Drone News: FAA BVLOS NPRM Missed, Drone Ban Proposal, and Drone Hits Helicopter in TX

First up, it’s another case of "hurry up and wait" for our drone industry. The FAA has missed another major deadline for publishing the much-anticipated Beyond Visual Line of Sight, or BVLOS, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. This time, the deadline was set by a presidential executive order. On June 6th, 2025, President Trump signed the “Unleashing American Drone Dominance” order, which gave the FAA a very aggressive 30-day timeline to issue the proposed rule. Well, that deadline was July 7th, and it came and went with no NPRM in sight.This new missed deadline joins the one from the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, which mandated the NPRM be published by September 16, 2024. A Bit of history: The BVLOS Aviation Rulemaking Committee, or ARC, delivered its comprehensive 381-page report with 70 recommendations all the way back in March of 2022. That report gave the FAA a set of recommendations for enabling BVLOS. Next up, Florida Senator Rick Scott has introduced the "Drones for America Act," a bill aimed at banning Chinese-made drones and their components while trying to boost U.S. manufacturing. The bill proposes a phased approach. It would implement a full ban on the sale of Chinese-manufactured drone systems by January 1, 2028, and a ban on Chinese-made components by January 1, 2031. In the meantime, a gradually increasing tariff would be placed on these items to phase them out of the market. The revenue collected from these tariffs would be used to fund a grant program. This program is designed to help American companies develop and produce U.S.-manufactured drones and components along with helping first responders, law enforcement, and even farmers and ranchers purchase these American-made drones. However, this bill neglects the largest users of drones, small businesses and recreational flyers. Right now, there are no real alternatives to DJI for consumers and small businesses. And we’ve heard from the people who are likely behind this bill that there has been NO study done to determine the output of drones from American Manufacturers. These bill threaten to destroy the drone industry in favor of a few American manufacturers, who don’t even have an interest in making consumer drones. Please reach out to your Senators and Representatives and tell them this is not a good idea. And finally this week, a story that serves as a critical reminder for all of us about why the rules exist. On July 7th, during catastrophic flooding in Kerr County, Texas, a drone reportedly collided with a rescue helicopter. The helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing and is now out of commission. This has sidelined a critical life-saving asset in an area where, tragically, over 100 people have died. The entire area was under a Temporary Flight Restriction, or TFR, specifically NOTAM FDC 5/2615, to keep the airspace clear for these exact types of rescue operations.Alright, we’ll see you on Monday for the Live and for Post Flight in the Premium Community! https://dronelife.com/2025/07/07/another-missed-deadline-the-bvlos-nprm-still-awaits-publication/https://dronexl.co/2025/07/07/drone-fiasco-in-kerr-county/https://www.rickscott.senate.gov/2025/6/sen-rick-scott-introduces-drones-for-america-act-to-ban-chinese-made-drones-components-support-u-s-drone-manufacturing