Exclusive Authority
From Dronelaw.com:
State and local governments have considered legislation that purports to regulate drone flight, but if challenged in court, any such laws would be considered preempted by the federal government's intent to "occupy the field," and therefore be invalid. By federal statute, "[t]he United States Government has exclusive sovereignty of airspace of the United States" (49 U.S. Code § 40103(a)(1)). The passage of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, (Senate Bill, Section 607(g)) confirms the federal government's intent to continue to "occupy the field" of flight, thereby invalidating (through preemption) any state or local laws that purport to regulate it.
State and local governments may, however, regulate two things related to flight:
They may regulate their own agencies' drone flight operations; and
They may regulate the locations from which drones may be launched or landed, except in an emergency.
That's it. State and local governments cannot regulate drones in any other manner.
This doesn't stop local authorities who would pass local laws to promote their political ambitions. It doesn't cost them anything to pass illegal laws and there's generally little cost to defend those illegal laws, while the target of those laws often pay dearly to be right.
FAA authority for flight begins when the aircraft is in flight. (In manned aircraft, the flight is considered to begin when the engines start and end when the engines shut down.)
Who owns the airspace above a home?
In the 1946 case
U.S. vs. Causby, the Supreme Court said landowners have exclusive right of airspace surrounding their property. In part, the decision says:
"If the landowner is to have full enjoyment of the land, he must have exclusive control of the immediate reaches of the enveloping atmosphere. Otherwise buildings could not be erected, trees could not be planted, and even fences could not be run. . . . The landowner owns at least as much of the space above the ground as he can occupy or use in connection with the land."
This became the “enveloping atmosphere” rule, holding that a landowner owns as much of the airspace above his or her property to which he or she can reasonably use, and any invasion of that airspace is a trespass subject to damages. Likewise, that airspace above the “immediate reaches above the land” is part of the public domain, not subject to trespass. [
Cite]
This decision has been used in defending airports rights to exist ever since people started moving to homes near an airport only to complain about the noise.