Bill Text: TX HB1643 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Enrolled
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-Enrolled.html
H.B. No. 1643 |
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relating to the regulation of the operation of an unmanned aircraft | ||
and the prosecution of a related criminal offense. | ||
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; [ |
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(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 [ |
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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 [ |
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SECTION 3. Chapter 423, Government Code, is amended by | ||
adding Section 423.009 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 423.009. REGULATION OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT BY POLITICAL | ||
SUBDIVISION. (a) In this section: | ||
(1) "Political subdivision" includes a county, a joint | ||
board created under Section 22.074, Transportation Code, and a | ||
municipality. | ||
(2) "Special event" means a festival, celebration, or | ||
other gathering that: | ||
(A) involves: | ||
(i) the reservation and temporary use of | ||
all or a portion of a public park, road, or other property of a | ||
political subdivision; and | ||
(ii) entertainment, the sale of | ||
merchandise, food, or beverages, or mass participation in a sports | ||
event; and | ||
(B) requires a significant use or coordination of | ||
a political subdivision's services. | ||
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a political | ||
subdivision may not adopt or enforce any ordinance, order, or other | ||
similar measure regarding the operation of an unmanned aircraft. | ||
(c) A political subdivision may adopt and enforce an | ||
ordinance, order, or other similar measure regarding: | ||
(1) the use of an unmanned aircraft during a special | ||
event; | ||
(2) the political subdivision's use of an unmanned | ||
aircraft; or | ||
(3) the use of an unmanned aircraft near a facility or | ||
infrastructure owned by the political subdivision, if the political | ||
subdivision: | ||
(A) applies for and receives authorization from | ||
the Federal Aviation Administration to adopt the regulation; and | ||
(B) after providing reasonable notice, holds a | ||
public hearing on the political subdivision's intent to apply for | ||
the authorization. | ||
(d) An ordinance, order, or other similar measure that | ||
violates Subsection (b) is void and unenforceable. | ||
SECTION 4. Section 423.0045, Government Code, as amended 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 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I certify that H.B. No. 1643 was passed by the House on May | ||
11, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 135, Nays 8, 2 present, not | ||
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to | ||
H.B. No. 1643 on May 26, 2017, and requested the appointment of a | ||
conference committee to consider the differences between the two | ||
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report | ||
on H.B. No. 1643 on May 28, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 143, | ||
Nays 2, 1 present, not voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
I certify that H.B. No. 1643 was passed by the Senate, with | ||
amendments, on May 24, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 27, Nays | ||
4; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference | ||
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and | ||
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No. | ||
1643 on May 28, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 26, Nays 5. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
APPROVED: __________________ | ||
Date | ||
__________________ | ||
Governor |