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Comment open through Oct 15CommercialRule watch3 min read

Connecticut extends comments on Amazon's North Haven drone delivery plan to October 15. The FAA asked the state to review up to 1,000 flights a day.

The FAA asked Connecticut's environmental agency to check Prime Air's planned beyond-line-of-sight operation against the state's coastal program. The town's first selectman says Amazon agreed to wait for public meetings. The comment window is still open.

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Read the DEEP notice and comment by Oct 15
Two Amazon Prime Air MK30 delivery drones, one parked on a launch pad and one flying nearby
Two Amazon Prime Air MK30 delivery drones, one parked on a launch pad and one flying nearby.

Decision brief

This is a state coastal consistency review, not the FAA's own environmental study, and it reaches only what the federal approval would do to Connecticut's coastal resources. Comments go by email to DEEP through October 15. If you live within 7.5 miles of 409 Washington Avenue, this is where your concern enters the record. The town's report that the project is on hold comes from a phone call with Amazon, not from a filing, and the state notice has not been withdrawn.

Comments due
Oct. 15, 2026

Email DEEP.FCC.PublicComments@ct.gov, extended from October 1

Daily flights
Up to 1,000

MK30 flights per operating day, about 365,000 a year

Range
7.5 miles

From 409 Washington Ave., about 174 square miles

The state review

A coastal consistency check the FAA asked for, now open two more weeks.

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has extended the public comment period on Amazon's proposed drone delivery operation at its North Haven facility to October 15, 2026. The original notice was published September 16 and gave 15 days, which ran to October 1. DEEP's notice page now directs comments to DEEP.FCC.PublicComments@ct.gov. The review exists because the FAA asked for it under section 307(c)(1) of the Coastal Zone Management Act. That section requires a federal action affecting a state's coastal resources to be checked against the state's federally approved coastal program.

The federal action is the FAA's approval of Prime Air's operations specifications to fly beyond visual line of sight package delivery in the New Haven area. The DEEP notice describes up to 1,000 MK30 delivery flights per operating day, 365 days a year, or roughly 365,000 flights annually. Deliveries would run from 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. up to seven days a week. Up to 100 of the daily flights would fall between 6 and 7 a.m. and between 10 and 10:30 p.m. The aircraft's range is 7.5 miles from the delivery center, an operating area of about 174 square miles. The notice gives the address as 409 Washington Ave. and lists it as New Haven. DEEP's page title and town officials call it the North Haven facility. Questions on the project go to Christopher Hurst at the FAA, at 9-FAA-Drone-Environmental@faa.gov.

On hold, or not

The town says Amazon agreed to wait. The notice is still open.

North Haven First Selectman Michael Freda wrote on Facebook over the weekend that he spoke with an Amazon corporate representative and that the drone initiative is now on hold. Freda said Amazon agreed to make no decision until the public, the state General Assembly, and his regional mayors' council had been heard at a series of meetings Amazon would run. Patch and WTNH reported the post. State House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora told WTNH he had no confirmation the application was withdrawn or formally on hold. He said DEEP told him the FAA granted a 15-day extension, and urged residents to keep commenting through October 15. Patch reported that Candelora, with North Haven's state representative and senator, sent a letter of concern to DEEP's acting commissioner, and that Hamden Mayor Adam Sendroff asked DEEP to pause the determination.

The extension fits the federal consistency rules at 15 CFR 930.41. A state agency has 60 days to concur with or object to a federal agency's consistency determination, after providing for public participation, and the federal agency must approve one extension request of 15 days or less. Final federal action cannot be taken sooner than 90 days after the state receives the determination unless the state concurs or concurrence is presumed. This review is separate from the FAA's nationwide environmental approval for drone package delivery, which fifteen states are challenging in the Second Circuit.

The states' challenge to the FAA delivery approvalFifteen states and Harris County asked the Second Circuit to set aside the nationwide environmental assessment.Connecticut drone lawsState rules that apply alongside FAA approvals, including the 250-foot infrastructure rule.

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