Part 107 Hazardous Materials: What §107.36 Prohibits

Part 107 hazardous materials rules fit in a single sentence, but that sentence points to a much larger body of federal law. Section 107.36 controls what a small unmanned aircraft may carry, and it borrows its definition of "hazardous material" from the Department of Transportation's hazardous materials regulations in Title 49. This post walks through the text of §107.36 as published in the eCFR (14 CFR 107.36, checked Nov 13, 2026; eCFR Title 14 up to date as of Nov 10, 2026), explains the cross-reference, and separates carrying cargo from the different rule on dropping objects. It is general information, not legal advice.

The text of §107.36

Here is the section in full.

§ 107.36 Carriage of hazardous material.

A small unmanned aircraft may not carry hazardous material. For purposes of this section, the term hazardous material is defined in 49 CFR 171.8.

Two points stand out. First, the prohibition is about carrying. It does not say "for compensation," "beyond a certain weight" or "unless secured." Second, the section does not define hazardous material itself. It sends you to Title 49.

How 49 CFR §171.8 defines hazardous material

Section 171.8 is the definitions section of the federal hazardous materials regulations. Its definition reads in full (49 CFR 171.8, checked Nov 13, 2026; eCFR Title 49 up to date as of Nov 10, 2026):

Hazardous material means a substance or material that the Secretary of Transportation has determined is capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported in commerce, and has designated as hazardous under section 5103 of Federal hazardous materials transportation law (49 U.S.C. 5103). The term includes hazardous substances, hazardous wastes, marine pollutants, elevated temperature materials, materials designated as hazardous in the Hazardous Materials Table (see 49 CFR 172.101), and materials that meet the defining criteria for hazard classes and divisions in part 173 of this subchapter.

That definition is broad on purpose. It reaches anything the Secretary of Transportation has designated, anything listed in the Hazardous Materials Table at 49 CFR 172.101, and anything that meets the hazard class criteria in Part 173. Whether a particular product falls inside it is a classification question under Title 49, not something to decide from a product name or a guess.

What this means in practice

• Don't assume an item is fine. Many everyday products can meet the Title 49 definition. If a client asks you to carry something, the answer starts with how that item is classified under 49 CFR, not with whether it seems harmless. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) administers those regulations and is the place to start for classification questions.
• The aircraft's own power source is not a loophole. Section 107.36 is written about what the aircraft carries. Nothing in its text says that because a drone runs on batteries, carrying other batteries or other hazardous items as cargo is acceptable. Treat anything you load as a payload as a separate question.
• No exception for small quantities appears in §107.36. The section has no weight threshold or quantity limit in its text.
• Spraying and dispensing work is its own question. Operations that dispense products from the air raise other rules beyond Part 107's basic sections. If that is your line of work, research the specific rules and authorizations that apply rather than relying on this post.

Carrying cargo vs. dropping objects (§107.23)

Pilots sometimes mix §107.36 up with the rule on dropping things. They are different sections with different tests. Section 107.23 reads in full (14 CFR 107.23, checked Nov 13, 2026):

§ 107.23 Hazardous operation.

No person may:

(a) Operate a small unmanned aircraft system in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another; or

(b) Allow an object to be dropped from a small unmanned aircraft in a manner that creates an undue hazard to persons or property.

Section 107.23(b) is about how an object is released and whether that creates an undue hazard. Section 107.36 is about what is on board at all. A payload can be harmless to drop and still be prohibited to carry, and an item that is legal to carry can still be dropped in a hazardous way. We cover the dropping rule in detail in our post on Part 107 hazardous operation and dropping objects under §107.23.

Can a waiver cover hazardous materials?

Part 107 waivers are limited to the sections listed in §107.205. That list, as published in the eCFR (14 CFR 107.205, checked Nov 13, 2026), names §§107.25, 107.29(a)(2) and (b), 107.31, 107.33, 107.35, 107.37(a), 107.39, 107.41, 107.51 and 107.145. Section 107.36 is not on it. So a Part 107 certificate of waiver is not a route to carrying hazardous material. Operations that move goods by drone generally involve other FAA processes and rules beyond Part 107 waivers, and they are outside the scope of this post. For how the waiver process itself works, see our guide to Part 107 waiver basics.

Build it into your preflight

The simplest way to stay on the right side of §107.36 is to make payload part of your routine checks:

1. Confirm what is attached to or carried by the aircraft before each flight.
2. If anything beyond the aircraft's own equipment is on board, confirm how it is classified under 49 CFR before you fly with it.
3. If you can't confirm it, don't carry it.

Section 107.49 already requires a preflight assessment before every flight; we walk through it in Part 107 preflight requirements under §107.49. A written list helps, and a digital one helps more. See this guide to building a digitized commercial drone preflight checklist.

Federal rules are only one layer

Section 107.36 is a federal flight rule. It does not replace landowner permission, local rules, or any other federal, state or local law that applies to the material itself. If a job involves carrying anything other than the aircraft's own equipment, get a definite answer before you accept it. This post is general information, not legal advice; for a specific situation, consult the current regulations, PHMSA, the FAA or a qualified attorney.