BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SJR 18
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 3, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PRIVACY AND CONSUMER PROTECTION
Ed Chau, Chair
SJR
18 (Wolk) - As Amended March 8, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 39-0
SUBJECT: Small unmanned aircraft systems
SUMMARY: Urges the President of the United States and the
United States Secretary of Transportation to allow for the
operation of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) by farmers
and rangeland managers pursuant to emergency rules adopted by
the administration using its emergency powers. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Declares:
a) In the western United States, water is a vital and
scarce resource, the availability of which has and
continues to circumscribe growth, development, economic
well-being, and environmental quality of life;
b) The wise use, conservation, development, and management
of our water resources is critical to maintaining human
life, health, safety, and property;
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c) The western United States is currently experiencing
serious drought conditions that are predicted to worsen;
d) Agricultural irrigation uses a significant amount of
water, making the agricultural sector one of the most
important sectors to examine when considering water
conservation;
e) Even modest improvements in agricultural water use can
result in significant amounts of water not being depleted
regionwide, which can then be utilized elsewhere;
f) Precision agricultural management studies have shown
that farmers can reduce the amount of water, fertilizer,
and pesticide needed by their fields by utilizing
high-resolution, high-quality remotely sensed imagery to
guide their application efforts of water, fertilizer, and
pesticide;
g) sUAS have the capability to quickly provide expansive,
high-resolution, and high-quality remotely sensed imagery
that can measure specific bands in the solar spectrum, such
as the thermal infrared band, which allows farmers to
better understand and manage their water use;
h) The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently
in the process of adopting rules for the usage of sUAS in
agricultural management;
i) Flights of sUAS, for the purposes of precision
agricultural management, could occur safely at low
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altitudes, in rural areas removed from other air traffic
and human populations, and in accordance with the FAA's
proposed guidelines;
j) sUAS have been used in precision agricultural management
in Japan for a decade, successfully optimizing and
monitoring the management of 2.5 million acres of farmland,
40% of which are rice fields, without any significant
reported incidents;
aa) Several University of California campuses and the
California State University system are developing precision
agriculture applications with sUAS to help save water and
improve crop and environmental monitoring, including the
Mechatronics Embedded Systems and Automation Lab at the
University of California, Merced, which has developed
numerous innovations for precision agricultural management
with sUAS;
bb) Flights of sUAS also have the capacity for detecting
invasive plant species that deplete high amounts of water
such as yellow star thistle, arundo, tamarisk, and
cheatgrass, which serve no agricultural purpose and removal
of which would help in water conservation efforts; and
cc) The use of sUAS is an emerging technology and has great
promise for the development of models that forecast and
predict economic impacts of droughts and meteorological
phenomena.
2)Respectfully requests that, due to the severity of the drought
gripping the western United States, the President of the
United States and the United States Secretary of
Transportation, more specifically the FAA, allow for the
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operation of sUAS by farmers and rangeland managers pursuant
to emergency rules adopted by the administration before the
FAA rules for sUAS are finalized.
3)Specifies that the emergency rules should be based on the
proposed FAA rules for sUAS that were released in February
2015, and should also incorporate all of the following:
a) That the emergency FAA rules for sUAS operations be
applicable to counties located in the western portion of
the United States that are projected to be in drought
during the current growing season, as defined by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association's Seasonal
Drought Outlook.
b) That the emergency FAA rules for sUAS operations allow
farmers to contract with UAS flight service providers to
execute missions on their behalf in the airspace overlying
lands that they own or control under the proposed FAA rules
for UAS.
c) That the emergency FAA rules for sUAS operations that
allow universities and government agencies seeking to
operate or procure providers for UAS missions for
drought-related research or precision management
applications be given expedited approval.
d) That the emergency FAA rules for sUAS operations also
allow farmers and rangeland managers to use sUAS imagery to
detect highly water-depletive invasive species on their
land or public lands that they manage.
EXISTING LAW:
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1)Requires the FAA to regulate aircraft operations conducted in
the national airspace, including unmanned aircraft operations.
(49 U.S.C. Sec. 40102(a)(6), and 40103)
2)Requires, under the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012,
the Secretary of Transportation and the FAA, in consultation
with representatives of the aviation industry, federal
agencies that employ unmanned aircraft, and the UAS industry,
to develop a comprehensive plan to safely integrate UAS into
the national airspace system by September 30, 2015, and to
develop and implement certification requirements for the
operation of UAS in the national airspace system by December
31, 2015. (Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and
Reform Act of 2012, H.R.658, 112th Congress (2011-2012),
Public Law Number 112-095)
3)Authorizes the United States Secretary of Transportation to
determine if certain UAS may operate safely in the national
airspace system before completion of the plan required in the
above provision. (Federal Aviation Administration
Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, H.R.658, 112th Congress
(2011-2012), Public Law Number 112-095)
FISCAL EFFECT: None. This bill is keyed nonfiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose of this bill . This bill asks the federal government
to adopt interim regulations to allow farmers and rangeland
managers to operate sUAS to facilitate farm water conservation
and to allow universities and government agencies to conduct
sUAS missions for drought-related research and precision
agricultural and water management. SJR 18 is sponsored by a
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2015 Davis Senior High School class project entitled, "The
Great California Drone Debate."
2)Author's statement . According to the author, "Currently the
[FAA] requires anyone intending to use a small [UAS] for
commercial purposes to file for a Section 333 exemption.
Precision agriculture is one of the commercial purposes the
FAA allows Section 333 exemptions for. As of February 2015,
the FAA has issued interim rules regulating UAS usage for
commercial purposes; final regulations are expected in 2017."
"SJR 18 requests that the FAA adopt emergency rules to allow
farmers and rangeland managers to use UAS for agricultural
management. These rules would be limited to the region
projected to be in drought during the current growing season,
as defined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Association's Seasonal Drought Outlook. Farmers would be able
to contract with UAS flight service providers, farmers and
rangeland managers could use UAS imagery to detect
water-depletive invasive species, and universities and
government agencies seeking to use UAS for drought-related
research will be given expedited approval."
"The severity of the current drought in California requires
every means to save water possible, especially agricultural
usage. Every tool available should be utilized to help reduce
water usage."
3)FAA's forthcoming regulation of sUAS . In 2012, Congress
passed the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (Act).
The Act required the FAA to establish a framework for safely
integrating UAS into the national airspace no later than
September 30, 2015, and authorized the FAA establish interim
requirements for the commercial operation of UAS. Under the
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interim rules, UAS operators must meet certain standards and
apply for a commercial use exemption and an FAA Certificate of
Authorization to operate in in "navigable airspace," which is
generally above 500 feet and within a five mile radius of
airports.
On February 15, 2015, the FAA proposed a new framework of
regulations to allow the use of "small" UAS (under 55 pounds)
from the ground up to 500 feet. If enacted, the proposed
rules would limit flights to non-recreational, daylight uses
and would require the UAS pilot to maintain a visual line of
sight with the UAS. The FAA has stated it may also create a
less strict regulatory framework for "micro" UAS (under 4.4
pounds). Such regulations, once enacted, may be found to
preempt state statutes governing drone use.
4)Growth in commercial and agricultural uses of UAS . Commercial
applications for UAS are growing exponentially. UAS gives the
news media economical and environmentally-friendly access to
aerial views of traffic, storms, and other events when
compared to the current use of helicopters and other manned
aircraft. UAS is the planned future delivery system for mail
delivery and Internet companies, such as Fed Ex and Amazon.
And UAS is used in the agricultural industry to observe and
measure crops while conserving resources and avoiding the use
of heavy equipment.
According to an August 2015 article in the Boston Globe, drone
technology may transform the way California's farmers and
ranchers manage livestock and agricultural resources:
For centuries, much of farming has been legwork: walking down
rows, through patches, going plant-by-plant to check for weeds,
bugs, parched soil, any sign of distress. Modern machinery,
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soil-testing, computers, and ground-based sensors have made crop
monitoring and tending more efficient, but still lots goes
unnoticed. Even with a trained eye, there also are inevitably
data that can't be detected at scale, such as nitrogen
deficiency or diminished photosynthesis, the chlorophyll-powered
process that is crucial for a healthy plant. And if one ailing
plant is found, what is the impact on the sometimes hundreds of
thousands of plants that surround it? Farmers were long left to
guess.
Not for much longer: Agriculture drones may soon be flying
across America's farmland . . . the impact on the US farm sector
could be huge: billions of dollars in economic returns and tens
of thousands of jobs within only a few years. The American Farm
Bureau Federation estimates farmers' return-on-investment alone
could be $12 per acre for corn and $2 to $3 per acre for
soybeans and wheat.
It's the latest - and most arresting - transformation in the
burgeoning field of precision agriculture, which incorporates
geospatial data and sensors to microtarget fields for better
growth. Or, in other words, a Big Data revolution on the farm.
. . .
Despite the pervasive idea that drones are primarily useful for
surveillance or warfare, agriculture drones are expected to make
up 80 percent of the future commercial market, according to the
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Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. Yes,
they will be deployed as worker bees, spraying and treating
crops, but the potential is much bigger: Super-high resolution
spectral imaging will garner data-driven insight, allowing for
more targeted fertilizing and better use of water and labor.
The need for common fertilizers, such as nitrogen, as well as
herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides that pollute local
waterways could be substantially reduced. Even for organic
farmers, monitoring for disease and drought could be made far
easier. (John Wihbey, Agricultural Drones May Change The Way We
Farm, Boston Globe, [as of Aug. 21, 2015].)
This resolution calls upon the President and the Secretary of
Transportation to allow for the operation of drones by farmers
and rangeland managers as soon as possible under emergency
rules until the final rules for commercial drone use are
promulgated by the FAA.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California GIS Council
Central Coast Forest Association
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Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennie Bretschneider / P. & C.P. / (916)
319-2200