State UAS Legislation Update with Map: June 2, 2015
As we near the mid-year mark for 2015, the efforts our chapters, stakeholders and mutual constituents have produced favorable legislative results for the industry. To date, AUVSI has been able to defeat 11 legislative measures (Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland., Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Vermont and Wyoming). There are nine legislative bills still in play (California, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina and Washington) and five bills have passed in Florida, Minnesota, Nevada, North Dakota and Virginia.
Recently, bills in Montana and Vermont had legislative activity that swung in our favor. In Montana, HB 593, which established requirements for the operation of unmanned model aerial vehicles missed the filing deadline and therefore failed to reach Gov. Bullock’s desk. In Vermont, S. 18, which proposed to establish regulations for the use of drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, and would have required law enforcement agencies to first obtain a search warrant prior to using a UAS or in emergency circumstances. S. 18 sailed through the legislative process and the restrictive provisions pertaining to UAS use were struck and were not included in the final iteration.
Below are the legislative end dates for active bills. We highly encourage you to contact your state elected officials and request they oppose legislation that adversely affects unmanned systems and the unmanned systems community:
California – September 11
Michigan – December 31
New Hampshire – July 1
New Jersey – December 31
New York – December 31
Ohio – December 31
Oregon – July 11
South Carolina – June 4
Washington – On 29 May Second Special Session began and will end in 30 days
