AB 1327, as amended, Gorell. Unmanned aircraft systems.
Existing federal law, the Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, provides for the integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems, commonly known as drones, into the national airspace system by September 30, 2015. Existing federal law requires the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 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.
This bill would generally prohibit public agencies from using unmanned aircraft systems, or contracting for the use of unmanned aircraft systems, as defined, with certain exceptions applicable to law enforcement agencies and in certain other cases.
The bill would require reasonable public notice to be
provided by public agencies intending to deploy unmanned aircraft systems, as specified. The bill would require images, footage, or data obtained through the use of an unmanned aircraft system under these provisions to be permanently destroyed withinbegin delete 6 months,end deletebegin insert one year,end insert except as specified. Unless authorized by federal law, the bill would prohibit a person or entity, including a public agency subject to these provisions, or a person or entity under contract to a public agency, for the purpose of that contract, from equipping or arming an unmanned aircraft system with a weapon or other device that may be carried by or launched from an unmanned aircraft system and that is intended to cause bodily injury or death, or damage to, or the destruction of, real or personal property.
The
bill wouldbegin delete make the restrictions that are applicable to the use of an unmanned aircraft system by a law enforcement agency also applicable to any person, entity, or public agency that uses, operates,
or contracts for an unmanned aircraft system.end deletebegin insert make its provisions applicable to all public and private entities when contracting with a public agency for the use of an unmanned aircraft system.end insert
Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires state and local agencies to make public records available for inspection, subject to certain exceptions.
This bill would makebegin insert certainend insert images, footage, or data obtained through the use of an unmanned aircraft system under its provisions, or any record, including, but not limited to, usage logs or logs that identify any person or entity that subsequently obtains or requests records of that system, subject to disclosure.begin insert The bill would prevent images, footage, data, and records obtained through the use of an unmanned aircraft system by a law enforcement agency pursuant to a warrant based on probable cause, and images, footage, data, and records that pertain to a pending criminal investigation, from being subject to disclosure.end insert
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 6254.31 is added to the Government
2Code, to read:
begin insert(a)end insertbegin insert end insert Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter,
4images, footage, or data obtained through the use of an unmanned
5aircraft system pursuant to subdivisions (c) or (d) of Section 14350
6of the Penal Code, or any record, including, but not limited to,
7usage logs or logs that identify any person or entity that
8subsequently obtains or requests records of that system, are public
9records subject to disclosure.
10(b) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, images,
11footage, or data obtained through the use of an unmanned aircraft
12system, or any record, including, but not limited to, usage logs or
13logs that identify any person or entity that subsequently obtains
14or requests records of that system, are not public records subject
15to disclosure in both of the following instances:
16(1) If the unmanned aircraft system was used pursuant to
17subdivision (b) of Section 14350 of the Penal Code.
18(2) If the images, footage, data, or records pertain to a pending
19criminal investigation.
Title 14 (commencing with Section 14350) is added
21to Part 4 of the Penal Code, to read:
22
(a) A public agency shall not use an unmanned aircraft
26system, or contract for the use of an unmanned aircraft system,
27except as provided in this title. This title shall apply to all public
28and private entities when contracting with a public agency for the
29use of an unmanned aircraft system.
30(b) A law enforcement agency may use an unmanned aircraft
31system if it has obtained a warrant based on probable cause
32pursuant to this code.
33(c) (1) A law enforcement agency, without obtaining a warrant,
34may use an unmanned aircraft system in emergency situations if
35there is an imminent threat to
life or of great bodily harm,
36including, but not limited to, fires, hostage crises, “hot pursuit”
37situations if reasonably necessary to prevent harm to law
P4 1enforcement officers or others, and search and rescue operations
2on land or water.
3(2) A law enforcement agency, without obtaining a warrant,
4may use an unmanned aircraft system to assess the necessity of
5first responders in situations relating to traffic accidents, to inspect
6state parks and wilderness areas for illegal vegetation, or fires.
7(d) (1) A public agency other than a law enforcement agency
8may use an unmanned aircraft system, or contract for the use of
9an unmanned aircraft system, to achieve the core mission of the
10agency provided that the purpose is unrelated to the gathering of
11criminal
intelligence.
12(2) Except as permitted by this title and when a law enforcement
13agency is not required to obtain a warrant as specified in this title,
14data collected pursuant to this subdivision shall not be disseminated
15to a law enforcement agency unless the agency has obtained a
16warrant for the data based on probable cause pursuant to this code.
A public agency that uses an unmanned aircraft system,
18or contracts for the use of an unmanned aircraft system, pursuant
19to this title shall first provide reasonable notice to the public.
20Reasonable notice shall, at a minimum, consist of a one-time
21announcement regarding the agency’s intent to deploy unmanned
22aircraft system technology and a description of the technology’s
23capabilities.
(a) Except as permitted by this title, images, footage,
25or data obtained by a public agency, or any entity contracting with
26a public agency, through the use of an unmanned aircraft system
27shall not be disseminated outside the collectingbegin insert publicend insert agency, and
28shall not be used by thebegin insert publicend insert agency for any purpose other than
29that for which it was collected. Images, footage, or data obtained
30through the use of an unmanned aircraft system shall be
31permanently destroyed withinbegin delete six months,end deletebegin insert
one year,end insert except that a
32public agency may retain the images, footage, or data forbegin delete training begin insert the purposes of training, academic research, teaching,
33purposesend delete
34and monitoring material assets owned by the public agency,end insert and
35shall retain any image, footage, or data if a warrant authorized its
36collection or if the images, footage, or data are evidence in any
37claim filed or any pending litigation.
38(b) Images, footage, or data retained for training purposes shall
39be used only for the education and instruction of an agency’s
P5 1employees in matters related to the mission of the agency and for
2no other purpose.
3(c) Images, footage, or data retained for academic research or
4teaching purposes shall be used only for the advancement of
5research and teaching conducted by California’s public colleges
6and universities and matters related to the mission of the institution
7and for no other purpose.
Unless authorized by federal law, a person or entity,
9including a public agency subject to Section 14350 or a person or
10entity under contract to a public agency, for the purpose of that
11contract, shall not equip or arm an unmanned aircraft system with
12a weapon or other device that may be carried by or launched from
13an unmanned aircraft system and that is intended to cause bodily
14injury or death, or damage to, or the destruction of, real or personal
15property.
All unmanned aircraft systems shall be operated so as
17to minimize the collection of images, footage, or data of persons,
18places, or things not specified with particularity in the warrant
19authorizing the use of an unmanned aircraft system, or, if no
20warrant was obtained, for purposes unrelated to the justification
21for the operation.
(a) This title is not intended to conflict with or
23supersede federal law, including rules and regulations of the
24Federal Aviation Administration.
25(b) A local legislative body may adopt more restrictive policies
26on the acquisition or use of unmanned aircraft systems.
For the purposes of this title, the following definitions
28shall apply:
29(a) “Criminal intelligence” means information compiled,
30analyzed, or disseminated in an effort to anticipate, prevent,
31monitor, or investigate criminal activity.
32(b) “Law enforcement agency” means the Attorney General of
33the State of California, each district attorney, and each agency of
34the State of California authorized by statute to investigate or
35prosecute law violators.
36(c) “Public agency” means and includes each state agency and
37each local agency.
38(d) “Unmanned aircraft system” means an unmanned aircraft
39and associated elements, including communication links and the
40components that control the unmanned aircraft, that are required
P6 1for the pilot in command to operate safely and efficiently in the
2national airspace system.
The surveillance restrictions on electronic devices
4pursuant to Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 630) of Title
515 of Part 1 shall apply to unmanned aircraft systems.
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