BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2724|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2724
Author: Gatto (D)
Amended: 8/2/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 7-2, 6/21/16
AYES: Beall, Allen, Leyva, McGuire, Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski
NOES: Cannella, Bates
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines, Galgiani
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 5-2, 6/28/16
AYES: Jackson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning, Wieckowski
NOES: Moorlach, Anderson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 8/8/16
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 54-17, 6/2/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Unmanned aircraft
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires drone manufacturers to provide
specific information to drone purchasers, requires drone
operators to procure liability insurance by January 1, 2020, and
requires specified drones to be equipped with technology which
prevents the drone from entering any area prohibited by local,
state, or federal law.
ANALYSIS:
Existing federal regulations:
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1)Requires all drone owners to register their drones weighing
more than 250 grams - about one-half pound - 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 basis.
2)Requires recreational drone operators to notify airport
operators and air traffic controllers if they are flying
within five miles of an airport. Moreover, these drones are
prohibited in certain areas, known as Class B airspace, around
major airports without specific permission.
This bill:
1)Defines "unmanned aircraft" (e.g., drones) as aircraft that
are operated without the possibility of direct human
intervention from within or on the aircraft.
2)Requires drone manufacturers to include with the drone a copy
of the FAA drone safety regulations and the requirement to
register the drone, if applicable.
3)Requires that drones equipped with global positioning
satellite (GPS) mapping capabilities shall also be equipped
with geofencing technological capabilities that prohibit the
drone from flying within five miles of an airport.
4)Requires, by January 1, 2020, that all non-commercial owners
of drones procure adequate protection against liability for
damages for bodily injury and to property.
Comments
1)Purpose. According to the author, rapid advances in
technology have enabled drone manufacturers to transform
drones from weapons of war to everyday toys and tools.
Unfortunately, the growing number of amateur enthusiasts who
are beginning to take to the skies as the technology becomes
both cheaper and more widely available present ever more
frequent opportunities for accidents and injuries. Accidents
are on the rise and the potential for more catastrophic
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accidents is looming, according to the author. Geofencing
uses GPS and other technologies to impose geographical limits
on drone movement. The technology has the potential to
prevent drones from flying into areas such as airport runways,
government properties, and in the vicinity of natural
disasters.
2)Drones. Moving beyond hobbyists and the military, drones are
increasingly a part of commercial and recreational activities.
In fields as diverse as agriculture, filmmaking, electric
utility service, and public safety, drones can monitor, track,
and provide surveillance in many useful and previously
undoable ways. Amazon and Google are experimenting with using
drones to speed package delivery. Drones have become easier
to use and have become less costly. This has caused drone
sales to take off, so to speak. The FAA estimated that one
million drones would be sold during the 2015 Christmas season.
According to the retail research firm NPD, drone sales
tripled from April 2015 to April 2016.
Drone technology is improving quickly. They are getting
smaller, faster, cheaper, and easier to fly, as well as having
greater range and improved photographic and video
capabilities.
Drones will play an increasingly visible role in our future.
They will be used by many businesses and government entities
to do their jobs better and more efficiently, and they'll be
used by our friends and neighbors for recreation.
The remarkable growth in drone usage creates issues. Foremost
is public safety, as drones can imperil aircraft, as recent
incidents with commercial aviation and forest firefighting
aircraft demonstrate. The FAA has noted that "Incidents
involving unauthorized and unsafe use of small,
remote-controlled aircraft have risen dramatically. Pilot
reports of interactions with suspected unmanned aircraft have
increased from 238 sightings in all of 2014 to 780 through
August of this year (2015)." (FAA Office of the Chief Counsel;
"State and Local Regulation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)
Fact Sheet," December 17, 2015.) The safety of the public on
the ground is also potentially at risk, as drones can crash,
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be mispiloted, or simply malfunction. Drones can also be used
for harmful purposes, as in the case of transporting
contraband into prisons or as a means for conveying explosives
or other dangerous materials. And there are the more
conventional concerns about privacy and nuisance behavior.
3)Current drone regulation. The FAA does not permit commercial
drone operation except on a case-by-case basis. In February
2015, the FAA proposed regulations on commercial drone users.
Among the proposals was a 55-pound weight limitation,
line-of-sight operation, maximum airspeed of 100 mph, a ban on
operation over any people, a maximum operating altitude of 500
feet, and training and licensing for the operator. Those
rules have not been finalized but are expected this year. As
input to those rules, in April the FAA received a report from
its Micro Unmanned Aircraft Systems Aviation Rulemaking
Committee with recommendations for rules governing the
operation of drones above people. That panel, composed
primarily of aviation industry representatives, recommended
that drones weighing less than 250 grams - about one-half
pound - can operate without restriction, but that other drones
could not operate over people, depending on the level of risk
of injury posed.
In December 2015, the FAA required commercial and recreational
drone users to register their drones if they weigh more than
250 grams. Recent reports indicate that 460,000 drone users
have registered, with many users likely to have more than one
drone, exceeding the number of registered airplanes and
helicopters. (Baltimore Sun, "Small Drones in Maryland,
Nation, Outnumber Other Kinds of Aircraft," May 31, 2016.)
Several California local governments have enacted their own
drone regulations. In October 2015, the City of Los Angeles
enacted drone regulations similar to the FAA proposal. In
December, the City filed the first criminal charges under the
ordinance, citing two individuals for operating a drone which
interfered with a Los Angeles Police Department air unit,
causing it to change its landing path. In northern
California, the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation
District banned drones near the Golden Gate Bridge after a
drone crashed on the roadway. Other California jurisdictions,
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including the East Bay Regional Parks District and the City of
Rancho Mirage, have enacted their own rules.
Arizona recently enacted a law (SB 1499) making it illegal to
operate a drone near law enforcement or emergency operations,
or near critical facilities, such as dams, prisons,
refineries, courts, and hospitals.
4)Fenced out. This bill requires drone operators to install
software to prevent drones from flying in areas prohibited by
local, state, or federal law if the drone is equipped with GPS
mapping capabilities. This technology is not new; several
major drone manufacturers installed such software in their
higher-end drones beginning last year to prevent them from
flying over restricted areas of Washington, D.C. This
technology could be used to prevent drones from flying over
other areas which are deemed off-limits.
5)Jurisdiction. The dividing line between state and federal
jurisdiction of drones is fuzzy. The most recent and directly
relevant guidance is perhaps the December 17, 2015, fact sheet
issued by the FAA's Office of the Chief Counsel, cited above.
It notes that "a navigable airspace free from inconsistent
state and local restrictions is essential to the maintenance
of a safe and sound air transportation system." Quoting the
fact sheet, "Laws traditionally related to state and local
police power - including land use, zoning, privacy, trespass,
and law enforcement operations - generally are not subject to
federal regulation." Cited examples include prohibiting
drones from being used for voyeurism, prohibitions on using
drones for hunting or fishing, and prohibitions on attaching
weapons to drones. The fact sheet notes that mandating
equipment or training for drones related to aviation safety
would likely be preempted by federal law. State drone
registration requirements are barred.
Other areas are less clear. Operational restrictions on
drones, including altitude and flight paths, operational bans,
and any regulations of navigable airspace are areas where
consultation with the FAA is recommended by the fact sheet.
Many of the provisions of this bill create no-fly zones and
impose operational restrictions, which fall into this
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jurisdictionally unclear area, neither clearly authorized nor
clearly preempted.
As noted above, the fuzzy jurisdictional lines have not
prevented the City of Los Angeles, the Golden Gate Bridge
Highway and Transportation District, the District of Columbia,
and the state of Arizona from imposing their own rules.
6)Insurance. This bill requires drone operators to obtain
adequate liability insurance by January 1, 2020, at levels
determined by the Department of Transportation (Caltrans).
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, unknown
Caltrans costs, potentially in the range of $150,000 over
several fiscal years, to the extent the Department adopts
regulations to establish liability insurance requirements.
(State Highway Account or Aeronautics Account)
SUPPORT: (Verified8/3/16)
California Association of Highway Patrolmen
Peace Officer Research Association of California
San Diego International Airport
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/3/16)
American Insurance Association
Association of California Insurance Companies
Consumer Technology Association
Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of California
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National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies
Pacific Association of Domestic Insurance Companies
Personal Insurance Federation
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 54-17, 6/2/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Atkins, Baker, Bloom, Bonta, Brown,
Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper,
Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin,
Jones-Sawyer, Lopez, Maienschein, McCarty, Medina, Melendez,
Mullin, O'Donnell, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Santiago,
Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,
Wood, Rendon
NOES: Travis Allen, Arambula, Bigelow, Brough, Chávez, Dahle,
Grove, Harper, Jones, Lackey, Levine, Mathis, Obernolte,
Olsen, Patterson, Salas, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bonilla, Campos, Beth Gaines, Kim, Linder,
Low, Mayes, Nazarian, Steinorth
Prepared by:Randy Chinn / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121
8/10/16 15:58:35
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