BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 271|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 271
Author: Gaines (R), et al.
Amended: 9/1/15
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 6-0, 4/14/15
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Leno, McGuire, Monning, Stone
NO VOTE RECORDED: Liu
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR: 37-0, 5/7/15
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Gaines, Galgiani, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez,
Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva,
McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Morrell,
Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Runner, Stone, Vidak,
Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fuller, Liu
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 9/3/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Unmanned aircraft systems
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill makes it a criminal infraction to knowingly
and intentionally operate an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) at
or less than 350 feet above a public school campus or to use a
UAS to capture images of a public school campus during school
hours without the written permission of the school principal.
Assembly Amendments:
SB 271
Page 2
1)Add a definition of unmanned aircraft.
2)Provide that this section does not apply to any entity for
which the Federal Aviation Administration has authorized the
use of the unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system if
the unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system is operated
in accordance with the terms and condition of authorization.
3)Make technical changes.
ANALYSIS:
Existing federal law, the Aviation Administration Modernization
and Reform Act of 2012, requires 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 unmanned aircraft systems into national
airspace as soon as practicable, not later than September 30,
2015. (112 P.L. 95, 332)
Existing state law:
1)Prohibits wiretapping or eavesdropping on confidential
communications. (Penal Code § 630)
2)Makes it a crime for a person, intentionally, and without
requisite consent, to eavesdrop on a confidential
communication by means of any electronic amplifying or
recording device. (Penal Code § 632.)
This bill:
1)Prohibits the knowing and intentional operation of a UAS at or
less than 350 feet above the grounds of a public school (K-12
school).
2)Prohibits the unauthorized use of a UAS to capture images of
K-12 school grounds during school hours.
SB 271
Page 3
3)Provides exceptions to these prohibitions for:
a) The news media, i.e., newspaper, television, radio, news
wire services, periodicals, and their Internet Web sites,
including individuals connected to or employed by the news
media;
b) Law enforcement agencies;
c) UAS users who have written permission from the school
principal, the principal's designee, or a higher authority;
and
d) Entities authorized by the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) to use UAS, if the UAS is operated in
accordance with the terms and conditions of the
authorization.
4)Requires the news media to stop using a UAS over a K-12
school's grounds upon the request of a school principal on the
basis that the UAS would disrupt class or other school
activities.
5)Authorizes the imposition of a warning for the first
violation, and a fine of $200 for each subsequent violation.
6)Defines "school hours" to include any school session,
extracurricular activities, events sponsored by the school,
and one hour before and after any session, activity, or event.
7)Defines "unmanned aircraft" and "unmanned aircraft system"
consistent with FAA regulation.
SB 271
Page 4
Comments
This bill prohibits the use of drones on school grounds and
capturing images of a school during school hours or school
activities without written permission of the school. The
penalty for a first offense is a warning. The penalty for a
second or subsequent offense is an infraction punishable by a
fine of not more than $200 plus approximately 300% penalty
assessments so the maximum fine would be approximately $800.
The prohibition in this bill applies during school hours as
defined. Law enforcement and news organizations are exempt from
the prohibition.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, minor
nonreimbursable costs to cities and counties for enforcement,
offset to some extent by fine revenues.
SUPPORT: (Verified 9/3/15)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified 9/3/15)
California Public Defenders Association
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 9/03/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
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,
SB 271
Page 5
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
Prepared by:Mary Kennedy / PUB. S. /
9/3/15 15:37:43
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