Amended in Assembly April 3, 2013

Amended in Assembly March 19, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 737

Introduced by Assembly Member Fox

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonilla, Brown, Daly, Garcia, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Muratsuchi, Perea, Torres, Wagner, Wieckowski, and Williams)

(Coauthor: Senator Berryhill)

February 21, 2013

An act to add Article 7 (commencing with Section 12100.1) to Chapter 1.6 of Part 2 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to unmanned aircraft systems, begin delete making an appropriation therefor, end delete and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 737, as amended, Fox. Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development: unmanned aircraft systems: test sites.

Existing federal law, the Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, provides for the integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system by September 30, 2015. Existing federal law requires the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop and implement operational and certification requirements for the operation of public unmanned aircraft systems in the national airspace system by December 31, 2015. Existing federal law requires the administrator to establish a program, as prescribed, to integrate unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system at 6 test sites. Pursuant to this requirement, the administrator announced a request for proposals from state and local governments to establish these test sites.

Existing law establishes the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, under the control of a director who is responsible to the Governor, to serve as the Governor’s lead entity for economic strategy and the marketing of California on issues relating to business development, private sector investment, and economic growth. The office, among others, makes recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature regarding policies, programs, and actions to advance statewide economic goals.

This bill would require the director to prepare a proposal to establish a test site in California and would authorize the director to consult with begin insert the Governor’s Military Council and other end insert specified begin delete state departments and private end delete entities in developing the proposal. begin delete This bill would require a local government that submits a proposal to the FAA to also send a copy of the proposal to specified state entities, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the director to submit the proposal to the FAA if a local government does not submit a proposal to the FAA by a specified date. The bill would create the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site Account in the State Treasury to accept public and private contributions to the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development for the purposes of the bill, and would continuously appropriate the moneys in the account to the office to fund the development and completion of the application and designation process for a test site in California, with any moneys remaining in the account after test sites are designated to be allocated by the office to the infrastructure and development of the test site in the event a test site is designated in California. The bill would provide that no moneys may be allocated after 2 years from the enactment of the bill. end delete begin insert This bill would require the director to coordinate with any local government that submits a proposal. end insert

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By requiring a local government to perform additional duties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

end delete begin delete

 The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

end delete begin delete

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

end delete

 This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Vote: ²⁄₃. Appropriation:  begin delete yes end delete begin insert no end insert . Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program:  begin delete yes end delete begin insert no end insert .

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) California has experienced deeper and more sustained job
losses in the aerospace manufacturing industry than has the rest
of the country over the last two decades. From 1990 through 2012,
payrolls in California’s aerospace manufacturing industry fell by
65.9 percent compared to a 34.6-percent decrease in the rest of the
country and a 43.7-percent decrease in the country as a whole.

(b) In 2010, employment in California’s aerospace
manufacturing industries totaled 109,700 jobs. Over three-fifths
of these jobs were in the aerospace products and parts
manufacturing sector, and the remainder were in the search,
detection, guidance, aeronautical, and nautical systems and
instruments manufacturing sector. The aerospace manufacturing
industry paid wages totaling $10.7 billion in 2010. Nearly 3 out
of every 10 jobs in the American guided missiles and space
vehicles manufacturing industry were located in California in 2010.

(c) On February 14, 2012, President Obama signed into law the
Federal Aviation Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. The act
requires the Federal Aviation Administration to designate six sites
throughout the United States as unmanned aircraft systems test
sites in order to safely integrate unmanned aircraft systems into
the national airspace system.

(d) Unmanned aircraft systems represent one of the fastest
growing segments of the aerospace industry. Given the potential
for defense-related cutbacks currently under discussion at the
national level, it is in California’s interest to pursue the location
of an unmanned aircraft systems test site in California.

(e) The expanded use of unmanned aircraft systems represents
a major step in aviation innovation and will present economic
opportunities for the communities that are selected for these test
sites and for the aerospace industry.

(f) A study conducted by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle
Systems International indicates that the industry has the potential
to create 100,000 jobs in the provision of unmanned aircraft in the
two largest markets for unmanned aircraft, namely agriculture and
public safety.

(g) California has a well-established and highly developed
aerospace industry that has a skilled and experienced workforce
and a tradition of entrepreneurship and innovation.

(h) California has a network of educational and research
institutions that has helped foster innovation in the aerospace
industry and develop a high technology sector.

(i) Aerospace manufacturing jobs are high-paying jobs providing
liveable wages that spur economic growth.

(j) The development of a coordinated proposal for California
to establish an unmanned aircraft systems test site can be
accomplished only by bringing together advocates, policymakers,
industry, local governments, and the public to address concerns,
obtain information, research issues, and evaluate alternative
proposals.

SEC. 2.  

Article 7 (commencing with Section 12100.1) is added
to Chapter 1.6 of Part 2 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code, to read:

 

Article 7.  Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Sites

 

12100.1.  

(a) The director shall prepare a proposal to establish
an unmanned aircraft systems test site in California according to
the directions contained in the Federal Aviation Administration’s
Screening Information Request DTFACT-13-R-00002. The director
shall complete the preparation of this proposal begin insert and submit this
proposal end insert no later than begin delete April 26, end delete begin insert May 6, end insert 2013.

(b) In preparing begin delete a end delete begin insert and developing the end insert proposal, the director may
consult with the begin delete following departments and private entities end delete
begin insert Governor’s Military Council and other relevant entities, including,
but not limited to end insert :

(1) The Office of Planning and Research.

(2) The Military Department.

(3) The Department of Veterans Affairs.

(4) The Employment Development Department.

(5) The Department of Transportation.

(6) Representatives of the aerospace industry.

(7) The California Unmanned Aircraft Systems Portal
Consortium.

begin insert

(8) The Southern California Unmanned Systems Alliance.

end insert begin insert

(9) Any other California applicant.

end insert begin insert

(10) Representatives of local government.

end insert begin insert

(11) Education and training entities.

end insert

12100.3.  

begin delete A end delete begin insert The director shall coordinate with any end insert local
government that submits a proposal to establish a test site to the
Federal Aviation Administration begin delete shall also send a copy of the
proposal to the director, the Governor, the Assembly Select
Committee on Aerospace, and the Senate Committee on Energy,
Utilities and Communications end delete .

begin delete

12100.4.  

If a local government does not submit a proposal to
the Federal Aviation Administration by April 26, 2013, the director
shall submit the proposal developed pursuant to Section 12100.1
to the Federal Aviation Administration on or before May 6, 2013.

end delete begin delete

12100.5.  

The Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site Account
is hereby created in the State Treasury. The purpose of the account
is to accept public and private contributions to the Governor’s
Office of Business and Economic Development for the purposes
of this article. The moneys in the account are continuously
appropriated to the office to fund the development and completion
of the application and designation process for a test site in
California. Any moneys remaining in the account after test sites
are designated may be allocated by the office to the infrastructure
and development of the test site in the event a test site is designated
in California. However, no moneys may be allocated from the
account for any purpose after a period of two years from the date
that the bill enacting this section in the 2013-14 Regular Session
of the Legislature was enacted.

end delete

begin delete

SEC. 3.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

end delete

begin delete SEC. 4. end delete
begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

In order to develop a coordinated proposal to establish an
unmanned aircraft systems test site in California before the deadline
set by the Federal Aviation Administration, it is necessary that this
act take effect immediately.