The Federal Aviation Administration’s proposed Part 108 rule—the framework intended to replace most case-by-case beyond-visual-line-of-sight waivers with routine, scalable authorizations—has been sitting at the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs since July 10, 2026. As of the first days of August, the review continues.
That placement marks the final interagency checkpoint before publication. OIRA reviews of significant rules can take up to 90 days. The rule’s arrival there came more than five months after the February 1, 2026 deadline set by Executive Order 14307, which directed the FAA to issue a final BVLOS rule within 240 days of the order’s June 2025 signature.
Transportation Department officials have framed the extra time as intentional rather than accidental. Pete Meachum, chief of staff to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, stated publicly that the secretary “certainly doesn’t want lock-in protection for incumbents.” The deliberate pacing, according to the same reporting, also aims to avoid hard-coding today’s detect-and-avoid or navigation technology into a rule that must remain flexible as better systems emerge.
Industry reaction has been pointed. Zipline CEO Keller Rinaudo Cliffton noted that “convincing investors relies on certainty of regulatory approach and framework.” Zipline, which closed a $600 million round in January 2026 at a $7.6 billion valuation and already holds multiple federal BVLOS exemptions, has argued that prolonged uncertainty freezes private capital that would otherwise flow into U.S. operations, aircraft production, and supporting services. Other operators and investors have echoed the concern that the United States risks ceding momentum to jurisdictions that have already logged substantial BVLOS trial activity.
What the proposed Part 108 framework would change
The August 2025 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (docket FAA-2025-1908) and subsequent reopenings sketched a two-track system that would sit alongside—but not replace—Part 107:
Operating permits for lower-risk, more standardized BVLOS work (package delivery, agriculture, aerial surveying, civic-interest missions under government contract, training, demonstration, flight test, and limited recreation). Typical limits discussed include aircraft up to 55 lb for many delivery permits (with higher weights in restricted density categories), fleet caps (for example, up to 100 aircraft for certain delivery permits), and operations generally restricted to Category 3 or lower population-density areas as defined by LandScan USA data.
Operating certificates for higher-complexity or higher-risk operations. These would allow heavier aircraft (up to 110 lb or, in some categories, 1,320 lb including payload), larger fleets, and operations over denser population categories, but would require more rigorous FAA oversight, a safety management system, and formal training programs.
Aircraft would generally remain limited to 400 ft AGL. Operators—not individual remote pilots—would bear primary compliance responsibility. Right-of-way rules would be revised so that a Part 108 unmanned aircraft would have presumptive priority over a non-broadcasting manned aircraft in many low-altitude environments, with important exceptions for ADS-B Out or approved electronic-conspicuity-equipped aircraft, Class B/C airspace, airport/heliport operations, and the highest-density population categories. Detect-and-avoid capability, anti-collision lighting, and strategic deconfliction (especially via UAS Traffic Management services under a companion Part 146) would become central requirements. Airworthiness acceptance would rely heavily on industry consensus (ASTM) standards rather than traditional type certification for most vehicles under the weight thresholds.
Part 107 itself would remain intact for visual-line-of-sight operations under 55 lb. Many current waiver-dependent missions are expected to migrate to the new permit structure once the rule is final and implementation guidance is issued.
Practical implications and preparation for Part 107 pilots and contractors
The delay does not freeze existing waivers or Part 107 work. It does, however, create a planning window. Operators who intend to scale should:
- Track the OIRA status and any subsequent Federal Register publication closely.
- Evaluate current aircraft against likely ASTM standards and begin conversations with manufacturers about airworthiness-acceptance pathways.
- Review detect-and-avoid, electronic-conspicuity, and Remote ID performance against the performance-based requirements sketched in the NPRM.
- Consider organizational structure: Part 108 shifts accountability to the company, so documented training programs, SMS elements, and record-keeping systems will matter earlier than under pure Part 107.
- Map prospective operating areas against LandScan-derived population categories to understand whether a future permit or certificate will be required.
- Maintain existing Part 107 remote-pilot certificates and currency; individual pilot credentials remain relevant even as company-level authorizations expand.
For public-safety and disaster-response operators already flying under Part 91 or specialized waivers, the eventual rule is expected to provide cleaner pathways for routine automated or beyond-visual-line-of-sight first-responder missions, provided the final text preserves flexibility for those use cases.
Business and competitive context
The deliberate-delay rationale—preserving technological headroom and competitive entry—aligns with broader administration goals of strengthening the domestic drone industrial base. At the same time, prolonged uncertainty raises the cost of capital precisely when delivery, inspection, and agricultural operators need to scale fleets and infrastructure. Competitors in other jurisdictions continue to accumulate operational data. Once the rule clears OIRA and is published, implementation will still require months of guidance, system approvals, and operator applications. The operators who use the current window to align people, processes, and platforms will be best positioned when the first permits and certificates begin to issue.
The Part 108 rule remains the single most consequential regulatory development for commercial drone operations in the United States. Its continued presence at OIRA, the stated reasons for the deliberate pace, and the investment freeze already being felt together form the central story for FAA-certified pilots and contractors in early August 2026.