BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2320|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2320
Author: Calderon (D) and Low (D)
Amended: 8/15/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/21/16
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/11/16
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 5/19/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Unmanned aircraft systems
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill includes using an Unmanned Aircraft System
(UAS) in a number of statutes prohibiting behavior by an
individual.
ANALYSIS:
Existing federal law:
1)Requires all drone owners to register their drones with the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Commercial drone
operators, but not recreational drone operators, must also
obtain FAA authorization, which is granted on a case-by-case
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basis.
2)Requires, under the Aviation Administration Modernization and
Reform Act of 2012, the Secretary of Transportation to develop
a comprehensive plan to safely accelerate the integration of
civil unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace
system. The plan is required to provide for safe integration
of civil UAS into national airspace as soon as practicable,
not later than September 30, 2015. (112 P.L. 95, 332.)
Existing state law:
1)Establishes a Division of Aeronautics within the California
Department of Transportation (Caltrans). (Public Utilities
Code §§ 21001 et seq)
2)Makes it a misdemeanor to violate a protective order that
prohibits a person from coming within a specified distance of
another person. If the violation results in physical injury,
or is second violation in a year then the penalty is a fine of
up to $2,000 and/or not less than and 30 days to one year in
county jail. (Penal Code § 237.6)
3)Requires specified offenders to register as a sex offender.
(Penal Code §290 et seq.)
4)States that every person who goes to the scene of an
emergency, or stops at the scene of an emergency, for the
purpose of viewing the scene or the activities of police
officers, firefighters, emergency medical, or other emergency
personnel, or military personnel coping with the emergency in
the course of their duties during the time it is necessary for
emergency vehicles or those personnel to be at the scene of
the emergency or to be moving to or from the scene of the
emergency for the purpose of protecting lives or property,
unless it is part of the duties of that person's employment to
view that scene or activities, and thereby impedes police
officers, firefighters, emergency medical, or other emergency
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personnel or military personnel, in the performance of their
duties in coping with the emergency, is guilty of a
misdemeanor. (Penal Code § 402 (a).)
5)Provides that every person who knowingly resists or interferes
with the lawful efforts of a lifeguard in the discharge or
attempted discharge of an official duty in an emergency
situation, when the person knows or reasonably should know
that the lifeguard is engaged in the performance of his or her
official duty, is guilty of a misdemeanor. (Penal Code § 402
(b).)
6)Specifies that "emergency" includes a condition or situation
involving injury to persons, damage to property, or peril to
the safety of persons or property, which results from a fire,
an explosion, an airplane crash, flooding, windstorm damage, a
railroad accident, a traffic accident, a power plant accident,
a toxic chemical or biological spill, or any other natural or
human-caused event. (Penal Code § 402(c).)
7)Provides that a person who willfully, maliciously and
repeatedly follows or willfully and maliciously harasses
another person and who makes a credible threat with the intent
to place that person in reasonable fear for his or her safety,
or the safety of his or her immediate family is guilty of
stalking which is punishable as a wobbler. (Penal Code §
646.9)
8)Provides that a person who knowingly brings into any
correctional institution or jail any alcoholic beverage, any
drugs other than controlled substances or any container or
device intended to be used for unlawfully injecting or
consuming any drug is guilty of a felony. (Penal Code §
4573.5)
This bill:
1)Provides that a person who is subject to a protective order
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and prohibited by that order to stay a specified distance from
another person shall not: operate a UAS in a way that causes
it to fly within the prohibited distance of the other person
or capture images of the other person by using an UAS. Doing
either of these things will be considered a violation of the
protective order.
2)Provides that a judge may order a person required to register
as a sex offender for an offense committed on or after January
1, 2017, to not operate an UAS if the judge finds that the
restriction is in the public interests.
3)Provides that for the purposes of Penal Code Section 402, a
person includes a person who operates or uses an UAS.
4)Provides that for purposes of Penal Code Section 646.9, a
person includes a person who operates or uses a UAS.
5)Provides that for purposes of Penal Code Section 4573.6, a
person includes a person who operates or uses a UAS.
6)Defines unmanned aircraft as an aircraft that is operated
without the possibility of direct human intervention from
within or on the aircraft.
7)Defines unmanned aircraft system as an unmanned aircraft and
associated elements, including, but not limited to,
communication links and components that control the unmanned
aircraft that ware required of the pilot in command to operate
safely and efficiently in the national airspace system.
8)Makes uncodified legislative findings and declarations.
9)Contains uncodified intent language stating that it is the
intent of the Legislature that a person be prohibited from,
without the owner or business operator's written consent,
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operating or using an unmanned system to knowingly and
intentionally fly within 250 feet of the perimeter of any
critical infrastructure facility for the purpose of conducting
surveillance of the facility, gathering evidence or collecting
information about the facility, or photographically or
electronically recording critical infrastructure data.
Background
According to the author:
Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), commonly called unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones, are being put to use in
a growing number of applications, including law
enforcement, infrastructure inspection, precision
agriculture, wildlife tracking, search and rescue
operations, disaster response, border patrol, photography
and film.
UAS are aircraft subject to regulation by the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) to ensure safety of flight,
and safety of people and property on the ground. The FAA
is in the process of developing rules that are intended to
safely integrate small unmanned aircraft systems into the
national airspace system and that are expected to be
released in late 2016 or 2017.
In the absence of a complete federal regulatory structure,
the state has an obligation to provide common sense
legislation that will protect the public from unsafe
operations of drones. With almost 1 million UAS sold in
2015, a jump from 430,000 in 2014, human interactions with
UAS will only increase. Without any significant actions
from the FAA, updating specific code sections in
California to clarify specific unsafe operations of the
UAS is illegal is of utmost importance.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
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Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
State prison: Potential minor future increase in state costs
(General Fund) to the extent the restrictions imposed on the
use or operation of a UAS result in felony convictions and
commitments to state prison. To the extent two cases are
impacted due to the provisions of this bill would cost $58,000
in any one year based on the contract bed rate of $29,000 per
inmate per year.
Local jails: Potential minor future increase in
non-reimbursable local costs (Local Funds) to the extent the
added factor in aggravation for felony convictions would
result in longer jail sentences
SUPPORT: (Verified8/12/16)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/12/16)
City of Thousand Oaks
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 5/19/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines,
Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
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Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Chang, Mathis, McCarty, Williams
Prepared by:Mary Kennedy / PUB. S. /
8/15/16 20:22:19
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