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Drones At Home
Local and State Drone Laws
By Arthur Holland Michel March 2017
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This database only reflects the results of an
Local Drone Laws exhaustive search of published discoverable
documentation, and should not be taken as a
complete tally of every municipality and park
We have identified 135 localities across 31 states authority in the country with rules for drones.
that have enacted local rules governing the use Rather, it is intended to serve as a comprehensive
of drones. These localities are home to over 30 guide to a broad sample of known laws currently in
Local and State Drone Laws
million people. Of these 135 localities, only three effect, and may be used to indicate the scope and
appear to have enacted ordinances that actively spread of the trend of local drone law adoption.
promote the use of drones. A summary of all local-
ities is provided on page seven of this report. The
full dataset is available on our website at www.
Findings
dronecenter.bard.edu/drones-at-home/.
The earliest enacted rule in our database is a 2009
ordinance from Grand Forks, North Dakota, which
Methodology prohibited the landing or take-off of drones from
We have sought to identify as many cities, counties, airports, helipads, or other unauthorized locations.
and municipalities as possible that have adopted Various early ordinances date to 2012 and 2013,
rules for drone use. The local laws presented in our including ordinances from Charlottesville, Virginia;
database were discovered by open-source Internet Deer Trail, Colorado; and Berkeley, California.
searches as well as searches of municipal code
websites. The ordinances that we discovered appear to reflect
a growing rate of adoption. Only a handful of lo-
We have only included laws that explicitly address calities passed ordinances in 2012, 2013, and 2014;
the use of drones, unmanned aircraft, or however, out of the 114 ordinances for which an
unmanned aerial vehicles. Other ordinances that adoption date is available, we discovered 34 ordi-
may affect the use of drones, such as Peeping Tom nances from 2015, and 59 from 2016.
rules, were not included in our database unless they
specifically define drones or unmanned aircraft as The vast majority of local rules128 out of the
a restricted technology. Our list includes a number 135 that we discoveredrestrict private drone use,
of park authorities that have specifically restricted and either exempt or do not mention law enforce-
drone use in recent years. Park authorities that have ment drone use. Seven ordinances restrict law
for many years restricted remote control aircraft enforcement or governmentuse of drones, of which
use have not been included, since many of these only four localitiesSyracuse, New York, Pierce
rules predate the emergence of drone technology County, Washington, Seattle, Washington, and
and thus do not represent a part of the growing Spokane, Washingtonsolely restrict law enforce-
trend of local drone regulation. ment use.
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regulations in five of these states, including six in
Commonly Restricted Behaviors Arizona, two in Virginia, six in Michigan, and one
in both Delaware and Rhode Island.
Operations over public property
Not all localities define a specific punishment
Operations over private property without
for drone-related offenses. Of the 40 localities
the owners consent
that specify fine amounts for violations, the most
Operation in parks
common sanctions appear to be fines ranging from
Local and State Drone Laws
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FAAs registration rule may not go far enough and local law enforcement authorities restrict
to mitigate such hazards. The widespread adoption operations that are permitted by the FAA, such
of local drone rules may present a challenge to as commercial flights over private property, the
the integration of drones at scale into the national federal government may intervene with legal
airspace system. action. For example, 24 localities specifically
define jail time as a possible punishment for
Local and State Drone Laws
Given the FAAs stated position, detailed in violations of drone-related rules; a number of these
its State and Local Regulation of Unmanned localities define punishments for rules that the FAA
Aircraft Systems (UAS) Fact Sheet, that it would define as preemptable. The FAA has not yet
maintains exclusive authority to regulate the U.S. disclosed what actions, if any, it plans to take with
airspace system (see page 6 for further details), regards to local drone ordinances, but it is actively
the proliferation of these laws could potentially studying the issue.
lead to legal conflict. While many ordinances
relate to restrictions deemed permissible by Citizens and commercial entities may also
the FAAincluding rules regarding privacy challenge local drone rules. A man in Newton,
and trespassmany appear to contravene FAA Massachusetts, Michael Singer, is suing the city
authority by imposing restrictions on operations of Newton for its ordinance, which requires
within the navigable airspace. For example, by the drone operators to obtain a permit, and prohibits
FAAs analysis, a locality banning all drone use operations over private property, surveillance, and
over public space is likely infringing on federal interfering with emergency responders. Singer,
authority. Over 60 localities restrict drone use over who says that he uses his drone to document
public space in some form. illegal snow dumping by the city, contends that
the ordinance impinges on his constitutional-
ly protected First Amendment right to conduct
information gathering. Similar suits are likely
to emerge as more local authorities impose drone
regulations. The town of Palm Beach in Florida
has had to revise its drone regulations limiting
drone use in the town after several drone operators
pointed out that it impinged on FAA authority.
The outcomes of these suits will serve to better
define the limits of local authority to implement
regulations for drone use.
Furthermore, the distinction between a permissible
restriction and a restriction that contravenes FAA State Drone Laws
authority is not completely clear. Whether or not an
ordinance contravenes the FAA may be a matter of
Beginning in around 2013, a growing number
open interpretation of its language. For example,
of states have passed legislation on drones.
over thirty localities ban the use of drones over
Several organizations, including the National
private property without the property owners
Conference of State Legislatures and the Institute
permission; local authorities might argue that this
for National Security and Counterterrorism at
is a trespass and privacy protection matter, which
Syracuse University, have been tracking state drone
is permitted by the FAA, but such rules by nature
legislation. In January 2017, the NCSL published
impose limits on the navigable airspace, and so
Taking Off: State Unmanned Aircraft Systems
would appear to simultaneously contravene FAA
Policies, a detailed assessment of state drone
authority over the airspace system.
laws. The report found that 31 states had enacted
drone legislation between 2013 and 2016 and that
If these local rules continue to be adopted,
every state except South Dakota has considered
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proposed bills. Many of the laws that have passed of whom are beholden to different restrictions.
have enacted statutes aimed at restricting the Recreational drone users are held to a basic rule,
use of drones by law enforcement, prohibiting established in the Special Rule for Model Aircraft
drones from flying over critical infrastructure, and (Public Law 112-95 Section 336), which forbids
preventing individuals from using drones to invade any behavior with unmanned aircraft that endangers
someone elses privacy. Some of the laws have the airspace system. The FAA does not specifically
Local and State Drone Laws
defined strict penalties for violations, including define what constitutes such an action, but the Ad-
felony and misdemeanor charges and fines. State ministrations voluntary guidelines for recreational
drone legislation has at times faced opposition drone and model airplane users list a number of
from drone hobbyists, businesses, and industry recommendations. Operators that break these rec-
organizations, who claim that they place undue ommendations could be construed as engaging in
restrictions on drone users. Today, state legislatures an endangering behavior:
around the country continue to debate the effects
of proposed drone legislation and the authorities of Fly the UAS within visual line-of-sight
state legislatures to regulate drones. Give way to manned aircraft
Provide prior notification to the airport and air
Our database of state drone laws presents the traffic control tower, if one is present, when
individual statutes that regulate drones in the 31 flying within 5 miles of an airport
states that have adopted legislation. Each statute Fly UAS that weigh no more than 55 lbs. unless
is accompanied by the corresponding bill number certified by a community-based organization
and statute text, as well as the date of enactment. Follow a community-based set of safety
The statutes and bill numbers include embedded guidelines
links to the original text. The database is organized
according to state statutes so that stakeholders and Though the FAA does not specifically forbid flights
researchers can more easily navigate the state-level by recreational users over people, the communi-
regulatory environment for drones and review ty-based safety guidelines of model aircraft groups
individual statutes on a more granular level. Our such as the Academy of Model Aeronautics do
full database of state drone statutes is available on forbid such operations, meaning that the FAA likely
our website at www.dronecenter.bard.edu/drones- treats such actions as reckless and punishable
at-home/. behaviors.
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permission to fly for non-recreational purposes on a guidance puts it, would hinder the FAAs ability to
case-by-case basis. coordinate flight patterns and air traffic flow.
Both recreational and non-recreational drone Broadly speaking, the FAA states in the fact sheet
users operating a drone weighing more than 250 that it would preempt any state or local regulations
grams must register with the Federal Aviation that control operations in the navigable airspace
Local and State Drone Laws
Administration and clearly display the aircrafts system. This includes operational UAS restrictions
registration number on the system during any on flight altitude, flight paths; operational bans;
flight in U.S. airspace, regardless of whether they any regulation of the navigable airspace. The
are operating over private property or over public FAA offers, as an example of a rule that it would
land. The registration program was established on preempt, a city ordinance that bans all drone flights
December 16, 2015. over public and private property. Furthermore,
the FAA prohibits local authorities from imposing
Enforcement additional drone registration programs beyond
the federal registration system. The FAA has
The FAA recognizes that it is limited in its capacity
cited various court cases that uphold the right of
to enforce its rules for both recreational and
individuals to operate aircraft freely in the National
non-recreational drone use, so it relies on local
Airspace System.
law enforcement agencies to identify and interdict
violations. In a guidance document outlining its
The FAA does, however, state that local authorities
position on the enforcement of its rules by local
may enact certain rules controlling drone use,
law enforcement agencies, the FAA emphasizes
including regulations around land use, zoning,
that law enforcement agencies are often in the
privacy, trespass, and law enforcement operations.
best position to discover, address, and punish
The FAA suggests that local authorities are free
drone-related violations. The FAA further states
to regulate the use of drones by police, the use of
that although there are Federal criminal statutes
drones for voyeurism, the use of drones for hunting,
that may be implicated by some UAS operations
and the arming of drones.
(e.g., 49 U.S.C. 46307), most violations of the
FAAs regulations may be addressed through
Furthermore, seven state legislaturesVirginia,
administrative enforcement measures. The FAA
Arizona, Delaware, Rhode Island, Michigan,
asserts that it relies on a cooperative partnership
Oregon, and Marylandhave banned local
with local law enforcement to enforce its rules, but
government regulation of drones, and an
stresses that all enforcement must be carried out in
additional fourTennessee, California, Nevada,
accordance with its specific rules for drone use.
and Minnesotadeclare state sovereignty of the
airspace.
Preemption
In early 2017, the FAA instructed the Drone
The FAA maintains in its State and Local Advisory Committee, a multi-stakeholder
Regulation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) body that advises the federal government on
Fact Sheet, published in December 2016, that rulemaking matters associated with drones, to
it has the sole authority to regulate the areas of study the question of local drone regulation and
airspace use, management and efficiency, air traffic propose clearer, workable guidelines for how
control, safety, navigational facilities, and aircraft local governments may regulate drones without
noise at its source. The FAA expresses in this contravening the FAAs authority over the national
fact sheet that the growing trend in local drone airspace system. The FAAs efforts to address local
rules impinges upon its authority and its ability drone regulations are ongoing.
to effectively manage the airspace system. Such a
patchwork quilt of differing restrictions, as the
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Further Reading
A number of organizations have studied the adoption of both local drone rules and state laws
growing adoption of local drone rules in the U.S. under its Domesticating the Drone initiative. The
In 2016, the National League of Cities published Institute has compiled information on several dozen
a report about drone rule adoption for local localities that have adopted ordinances for drone
Local and State Drone Laws
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The Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College is an interdisciplinary research institution founded in 2012
that examines the novel and complex opportunities andchallenges presented by unmanned technologies in both the
military and civilian sphere.
30 Campus Road
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
12504
Copyright 2017 Center for the Study of the Drone. All Rights Reserved.
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