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History
- Referred to codes
- Referred to codes
Companion bill
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Regulates the use of unmanned aerial vehicles by the state and political subdivisions thereof
In Assembly Committee · Governmental Operations · Sponsor Steven Englebright
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S4839
Title of bill
An act to amend the civil rights law, in relation to the use of unmanned aerial vehicles
Purpose or general idea of the bill
To establish a framework for regulating the use of unmanned aerial vehicles by state and local agents.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 lays out legislative findings.
Section 2 creates a new article within Title T of the criminal procedure law that:
-Defines "unmanned aerial vehicle."
-Requires that a law enforcement agency get the approval of their governing body prior to obtaining a uav.
-Prohibits the use: uav's by state or local agents unless it falls under any of these four exemptions: land owner consent, an emergency situation, the acquisition of an eavesdropping or video surveillance warrant, or for academic or scientific research in areas such as, but not limited to, atmospheric studies, agricultural studies or land use studies.
-Prohibits the use of drones equipped with lethal or non-lethal weapons. Requires the deletion of excess, non-target, data collected by drones within 24 hours.
-Prohibits the use-of uav collected data as evidence in trails when the data is collected in violation of this article.
-Establishes reporting requirements for agencies that use uav's.
Justification
Unmanned aerial vehicle technology has begun expanding out of its traditional military markets and into civilian markets. In order to accommodate this expansion Congress has ordered the FAA to integrate unmanned aerial vehicles into the air traffic control system by 2015. Many agencies across the U.S. have already applied to the FAA for licenses to operate unmanned aerial vehicles. This represents a double edged sword, in so far as unmanned aerial vehicles can be both a great tool for law enforcement and scientific research, but also a great risk to civil liberties. This legislation intends to ensure that the future use of unmanned aerial vehicles complies with level of privacy that New Yorkers have come to expect in their lives.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.