—and potentially pushing some startups toward consolidation—Ochoa said: “It is conceivable that technical barriers, based on the system and functional requirements in the proposed rule, could force consolidation for some startups.”