BILL NUMBER: AB 2243 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 7, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Knight
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to add Article 5 (commencing with Section 2210) to Chapter
5 of Title 7 of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code, relating to
space flight.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2243, as amended, Knight. Space flight: Space Flight Liability
and Immunity Act.
Existing state law governs common carriers, including contracts
for the conveyance of property, persons, or messages from one place
to another.
Federal law specifically governs commercial space flight
activities. Among other provisions, federal law requires that space
flight providers obtain both the written consent of space
flight participants and liability insurance.
This bill would require a space flight entity, as defined, to
collect a signed warning statement, as specified, from each
participant in space flight activities, as defined. In addition to
the disclosures required by federal law, the bill would require the
warning statement to, at a minimum, inform the participant that the
space flight entity is not liable for bodily injury sustained as a
result of the inherent risks associated with space flight
activities. The bill would limit the liability of a space flight
entity that complies with these provisions, except as provided. The
bill would state findings and declarations of the Legislature
regarding the nature of the space flight industry.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Space
Flight Liability and Immunity Act.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) California has a long tradition of pioneering aviation over
the last century, and human space flight since the Apollo era.
(b) California was the site of the first private human space
flight event. This achievement resulted in the winning of the Ansari
X Prize in Mojave, California, in 2004.
(c) Over the past few decades, California has lost much of its
human space flight industry to other states, such as Alabama,
Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, and Texas.
(d) The human space flight business in California continues to
struggle due to the poor business climate in general.
(e) Human space flight is a young industry reminiscent of other
industries in which the hazards were understood, but which would not
have thrived in an inappropriately litigious environment.
(f) The States of Florida, Texas, and Virginia have acted to
relieve the business risks associated with new and well-financed
companies that provide human space flight by passing legislation
limiting the liability of such providers, and the States of Colorado
and New Mexico are in the process of passing similar legislation.
Consequently, these states will become a magnet for human space
flight companies currently doing business in California.
SEC. 3. Article 5 (commencing with Section 2210) is added to
Chapter 5 of Title 7 of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code, to
read:
Article 5. Space Flight Liability and Immunity
2210. For purposes of this article:
(a) "Participant" means a space flight participant as defined in
Section 70102 50902 of Title 49
51 of the United States Code.
(b) "Participant injury" means a bodily injury, including death,
emotional injury, or property damage, sustained by the participant.
(c) "Space flight activities" means launch services or reentry
services as defined in Section 70102 50902
of Title 49 51 of the United
States Code.
(d) "Space flight entity" means any public or private entity that
holds, either directly or through a corporate subsidiary or parent, a
license, permit, or other authorization issued by the United States
Federal Aviation Administration pursuant to the federal Commercial
Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004 (49 (51
U.S.C. Sec. 70101 50905 et seq.),
including, but not limited to, a safety approval and a payload
determination. "Space flight entity" shall also include a
manufacturer or supplier of components, services, or vehicles that
have been reviewed by the United States Federal Aviation
Administration as part of issuing a license, permit, or authorization
pursuant to the federal Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of
2004.
2211. (a) A space flight entity providing space flight activities
to a participant shall have each participant sign a warning
statement that shall contain, at a minimum, and in addition to any
language required by federal law, the following notice:
"WARNING AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT: I understand and acknowledge that,
under California law, there is no civil liability for bodily injury,
including death, emotional injury, or property damage, sustained by a
participant as a result of the inherent risks associated
with space flight activities provided by a space flight entity. I
have given my informed consent to participate in space flight
activities after receiving a description of the inherent
risks associated with space flight activities, as required by federal
law pursuant to Section 70105 50905 of
Title 49 51 of the United States Code
and Section 460.45 of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
The consent that I have given acknowledges that the inherent
risks associated with space flight activities include, but are
not limited to, risk of bodily injury, including death, emotional
injury, and property damage. I understand and acknowledge that I am
participating in space flight activities at my own risk. I have been
given the opportunity to consult with an attorney before signing this
statement."
(b) Failure to comply with the requirements provided in this
section shall prevent a space flight entity from invoking the
privileges of immunity provided by Section 2212.
2212. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (c), a space flight
entity shall not be liable for participant injury arising out of
space flight activities if both of the following apply:
(1) The participant has been informed of the risks associated with
space flight activities as required by federal law and Section 2211.
(2) The participant has given his or her informed consent that he
or she is voluntarily participating in space flight activities after
having been informed of the risks associated with those activities,
as required by federal law and this section.
(b) If informed consent is given pursuant to subdivision (a), a
participant, his or her representative, including the heirs,
administrators, executors, assignees, next of kin, and estate of the
participant, or any person who attempts to bring a claim on behalf of
the participant for a participant injury, shall not be authorized to
maintain an action against, or recover from, a space flight entity
for a participant injury that resulted from the risks associated with
space flight activities, except as provided in subdivision (c).
(c) Nothing in this section shall prevent or limit the liability
of a space flight entity if it that
does either any of the following:
(1) Commits an act or omission that constitutes gross negligence
evidencing or willful or wanton
disregard for the safety of the participant, and that act or omission
proximately causes a participant injury.
(2) Intentionally causes a participant injury.
(3) Has actual knowledge or reasonably should have known of a
dangerous condition on the land or in the facilities or equipment
used in space flight activities and the dangerous condition
proximately causes injury, damage, or death to the participant.
(d) Any limitation on legal liability afforded by this section to
a space flight entity is in addition to any other limitations of
legal liability otherwise provided by law.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the
liability of a manufacturer of a part or component used in space
flight activities if a defective part or component proximately causes
an injury to the participant.