Settlement Policy for Small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Cases

What it does

This notification announces Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)'s new Drone Expedited and Targeted Enforcement Response (DETER) Program to expedite and increase enforcement actions against small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) operators who violate Federal Aviation Administration regulations. The program establishes prompt settlement procedures for certificated and noncertificated UAS operators who are individuals, first-time violators, and meet the eligibility provisions of the policy. This policy will incentivize drone operators to follow FAA regulations, deterring clueless, careless, and criminal violations of UAS regulations by incentivizing violators to admit to liability and waive lengthy appeals processes in exchange for reduced fees. This policy effectuates President Trump's Executive Order directing zealous enforcement of UAS laws and regulations.

The Federal Aviation Administration's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What changed in the regulation

7 parts of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

14 CFR 48, 14 CFR 61, 14 CFR 89, 14 CFR 91, 14 CFR 107, 14 CFR 135, 14 CFR 137

Wording on eCFR: the day before it took effect and from the day it took effect (first part listed).

Compared with

The Federal Aviation Administration has published 485 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 518 in all of 2025.

Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.

What happens next and when

This enforcement policy is effective April 17, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket FAA-2013-0259 on Regulations.gov
• Title 14 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register