The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on Thursday that it was instituting new restrictions on drone activity over parts of New Jersey.
The announcement comes as the federal government has botched responding to news reports about public sightings of late-night drones that have spooked some local residents and caused a wide range of theories to be floated online about what was happening.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement, “In coordination with the FAA and our critical infrastructure partners who requested temporary flight restrictions over their facilities, out of an abundance of caution, the FAA has issued temporary flight restrictions over some critical infrastructure facilities in New Jersey.”
The agency published 22 Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) prohibiting drone flights over critical New Jersey infrastructure.
The restrictions were imposed on drones operating from ground-level up to 400 feet above ground — the maximum height that civilians are supposed to fly their drones.
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The restrictions ban drones from being flown over power stations and other infrastructure, CNN reported. The power stations include the Cedar Grove Switching Station, Athenia Switching Station, Hudson Switching Station, PSE&G Kearny Switching Station, and Bayonne Switching Station.
The ban only applies to drones and no other types of aircraft.
Drone flight restrictions were implemented late last month over Trump’s golf course in Bedminster and Picatinny Arsenal — a U.S. military research facility.
Federal law enforcement officials and the U.S. military released a detailed statement on Monday night saying that after an extensive investigation, the mysterious drone sightings that people have seen on the East Coast do not amount to anything nefarious, nor is there any threat to the public.
“Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones,” the statement said. “We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast.”
They said that the FBI alone has received more than 5,000 tips over the last few weeks, which has generated approximately 100 leads that authorities have investigated.
“We continue to support state and local authorities with advanced detection technology and support of law enforcement,” the statement said. “We urge Congress to enact counter-UAS legislation when it reconvenes that would extend and expand existing counter-drone authorities to identify and mitigate any threat that may emerge.”
They added that drone sightings near U.S. military facilities, while concerning, are not a new phenomenon and that the Department of Defense “takes unauthorized access over its airspace seriously and coordinates closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities, as appropriate.”
“Local commanders are actively engaged to ensure there are appropriate detection and mitigation measures in place,” the statement added.
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