Today, the DOT’s Federal Aviation Administration published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register (90 FR 38212) on “Normalizing Unmanned Aircraft Systems Beyond Visual Line of Sight [BVLOS] Operations”. In an unusual move this rulemaking contains provisions from the DHS’ Transportation Security Administration (TSA) designed to “make complementary changes to its regulations to ensure it can continue to impose security measures on these operations under its current regulatory structure for civil aviation.” The preamble notes that: “While FAA and TSA are issuing a joint proposed rulemaking, the agencies intend to concurrently issue separate final rules.”
In this rulemaking the TSA is proposing to make changes to:
49 CFR 1540, Civil Aviation Security: General Rules, and
49 CFR 1544, Aircraft Operator Security: Air Carriers and Commercial Operators
Changes to General Rules
The changes being proposed for Part 1540 are fairly simple. The TSA is proposing to add definitions for two terms to §1540.5:
Unmanned aircraft, and
Unmanned aircraft system (UAS)
Changes to Aircraft Operator Security
TSA is proposing to add UAS related language to two sections within Part 1544. First it would amend §1544.1(a)(1) by adding “UAS operators permitted or certificated under 14 CFR part 108” to the list of operators to which §1544 would apply. Second it would amend §1544.101(g) by adding “or a UAS package delivery operator permitted or certificated under 14 CFR part 108’ to the list of operators which would be authorized to request approval of a limited security program. These changes are discussed in some detail in the package delivery section of the preamble.
Personnel Surety Requirements
The only vetting language currently in the proposed rule is not found in the TSA portion of the regulation, but in the FAA portion. The preamble explains:
“Pursuant to TSA recommendation, FAA proposes in § 108.335 [link added] to require that certain covered persons who are engaged in BVLOS operations undergo up to a Level 3 security threat assessment (STA) conducted by TSA. Covered persons would include those who perform the functions of an operations supervisor; perform the functions of a flight coordinator; have unescorted access to the UAS; have unescorted access to the cargo loaded for transport on the UAS; or have unescorted access to the control or the flightpath of the UAS.”
The proposed 108.335 provides a list of personnel that would be required to undergo TSA vetting.
Other Considerations
While the NPRM only contains these two changes, TSA notes that the final rule may be more expansive. The preamble notes that:
“TSA is considering additional changes to security program applicability and requirements in a final rule. While some operations will not require any additional security requirements beyond vetting, in a final rule TSA may expand the applicability of security program requirements to cover more than package delivery operations. TSA is requesting comment on the scope of operations for which a limited security program should be required, in addition to the requirement for vetting.”
Additional security measures that could be added to the final rule include:
Preventing the carriage of any explosive, incendiary, and other destructive substance or item in cargo onboard an aircraft,
Preventing unescorted access by persons other than an authorized aircraft operator employee or agent, or persons authorized by the airport operator or host government,
Prevent unauthorized access to areas controlled by the aircraft operator under an exclusive area agreement in accordance with 49 CFR 1542.111 of this chapter,
Preventing unauthorized access to each aircraft,
Conducting a security inspection of each aircraft before placing it into operations if access has not been controlled in accordance with the aircraft operator security program and as otherwise required in the security program,
Preventing unauthorized access to the operational area of the aircraft while loading or unloading cargo,
Public Comments
The FAA and TSA are soliciting public comments on this NPRM. Comments may be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal (www.Regulations.gov; Docket #FAA-2025-1908). Comments should be submitted by October 6th, 2025. This rulemaking is under an EO 14307 §4(a) deadline: “A final rule shall be published within 240 days of the date of this order [June 11th, 2025], as appropriate.” That means that the final rule should be published by February 6th, 2026. Note: Presidential deadlines are only slightly more enforceable that Congressional deadlines.