Bill Text: TX SB523 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to the prosecution of the offense of operation of unmanned aircraft over correctional facility or critical infrastructure facility.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-06 - Referred to Criminal Justice [SB523 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-SB523-Introduced.html
  85R2487 JRR-D
 
  By: Birdwell S.B. No. 523
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the prosecution of the offense of operation of unmanned
  aircraft over correctional facility or critical infrastructure
  facility.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  The heading to Section 423.0045, Government
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 423.0045.  OFFENSE: OPERATION OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT OVER
  CORRECTIONAL FACILITY OR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY.
         SECTION 2.  Section 423.0045(a), Government Code, is amended
  by amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivision (1-a) to read as
  follows:
               (1)  "Correctional facility" means:
                     (A)  a confinement facility operated by or under
  contract with any division of the Texas Department of Criminal
  Justice; or
                     (B)  a municipal or county jail.
               (1-a)  "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;
                           (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
                     (B)  any portion of an aboveground oil, gas, or
  chemical pipeline that is enclosed by a fence or other physical
  barrier that is obviously designed to exclude intruders.
         SECTION 3.  Sections 423.0045(b) and (c), Government Code,
  are amended to read as follows:
         (b)  A person commits an offense if the person intentionally
  or knowingly:
               (1)  operates an unmanned aircraft over a correctional
  facility or critical infrastructure facility and the unmanned
  aircraft is not higher than 400 feet above ground level;
               (2)  allows an unmanned aircraft to make contact with a
  correctional facility or critical infrastructure facility,
  including any person or object on the premises of or within the
  facility; or
               (3)  allows an unmanned aircraft to come within a
  distance of a correctional facility or critical infrastructure
  facility that is close enough to interfere with the operations of or
  cause a disturbance to the facility.
         (c)  This section does not apply to:
               (1)  conduct described by Subsection (b) that involves
  a correctional facility or critical infrastructure facility and 
  [that] is committed by:
                     (A) [(1)]  the federal government, the state, or a
  governmental entity;
                     (B) [(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;
                     (C) [(3)]  a law enforcement agency;
                     (D) [(4)]  a person under contract with or
  otherwise acting under the direction or on behalf of a law
  enforcement agency; or
                     (E)  an operator of an unmanned aircraft that is
  being used for a commercial purpose, if the operator is authorized
  by the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct operations over
  that airspace; or
               (2)  conduct described by Subsection (b) that involves
  a critical infrastructure facility and is committed by:
                     (A) [(5)]  an owner or operator of the critical
  infrastructure facility;
                     (B) [(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;
                     (C) [(7)]  a person who has the prior written
  consent of the owner or operator of the critical infrastructure
  facility; or
                     (D) [(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 operator is authorized by the
  Federal Aviation Administration to conduct operations over that
  airspace].
         SECTION 4.  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 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
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