Proposed Regulations of Private Use of UAS

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has predicted that there will be “roughly 10,000 active commercial” unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the United States within five years. While the FAA Reauthorization Act has sparked numerous legislative proposals to regulate the use of UAS by public employees, the predicted surge in commercial use of UAS within US domestic airspace has received comparatively little regulatory attention from legislators at the federal, state or local levels. If legislators do not enact regulations to adequately address privacy concerns and other issues pertaining to the private use of UAS, for better or for worse the FAA will be left to fill in the blanks.

Senator Mark Udall’s bill, the Safeguarding Privacy and Fostering Aerospace Innovation Act of 2013 (S. 1057) is the only legislative proposal specifically drafted to address the use of UAS for surveillance by private persons. The bill designates all non-public UAS as “civil unmanned aircraft system[s]” and prohibits them from being used “to willfully conduct surveillance of another person.” The bill provides exceptions for “prior express written consent of the targeted person,” for “emergency situation[s] in which the life of an individual is threatened,” or “if the targeted person is in a place of public use… where surveillance would not be highly offensive to a reasonable person.” The bill further requires that civil unmanned aircraft systems be clearly marked with the owner’s contact information and provides fines for violations.

Other legislative proposals to regulate the use of UAS by public employees contain provisions that prohibit or restrict the private use of UAS. Such proposals generally fall into two categories: 1) A moratorium or complete ban on operating UAS with enumerated exceptions; and/or 2) a prohibition on UAS carrying or operating as weapons. To date, all local proposals and regulations pertaining to the use of UAS by private persons fall into the first category; however, federal and state-level proposals largely tend to fall into the second category or are comprised of a combination of the two.

As of June 19, legislative proposals pertaining to the use of UAS by private persons are listed below:

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*This survey of legislative proposals was limited in scope. Provisions relating to “higher education institutions,” private contractors acting on behalf of public employees, hobbyists, or requiring private compliance with FAA and other federal regulations were not included.

By: Hibberd Kline | June 25, 2013