There is some good news for local governments that have, or
are considering local regulations for drones; small Unmanned
Aircraft Systems (UAS).The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
released final rules that acknowledge the important
role of state and local regulations. The new rules
state “certain legal aspects concerning small use may
be best addressed at the state or local
level.” The rejection of the federal pre-emption of
state and local ordinances represent an important victory
for public safety.
CSAC approves and supports the recent UAS action taken by the
FAA, and has maintained that counties have the right, within
the bounds of their constitutional law enforcement power and land
use authority, to reasonably regulate drone flights within their
jurisdictions.
The rules end the long-running controversy in California between
local governments and the drone and technology industries on
whether state or local regulations have a place in any regulatory
scheme for unmanned aircraft systems.
Over the last few years the California legislature has worked to
reign in recreational drone activity to fill a void resulting
from FAA regulations. Industry proponents continue to oppose
legislation by raising the federal pre-emption argument with
respect to drones. In fact their opposition was what killed
the most comprehensive state legislative proposal, SB 868 by
Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson. This measure expressly
protected local ordinances within a state regulatory
scheme. For additional information on the Federal Aviation
Administration’s UAS rule please click here.
