On December 18, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Department of Energy (DOE) announced new airspace restrictions at several DOE facilities. While we don’t anticipate that these restrictions will affect AMA members, we wanted to make you aware of this development, which prohibits all UAS flights up to 400 feet within the boundary of the following DOE sites:
• Hanford Site, Franklin County, WA
• Pantex Site, Panhandle, TX
• Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM
• Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID
• Savannah River National Laboratory, Aiken, SC
• Y-12 National Security Site, Oak Ridge, TN
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
These UAS National Security restrictions, outlined in NOTAM FDC 7/6429, are currently pending and will become effective on December 29, 2017. At that time, all operators who violate these restrictions are subject to enforcement action, including potential civil penalties and criminal charges.
Here are three important things to know about the DOE airspace restrictions:
• The restrictions only affect certain locations within select DOE sites and do not apply beyond the property lines of these specific sites.
• The restrictions apply to all civilian model aircraft and UAS, including but not limited to drones, multi-rotors and models with cameras.
• There are a few exceptions that permit drone flights within these restrictions, but they must be coordinated with the individual facility and/or the FAA. (If you have a pre-existing flying site or need permission to fly model aircraft within a restricted area, please contact the AMA Government Relations Team at 765-287-1256 x227.)
While this is the first time the FAA has placed specific airspace restrictions for UAS over DOE sites, the FAA has placed similar airspace restrictions over military locations and U.S. landmarks in the past.
It is critical that AMA members follow all airspace restrictions. As always, if you have questions, please contact AMA at 765-287-1256.
Thank you,
AMA Government Relations Team