Chino, CA Drone Rules: Commercial Drones (2026)

Commercial UAS operations — anything other than strictly recreational flight under 49 U.S.C. §44809 — fall under 14 C.F.R. Part 107. Key requirements: (1) Remote Pilot Certificate with sUAS rating issued under §107.61 after passing the FAA Aeronautical Knowledge Test at an approved testing center; (2) drone registered with the FAA under §107.13 / §91.203 regardless of weight (the 0.55 lb exemption is recreational only); (3) Remote ID broadcast under 14 C.F.R. Part 89; (4) maximum 400 ft AGL or within 400 ft of a structure (§107.51); (5) maximum groundspeed 100 mph; (6) visual line of sight under §107.31; (7) daylight operations under §107.29 (civil twilight permitted with anti-collision lighting visible 3 statute miles); (8) operations over people only under Operations Over People rule (§107.39, Category 1–4); (9) LAANC airspace authorization for Class B/C/D/E surface — required across most of Chino because of CNO Class D and ONT Class C. Chino has no local business-license carve-out for drone operations specifically; a general business license under Title 5 of the Municipal Code is required if the drone operator's principal place of business is in Chino. Sensitive sites: the federal correctional institutions in Chino (FCI Chino and CIW) and Chino Airport itself are subject to additional FAA Notice to Airmen / Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) under 14 C.F.R. §99.7 and BOP / DOJ no-fly notices. Cal. Civil Code §1708.8 imposes civil liability for invasive aerial recording independent of FAA compliance.