Exclusive Interview: CDA Policy Director on BVLOS, Infrastructure Rules, and the Future of U.S. Drone Regulation

DRONELIFE speaks with Liz Forro on the Commercial Drone Alliance’s 2025 goals for federal policy and industry growth

By DRONELIFE Features Editor Jim Magill

The year 2025 is ramping up to be a critical year for the commercial drone industry as the FAA considers moving forward on the long-awaited beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) rule as well as regulations regarding airspace prohibitions around sensitive sites.

Liz Forro, who was recently named policy director of the Commercial Drone Alliance, thinks that it’s vital that the commercial drone industry have a seat at the table as these important decisions are being made.

“CDA is really focused on advancing the domestic commercial drone industry,” she said in an interview. “So, we’re focused on getting correct regulations in place, enabling end-users, educating officials around the incredible societal benefits of drones, and overarchingly restoring U.S. global leadership in commercial drone technology.”

Forro, who was named to her current position in January, has a strong background working at the intersection of unmanned aviation development and policy.

“I’ve been working in the drone policy space for a little over 10 years now, primarily with the Federal Aviation Administration in the UAS Integration Office and the Office of Rulemaking, and then also on Capitol Hill working on FAA reauthorization with the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee,” she said.

“My first day in the UAS integration office was the day that the FAA received the first petitions for exemption using Section 333. And so, I got assigned to work on that project and to write the first commercial approvals for drones in the continental United States.”

CDA has set an ambitious agenda for achievements it hopes to make in the current year, outlining three broad goals for the industry: achieving immediate operational scalability and profitability; ensuring near-term regulatory predictability; and working toward fully integrating drones into the U.S. airspace.

In order to accomplish immediate operational scalability and profitability, the CDA is focusing on streamlining the regulatory processes needed to help ensure the growth of the commercial UAV industry.

“We’ve had good pockets of activity starting to develop, and the FAA has improved somewhat. But there’s still a long way that we can go in terms of reducing red tape, streamlining processes, and kind of standardizing policies,” Forro said.

In terms of affecting regulatory changes, the Alliance is focused on short-term and midterm policy changes as well as long-term reforms. “In the short term, we really need regulations that work for and are written for this industry, as the existing aviation regulatory framework did not contemplate drones when it was written,” she said. “It’s very much a square peg into a round hole. And the FAA and the industry are constantly having to do gymnastics to be able to approve safe operations with the regulations that they have.”

It is crucial that the FAA complete the rulemaking process for a permanent BVLOS regulation as soon as possible, she said.

In addition, the agency needs to complete the process of implementing the prohibitions called for in Section 2209, which establishes airspace regulations around certain fixed-site facilities and critical infrastructure, such as energy production facilities and amusement parks.

“We’re starting to see state and local officials try to restrict airspace around sensitive facilities. That’s not good for the industry. We’re going to end up with a patchwork of regulations of airspace, basically restrictions that a company is going to have to figure out how to navigate every time they want to go somewhere new,” Forro said.

“We really need the federal government to put a marker down and say, ‘No, these are the facilities that warrant aerospace restrictions from unauthorized drones.’”

At the same time, the CDA emphasizes that regulations that restrict the flights of unauthorized drones must not impede the use of the nation’s airspace by legitimate drone operators.

In the mid- to long-term time frame, the Alliance is focused on fully integrating drones into the nation’s airspace by working toward the establishment of a national UAS air traffic management system.

“We need that cooperative performance-based federated ecosystem of services that allows drones to operate in a highly automated fashion at low altitude,” Forro said. “We also need to think about how counter-drone authorities need to be expanded in order for the relevant and appropriately trained officials to prevent the bad while we enable the good (drone flights).”

High hopes for new administration

Forro said she is hopeful that the new Trump administration will help accelerate the necessary regulatory reforms at the federal level.

“I think any administration change presents an opportunity to promote and educate anew,” she said. “And so, we’ve been focused for the first 100 days of this administration on educating incoming officials on the barriers to this industry’s scaling, and restoring American global leadership.”

In addition to calling for changes in the way the federal government regulates the drone industry, the CDA is also examining changes to drone regulations being promoted at the state level. In an alarming development, several states are considering legislation that would permit citizens to shoot down drones they consider to be a threat to their personal privacy.

“It’s definitely a concern. I think we would emphasize that shooting down a drone is not legal,” Forro said. She added that members of the commercial drone industry work to educate the communities that they operate in about the societal benefits of UAV overflights, “and that they’re not trying to record them or invade their personal privacy.”

She said the CDA is working with state legislatures to ensure that they recognize the difference between responsible commercial drone operators and the “clueless, careless and criminal” operators who tend to give the entire drone industry a bad name.

Alliance takes no position on country-of-origin bans

Finally, as federal and state lawmakers consider legislative proposals to restrict the use of foreign-made — particularly Chinese-manufactured — drones, the CDA warns that any such new laws should take into account the impact that they could have on the commercial U.S. drone industry.

The Alliance does not take a direct position on the issue of country-or-origin bans, Forro said. “We ultimately believe that any potential, risk-based prohibitions or bans are a decision for the federal government to make, not necessarily for an advocacy organization,” she said.

However, she added that any legislation that would impose such a ban should include an adequate time period to allow that agencies and businesses that currently use the soon-to-be-banned drones and products, to transition to the purchase of approved UAVs.

“Our advocacy position is, “Please, talk to the whole ecosystem and also consider appropriate transition times as you’re considering any action,” Forro said.

Read more:

• Commercial Drone Alliance Urges Swift Action on BVLOS Rule-making
• Liz Forro Joins the Commercial Drone Alliance as Policy Director
• Commercial Drone Alliance, AUVSI Release FAA’s Drone Remote ID Rule FAQ

Jim Magill is a Houston-based writer with almost a quarter-century of experience covering technical and economic developments in the oil and gas industry. After retiring in December 2019 as a senior editor with S&P Global Platts, Jim began writing about emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robots and drones, and the ways in which they’re contributing to our society. In addition to DroneLife, Jim is a contributor to Forbes.com and his work has appeared in the Houston Chronicle, U.S. News & World Report, and Unmanned Systems, a publication of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.