Edison, NJ Drone Rules: Recreational Drones (2026)

The federal floor governs every recreational drone flight in Edison. 14 CFR Part 107 (the Small Unmanned Aircraft Rule) governs all commercial operations and most non-recreational flight: certificated remote pilot, daylight or civil-twilight operations (with anti-collision lighting at night), under 400 feet AGL within Class G airspace (LAANC authorization required to enter controlled airspace, of which the eastern edge of Edison sits beneath Newark Liberty International Class B veils), within visual line of sight, with maximum speed of 100 mph, and away from non-participants. 49 U.S.C. §44809 (added by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018) carved out limited recreational flight for hobbyist pilots flying under a community-based organization's safety guidelines, but the §44809 carve-out still requires: TRUST test passage (the FAA's Recreational UAS Safety Test), line-of-sight operation, under 400 feet AGL, away from manned aircraft, and registration of any drone over 0.55 lb at faa.gov/uas. Inside Edison, three additional layers apply. First, Middlesex County prohibits drone takeoff or landing in any Middlesex County park, except in County-designated and posted areas; Roosevelt Park (the County's main park inside Edison), the County portions of Plainfield Avenue parklands, and the County-built Edison-Metuchen Dog Park on Whitman Avenue fall under that ban. Township-managed parks may layer their own restrictions through the Edison Recreation Division. Second, the FAA issued a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) in December 2024 / January 2025 covering Edison and 21 other New Jersey municipalities during the period of widely reported drone sightings; the TFR prohibited unmanned aircraft below 400 feet AGL within one nautical mile of the listed airspace and was in effect through January 17, 2025. That TFR has expired, but operators should always check faa.gov/uas for current TFRs before flying. Third, Edison's eastern edge sits within the Class B and Class D veils for Newark Liberty International Airport (KEWR); LAANC authorization is required for any flight in those veils, and parts of Edison closest to Route 1 South may also touch Linden Airport (KLDJ) Class D airspace requiring tower coordination. Edison itself has not codified a stand-alone drone ordinance. New Jersey state law layers separate criminal exposure under N.J.S.A. 2C:40-28 (operating an unmanned aircraft while intoxicated) and under state public-safety statutes for reckless or harassing operation.