Come Senators, Congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’

Bob Dylan – “The Times, They Are A-Changin”

Unless this is your first visit to our blog (and if it is, welcome), you know that we have addressed the tension between the federal government vs. state and local governments regarding regulating drones on several occasions. Because the landscape continues to change, this topic is a hot button issue.

Although the boundaries of federal vs state and local government authority to regulate drone operations remains unclear, state and local governments continue to assert authority to regulate drone operations. Over the last few years, drone operations have increased significantly, and drone operations are expected to increase dramatically over the next few years.

In addition to the Drone Federalism Act recently introduced in the U.S. Senate, a bill was recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives titled “Drone Innovation Act of 2017”. Similar to the Drone Federalism Act, the Drone Innovation Act seeks to address the manner in which state, tribal, and local governments can regulate drone operations.

Here are the key points of the Drone Innovation Act (the following is only a summary of the highlights):

No later than six months after enactment, the Secretary of Transportation is required to publish a civil unmanned aircraft local operation policy framework (after consultation with state, local and tribal officials, as well as other stakeholders)

The policy framework shall:

“(1) provide guidelines to aid States, local, and Tribal governments in harmonizing and, to the degree possible, standardizing reasonable time, manner, and place limitations and other restrictions on operations of civil and small unmanned aircraft that are local in nature;

(2) take into account the economic and non-economic benefits, such as civic or educational uses, of small or civil unmanned aircraft operations;

(3) provide guidelines to aid States, local, and Tribal governments in creating an environment that is hospitable to innovation and fosters the rapid integration of unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system; and

(4) aid States, local, and Tribal governments in adopting technologies, such as unmanned traffic management systems, that will enable notification to operators regarding reasonable time, manner, and place limitations on operations of civil and small unmanned aircraft that are local in nature.”

When preparing the policy framework and any future regulations or standards related to unmanned aircraft, the Secretary of Transportation is required to define “the scope of preemptive effect”. The Act requires that any such regulations or standards “be limited to the extent necessary to ensure the safety and efficiency of the national airspace system for interstate commerce, and shall preserve the legitimate interests of State, local, and Tribal governments, including–

(1) protecting public safety;

(2) protecting personal privacy;

(3) protecting property rights;

(4) managing land use; and

(5) restricting nuisances and noise pollution.”

The Act requires the Secretary of Transportation to “abide by and be guided by” several “fundamental principles”. It also requires the Secretary to establish a pilot (I assume no pun intended) program and enter into agreements with a predetermined number of state, local, or tribal governments to provide technical assistance in regulating drones. Within 18 months after the pilot program is established, the Secretary is required to provide a report on best practices for state, local and tribal governments to regulate drones.

The Act prohibits the Secretary from prescribing regulations or standards for drones that authorize the operation of drones less than 200 feet above ground level “where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy without permission of the property owner”.

Moreover, it expressly states that the following causes of action are not preempted: “personal injury, wrongful death, property damage, inverse condemnation, trespass, nuisance or other injury based on negligence, strict liability, products liability, failure to warn, or any other legal theory of liability under any maritime law, or any Federal, State, or Tribal common law or statutory theory”.

The prohibition on preemption of those causes of action is tempered by the following language: “no cause of action, claim or remedy may be made solely because of the transit of an unmanned aircraft through airspace local in nature over private property in the absence of proof that such transit substantially interfered with the owner or lessee’s use or enjoyment of the property or repeatedly transited the airspace local in nature above the owner’s property”.

The Secretary is prohibited from issuing any rule or regulation that would impede the authority of state, local, or tribal governments to define private property rights as it applies to drones that operate at an altitude less than 200 feet.

State or local governments may not “unreasonably or substantially impede” a drone from reaching navigable airspace. Per the Act, unreasonably or substantially impeding includes:

“(1) outright bans on overflights of the entirety of the lateral boundaries of a State or local government’s jurisdiction;

(2) excessively large prohibitions on overflights of areas of local significance such that access to airspace is so impeded as to make flight within the lateral boundaries of a State or local government’s jurisdiction nearly impossible; and

(3) a combination of restrictions intended to unreasonably impede or having the practical effect of unreasonably impeding the ability of a civil unmanned aircraft from reaching the navigable airspace.”

Finally, nothing in the Act may be construed to affect: manned aircraft operations or the authority of the FAA with respect to the same; the FAA’s right to take emergency action; the FAA’s right to pursue enforcement actions against drone operators; or the right of first responders to access airspace in the event of an emergency.

The Drone Innovation Act is not the first attempt by Congress to address the issue of federal vs. state (including tribal and local) government authority to regulate drone operations. The Act appears to recognize the need to avoid having a checkerboard of varying laws and regulations from locality to locality. Whether the final version of any Congressional act defining federal vs. state authority over drone operations includes this theme remains to be seen.

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