The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced a new enforcement policy designed to accelerate legal actions against operators of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The Drone Expedited and Targeted Enforcement Response (Deter) program establishes prompt settlement procedures for individual, first-time violators, offering them reduced civil penalties or shorter certificate suspensions in exchange for waiving their right to lengthy appeals.

The shift follows the Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty executive order issued by the US president, Donald Trump, on June 6 2025. Following the order, the FAA issued a compliance and enforcement bulletin on January 21 2026, mandating legal enforcement for any drone operations that endanger the public, breach established airspace restrictions, or further criminal acts. Previously, the agency often resolved careless violations through simple compliance actions, but those are no longer eligible for most UAS cases.

Under the new procedures, the flight standards service investigates apparent violations and develops an enforcement investigative report (EIR). For those eligible for the Deter program, the FAA issues a formal violation notice via FedEx and email, specifically from the address [email protected]. This notice provides explicitly detailed information, including the EIR number, the investigator’s name, the date, time, and place of the offence, the specific 14 CFR regulations violated, and the proposed penalty or corrective action.

Operators who elect to participate in the Deter program have just 10 days to return the signed form. They must pay the proposed civil penalty online at www.pay.gov, complete any mandated corrective actions, and surrender their remote pilot certificate to the address provided if they are a certificated airman. By signing the notice, the operator certifies under penalty of perjury that they have met these conditions.

Crucially, participation constitutes a formal finding of violation and creates a violation history. In return for the reduced penalties, operators must waive all rights to appeal or seek review of the notice. They also agree not to initiate any litigation against the FAA, its employees, or its agents, and explicitly waive the right to collect fees or costs under the Equal Access to Justice Act or to challenge the validity of the debt owed to the US government.

The FAA retains prosecutorial discretion over when and where the program applies, focusing initially on locations expecting a high volume of drone flights. Furthermore, the Deter program is strictly prohibited for several categories of severe offences. Operators are ineligible if their cases involve alcohol or drug-related offences, weaponised drones, or violations of temporary flight restrictions. The program also excludes operations demonstrating a lack of qualifications, particularly egregious conduct, and criminal activity unrelated to regulatory violations, such as the carriage of narcotics, assault, harassment, or the photographing of sensitive military installations.