Bill Text: TX HB1643 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Comm Sub

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to the regulation of the operation of an unmanned aircraft and the prosecution of a related criminal offense.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 5-0)

Status: (Passed) 2017-06-15 - Effective on 9/1/17 [HB1643 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB1643-Comm_Sub.html

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By: Springer (Senate Sponsor - Seliger) H.B. No. 1643
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 12, 2017;
May 12, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
Justice; May 19, 2017, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0;
May 19, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1643 By: Whitmire

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution of the criminal offense of operation of
an unmanned aircraft over certain facilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 423.0045(a)(1), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(1) "Critical infrastructure facility" means:
(A) one of the following, if completely enclosed
by a fence or other physical barrier that is obviously designed to
exclude intruders, or if clearly marked with a sign or signs that
are posted on the property, are reasonably likely to come to the
attention of intruders, and indicate that entry is forbidden:
(i) a petroleum or alumina refinery;
(ii) an electrical power generating
facility, substation, switching station, or electrical control
center;
(iii) a chemical, polymer, or rubber
manufacturing facility;
(iv) a water intake structure, water
treatment facility, wastewater treatment plant, or pump station;
(v) a natural gas compressor station;
(vi) a liquid natural gas terminal or
storage facility;
(vii) a telecommunications central
switching office or any structure used as part of a system to
provide wired or wireless telecommunications services;
(viii) a port, railroad switching yard,
trucking terminal, or other freight transportation facility;
(ix) a gas processing plant, including a
plant used in the processing, treatment, or fractionation of
natural gas;
(x) a transmission facility used by a
federally licensed radio or television station;
(xi) a steelmaking facility that uses an
electric arc furnace to make steel; [or]
(xii) a dam that is classified as a high
hazard by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality; or
(xiii) a concentrated animal feeding
operation, as defined by Section 26.048, Water Code; or
(B) if enclosed by a fence or other physical
barrier obviously designed to exclude intruders:
(i) any portion of an aboveground oil, gas,
or chemical pipeline;
(ii) an oil or gas drilling site;
(iii) a group of tanks used to store crude
oil, such as a tank battery;
(iv) an oil, gas, or chemical production
facility;
(v) an oil or gas wellhead; or
(vi) any oil and gas facility that has an
active flare [that is enclosed by a fence or other physical barrier
that is obviously designed to exclude intruders].
SECTION 2. Section 423.0045(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) This section does not apply to conduct described by
Subsection (b) that is committed by:
(1) the federal government, the state, or a
governmental entity;
(2) a person under contract with or otherwise acting
under the direction or on behalf of the federal government, the
state, or a governmental entity;
(3) a law enforcement agency;
(4) a person under contract with or otherwise acting
under the direction or on behalf of a law enforcement agency;
(5) an owner or operator of the critical
infrastructure facility;
(6) a person under contract with or otherwise acting
under the direction or on behalf of an owner or operator of the
critical infrastructure facility;
(7) a person who has the prior written consent of the
owner or operator of the critical infrastructure facility;
(8) the owner or occupant of the property on which the
critical infrastructure facility is located or a person who has the
prior written consent of the owner or occupant of that property; or
(9) an operator of an unmanned aircraft that is being
used for a commercial purpose, if the operation is conducted in
compliance with:
(A) each applicable Federal Aviation
Administration rule, restriction, or exemption; and
(B) all required Federal Aviation Administration
authorizations [operator is authorized by the Federal Aviation
Administration to conduct operations over that airspace].
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
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