Law Alert: FEMA Announces $250 Million Counter-UAS Grant Program Funding for States and Territories for FY 2027 – Update from Kaplan Kirsch

FEMA Announces $250 Million Counter-UAS Grant Program Funding for States and Territories for FY 2027

On October 16, 2026, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) published its Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2027 Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Grant Program Notice of Funding Opportunity (“NOFO”), announcing that it is making $250 million available to all U.S. states and territories for the purchase of detection and mitigation (collectively “C-UAS”) technologies. The program requires an affirmative application by the State Administrative Agency, which is the entity responsible for consolidating and coordinating all FEMA preparedness grants, as well as distributing funds, within each state. Subrecipients of these funds, such as local governments and law enforcement agencies, should coordinate their funding requests with the appropriate State Administrative Agency as soon as possible so that their proposals may be incorporated into the statewide request. The list of State Administrative Agencies and contact information is available on the FEMA website. The application period runs through November 16, 2026. 

This NOFO implements the second phase of FEMA’s two-phase C-UAS Grant Program. In FY 2026, FEMA provided $250 million to the 11 states that directly or indirectly hosted 2026 FIFA World Cup events and the National Capital Region. The FY 2027 funds are available to all states and territories, with a focus on building a national C-UAS detection and response capacity generally, as well as supporting the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games and the nationwide torch relay. Jurisdictions will receive statutory minimums ($3,325,000 for each state, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia; $760,000 for each territory), with additional funds allocated based on the Department of Homeland Security Terrorism Risk Methodology and the anticipated effectiveness of proposed projects. Additional information about the C-UAS Grant Program, including applicant and project eligibility requirements, is available here.

State and local governments considering the acquisition and use of C-UAS technologies to address nefarious or unlawful UAS activity within their jurisdictions, including around airports, critical infrastructure, and large-scale events, should also evaluate the federal requirements governing the use of these technologies. Recipients may use C-UAS Grant Program funds to purchase UAS detection, identification, monitoring, tracking, and mitigation technologies consistent with the C-UAS authority recently provided under the SAFER SKIES Act and its implementing Interim Final Rule (6 U.S.C. § 124n; 6 C.F.R. Part 124). The Interim Final Rule establishes federal training, certification, accreditation, and authorized technology requirements under which non-federal law enforcement and correctional agencies may use C-UAS measures to mitigate a credible threat posed by UAS to (1) the safety or security of people, facilities, and assets; (2) a venue or set of venues used for large-scale public gatherings or events; (3) critical infrastructure; or (4) correctional facilities. The C-UAS Grant Program and SAFER SKIES authority are part of a broader federal effort to address increasing UAS operations and associated security concerns.  Separately, the FAA is pursuing a rulemaking under Section 2209 of the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 (the “2209 rulemaking”) that would allow certain owners and proprietors of critical infrastructure facilities to request and maintain UAS flight restrictions to protect public safety and critical infrastructure.

For additional information, please contact John Putnam, Subash Iyer, Steven Osit, Laura Kilgarriff, or any other Firm attorney with whom you normally work.