Amended in Senate August 17, 2015

Amended in Senate July 14, 2015

Senate Bill No. 167

Introduced by begin delete Senator end delete begin insert Senators end insert Gaines begin insert and Jackson end insert

(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Gatto)

(Coauthors: Senators begin delete Berryhill and Fuller end delete begin insert Anderson, Bates, Berryhill, Cannella, Fuller, Huff, Leno, McGuire, Morrell, Nielsen, Roth, Runner, and Stone end insert )

(Coauthors: Assembly Members begin insert Travis  end insert begin insert Allen, Bigelow, Brown, Chávez, Cooper, end insert Dahle, Beth Gaines, begin delete and Obernolte end delete begin insert Jones, Lackey, Mathis, Mayes, Obernolte, and Rodriguez end insert )

February 5, 2015

An act to add Section begin delete 4167 end delete begin insert 402.5 end insert to the begin delete Public Resources end delete begin insert Penal end insert Code, relating to begin delete forest end delete fires, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 167, as amended, Gaines. begin delete Forest fires: end delete begin insert Fires: end insert interference: unmanned aircraft.

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Existing law prohibits specified behavior at forest fire sites, including disobeying the lawful orders of a public officer or firefighter or interfering with the lawful efforts of a firefighter to extinguish the fire, and makes this proscribed activity a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 6 months, or by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

end delete begin delete

This bill would make it a misdemeanor to violate any of these provisions through the use or operation of an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system, punishable by a fine of not less than $200 or not more than $2,000, or to knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly violate any of these provisions through the use or operation of an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 6 months, or by a fine of $5,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment. By creating new crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

end delete begin insert

Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to engage in disorderly conduct that delays or prevents a fire from being timely extinguished or to resist or interfere with the lawful efforts of a firefighter in the discharge of an official duty. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to impede police officers, firefighters, emergency personnel, or military personnel, in the performance of their duties in coping with an emergency.

end insert begin insert

This bill would make it unlawful to knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly operate an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system, as defined, in a manner that prevents or delays the extinguishment of a fire, or in any way interferes with the efforts of firefighters to control, contain, or extinguish a fire. The bill would make a violation of this prohibition punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed 6 months, by a fine not to exceed $5,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

end insert

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.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

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

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

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

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SECTION 1.  

Section 4167 is added to the Public Resources
Code, to read:

4167.  

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), a person who
violates this article through the use or operation of an unmanned
aircraft or unmanned aircraft system is guilty of a misdemeanor,
punishable by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars ($200)
or not more than two thousand dollars (2,000).

(b) A person who knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly violates
this article through the use or operation of an unmanned aircraft
or unmanned aircraft system is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable
by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than six months, or
by a fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both that fine
and imprisonment.

(c) For purposes of this section, “unmanned aircraft” means an
aircraft that is operated without the possibility of direct human
intervention from within or on the aircraft.

(d) For purposes of this section, “unmanned aircraft system”
means an unmanned aircraft and associated elements, including,
but not limited to, communication links and the components that
control the unmanned aircraft that are required for the pilot in
command to operate safely and efficiently in the national airspace
system.

end delete

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 402.5 is added to the end insert begin insert Penal Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 402.5. end insert   

(a) It is unlawful to knowingly, intentionally, or
recklessly operate an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft
system in a manner that prevents or delays the extinguishment of
a fire, or in any way interferes with the efforts of firefighters to
control, contain, or extinguish a fire, including, but not limited to,
efforts to control, contain, or extinguish the fire from the air. A
violation of this section is punishable by imprisonment in a county
jail not to exceed six months, by a fine not to exceed five thousand
dollars ($5,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.

(b) (1) For purposes of this section, “unmanned aircraft” means
an aircraft that is operated without the possibility of direct human
intervention from within or on the aircraft.

(2) For purposes of this section, “unmanned aircraft system”
means an unmanned aircraft and associated elements, including,
but not limited to, communication links and the components that
control the unmanned aircraft that are required for the individual
in command to operate safely and efficiently in the national
airspace system.

end insert

SEC. 2.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.

SEC. 3.  

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:

To address the interference of unmanned aircraft with efforts to
fight begin delete forest end delete fires begin insert and to keep fires from raging out of control end insert during
begin delete the current fire season, end delete begin insert this historic drought, end insert it is necessary that
this act take effect immediately.