The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued new airspace restrictions for drones near seven Department of Energy (DoE) facilities on Monday in response to reports of unauthorized flights near the facilities.
The FAA used existing authorities to restrict drone flights within 400 feet of DoE facilities around the country. The restrictions go into effect on Dec. 29 and violators could face criminal or civil penalties.
The new flight restrictions apply to DoE’s Hanford Site in Franklin County, Washington; Pantex Site in Panhandle Texas; Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico; Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls, Idaho; Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, South Carolina; as well as the Y-12 National Security Site and Oak Ridge National Laboratory both located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
There are several exemptions from the new FAA restrictions, but drone operators that qualify for those exemptions must coordinate flights with the FAA or individual DoE facility managers.
The FAA’s announced airspace restrictions on Monday marks the first time that specific airspace restrictions have been put in place for unmanned aircraft over DoE sites. Similar airspace restrictions are currently in effect for military bases and Department of Interior facilities.
In its announcement, the FAA noted that it is also considering additional requests for drone airspace restrictions from other federal security agencies.