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hb251_05_EN
(136th General Assembly)
(Substitute
House Bill Number 251)
AN
ACT
To amend sections 4561.01 and
4561.11 and to enact sections 4561.60, 4561.61, 4561.62, 4561.63,
4561.64, and 5501.84 of the Revised Code to establish requirements
related to the use and purchase of an unmanned aerial vehicle by law
enforcement and other public entities and to expressly incorporate
additional aviation facilities into the Aeronautics Law.
Be
it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio:
Section
1.
That
sections 4561.01 and 4561.11 be amended and sections 4561.60,
4561.61, 4561.62, 4561.63, 4561.64
,
and 5501.84
of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec.
4561.01.
As
used in sections 4561.01 to 4561.27 of the Revised Code:
(A)
"Aviation" means transportation by aircraft; operation of
aircraft; the establishment, operation, maintenance, repair, and
improvement of airports,
seaplane
bases, heliports, vertiports, spaceports,
landing
fields, and other air navigation facilities; and all other activities
connected therewith or incidental thereto.
(B)
"Aircraft" means any manned device used or intended for
flight in the air. "Aircraft" does not include an
ultralight vehicle as defined by 14 C.F.R. part 103.
(C)
"Airport" means any location either on land or water which
is used for the landing and taking off of aircraft.
(D)
"Landing field" means any location either on land or water
of such size and nature as to permit the landing or taking off of
aircraft with safety, and used for that purpose but not equipped to
provide for the shelter, supply, or care of aircraft.
(E)
"Air navigation facility" means any facility used,
available for use, or designed for use in aid of navigation of
aircraft, including airports, landing fields, facilities for the
servicing of aircraft or for the comfort and accommodation of air
travelers, and any structures, mechanisms, lights, beacons, marks,
communicating systems, or other instrumentalities or devices used or
useful as an aid to the safe taking off, navigation, and landing of
aircraft, or to the safe and efficient operation or maintenance of an
airport or landing field, and any combination of such facilities.
(F)
"Air navigation hazard" means any structure, object of
natural growth, or use of land, that obstructs the air space required
for the flight of aircraft in landing or taking off at any airport or
landing field, or that otherwise is hazardous to such landing or
taking off.
(G)
"Air navigation," "navigation of aircraft," or
"navigate aircraft" means the operation of aircraft in the
air space over this state.
(H)
"Airperson" means any individual who, as the person in
command, or as pilot, mechanic, or member of the crew, engages in the
navigation of aircraft.
(I)
"Airway" means a route in the air space over and above the
lands or waters of this state, designated by the Ohio aviation board
as a route suitable for the navigation of aircraft.
(J)
"Person" means any individual, firm, partnership,
corporation, company, association, joint stock association, or body
politic, and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or other
similar representative thereof.
(K)
"Government agency" means a state agency, state institution
of higher education, regional port authority, or any other political
subdivision of the state, or the federal government or other states.
(L)
"Heliport" means the area of land, water, or a structure
that is used or intended to be used for the landing and takeoff of
helicopters, including any appurtenant buildings and facilities.
(M)
"Vertiport" means the identifiable ground or elevated
areas, including the facilities thereon, that are designed to be used
for the landing and takeoff of rotorcraft, tilt-rotor aircraft, or
other powered lift aircraft.
(N)
"Spaceport" means any facility in the state at which space
vehicles may be landed or launched, including all facilities and
support infrastructure related to the launch, landing, and payload
processing.
(O)
"Seaplane base" means a designated area of water used or
intended to be used for the landing and takeoff of seaplanes
including shore side access and any appurtenant buildings and
facilities.
Sec.
4561.11.
(A)
All airports,
seaplane
bases, heliports, vertiports, spaceports,
landing
fields, and landing areas shall be approved by the department of
transportation before being used for commercial purposes. The
department may issue a certificate of approval in each case. The
department shall require that a complete plan of such airport,
seaplane
base, heliport, vertiport, spaceport,
landing
field, or landing area be filed with it before granting or issuing
such approval; provided that in no case in which the department
licenses or certifies an airport,
seaplane
base, heliport, vertiport, spaceport,
landing
field, or landing area constructed, maintained, or supported, in
whole or in part, by public funds, under sections 4561.01 to 4561.151
of the Revised Code, shall the public be deprived of the use thereof
or its facilities for aviation purposes as fully and equally as all
other parties.
(B)
In
any case in which the department rejects or disapproves an
application to operate an airport,
seaplane
base, heliport, vertiport, spaceport,
landing
field, or landing area, or in any case in which the department issues
an order requiring certain things to be done before approval, it
shall set forth its reasons therefor and shall state the requirements
to be met before such approval will be given or such order modified
or changed. In any case in which the department considers it
necessary, it may order the closing of any airport,
seaplane
base, heliport, vertiport, spaceport,
landing
field, or landing area for commercial purposes until the requirements
of the order made by the department are complied with.
(C)
Appeal
from any action or decision of the department in any such matter
shall be made in accordance with sections 119.01 to 119.13 of the
Revised Code.
(D)(1)
The
department shall require that any person engaged within this state in
operating aircraft, in any form of navigation, shall be the holder of
a currently effective aviator's license
as
required and
issued
by the
civil
aeronautics administration
federal
aviation administration
.
(2)
The
aviator's license
,
when
required by this section
,
shall be kept in the personal possession of the pilot when the pilot
is operating aircraft within this state, and shall be presented for
inspection upon the request of any passenger, any authorized
representative of the department, or any official manager or person
in charge of any airport,
seaplane
base, heliport, vertiport, spaceport,
landing
field, or area in this state upon which the pilot lands.
(B)
(E)
Whoever
violates this section shall be fined not more than five hundred
dollars, imprisoned not more than ninety days, or both.
Sec.
4561.60.
As
used in sections 4561.60 to 4561.64 of the Revised Code:
(A)
"Surveillance data" means the data collected by an unmanned
aerial vehicle during its flight, including images, videos, or other
forms of observation recording.
(B)
"Flight data" means the data pertaining to an unmanned
aerial vehicle's flight from both the original plan for the flight
and the actual flight that was taken, including the flight's
duration, path, and mission objectives.
(C)
"Law enforcement agency" means a government entity that
employs peace officers to perform law enforcement duties.
(D)
"Peace officer" has the same meaning as in section 2935.01
of the Revised Code.
(E)
"Unmanned aerial vehicle" and "unmanned aerial vehicle
system" have the same meanings as in section 4561.50 of the
Revised Code.
Sec.
4561.61.
(A)
If a peace officer would otherwise be required to obtain a search
warrant to physically enter a house or a place in person to conduct a
search, the peace officer or applicable law enforcement agency shall
obtain a search warrant to do either of the following to collect
surveillance data concerning the house or place in lieu of the
in-person search:
(1)
Enter the interior of the house or place through the use of an
unmanned aerial vehicle system;
(2)
Observe the interior of the house or place through the use of an
unmanned aerial vehicle system.
(B)(1)
Except as provided in division (B)(2) of this section, surveillance
data, and any information obtained through that data, is not
admissible in a criminal proceeding if it was gathered under
circumstances that require a search warrant under division (A) of
this section and a search warrant was not obtained by either the
peace officer or the law enforcement agency.
(2)
Surveillance data, and any information obtained through that data,
that was gathered under the circumstances specified in section
4561.62 of the Revised Code may be admitted in a criminal proceeding
without a peace officer or law enforcement agency obtaining a search
warrant.
Sec.
4561.62.
A
law enforcement agency may use an unmanned aerial vehicle for
surveillance without a search warrant as follows:
(A)
To patrol within fifty miles of a national border for purposes of
policing that border to prevent or deter the illegal entry of any
individual, illegal substance, or contraband;
(B)
When exigent circumstances exist, including to photograph and record
evidence that is at imminent risk of destruction;
(C)
Before, during, or immediately after an environmental or
weather-related catastrophe to allow the agency to better preserve
public safety, to protect property, to survey environmental damage in
order to determine if a state of emergency should be declared, or to
conduct surveillance for the assessment and evaluation of damage,
erosion, flood, or contamination;
(D)
To examine the scene of a vehicle accident, monitor traffic
congestion, or conduct other forms of traffic law enforcement under
Chapter 4511. or 4513. of the Revised Code or an equivalent municipal
ordinance that does not require a peace officer to obtain a search
warrant in advance of conducting such enforcement;
(E)
To photograph and record evidence at a crime scene;
(F)
To operate in navigable airspace, in a physically nonintrusive
manner, in order to observe what is otherwise visible to the naked
eye;
(G)
To collect information from a public area if there is a reasonable
suspicion of criminal activity in that area;
(H)
To conduct a threat assessment prior to a large or populous event
where law enforcement anticipates general public safety being a risk
factor;
(I)
For research, education, training, testing, or development efforts
related to unmanned aerial vehicles or unmanned aerial vehicle
systems, their technologies, and their potential applications,
undertaken by or in conjunction with a school, an institution of
higher education, or a public or private collaborator.
Sec.
4561.63.
(A)
A law enforcement agency shall not use, authorize the use of, or
issue a permit for the use of, an unmanned aerial vehicle armed with
any lethal weapon.
(B)
A law enforcement agency shall not authorize the use of or issue a
permit for the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle for the surveillance
of one private individual by another private individual unless the
agency obtains one of the following:
(1)
The express, informed consent of the individual being surveilled by
the unmanned aerial vehicle;
(2)
The express, informed consent of the owner of the real property on
which the individual being surveilled by the unmanned aerial vehicle
is present.
Sec.
4561.64.
(A)
A law enforcement agency shall do both of the following relative to
its use of unmanned aerial vehicles:
(1)
Ensure that the agency and any applicable peace officer employed by
the agency documents all flight data for each surveillance flight of
an unmanned aerial vehicle taken by or on behalf of the agency;
(2)
Verify that the flight data for each surveillance flight is accurate
and complete.
(B)
A law enforcement agency shall retain any surveillance data or flight
data that is relevant to an ongoing investigation, trial, or
litigation until it is determined that such data is no longer
necessary for that purpose.
(C)(1)
Except as provided by division (C)(2) of this section, a person
accused of a crime that includes evidence gathered through the use of
an unmanned aerial vehicle may obtain, via the subpoena and discovery
process available during court proceedings, information relating to
that person acquired in the course of surveillance of that person by
the unmanned aerial vehicle.
(2)
The operational capabilities of the unmanned aerial vehicle and
unmanned aerial vehicle system or other operational information
strictly related to the technical conduct and physical security of
the surveillance operation is not evidence subject to subpoena or
discovery under division (C)(1) of this section.
(D)
The flight and surveillance data required and retained in accordance
with this section is a public record for purposes of section 149.43
of the Revised Code, unless the content of that flight data or
surveillance data qualifies for an exemption under that section.
Sec.
5501.84.
(A)
As used in this section:
(1)
"Foreign adversary" means a country listed on the registry
published by the secretary of state under division (C) of this
section.
(2)
"Public entity" means the state and all political
subdivisions of the state, including all boards, authorities,
commissions, agencies, committees, councils, state colleges or
universities, and other state entities created by the Ohio
Constitution or the Revised Code.
(3)
"Unmanned aerial vehicle system" has the same meaning as in
section 4561.50 of the Revised Code.
(B)(1)
Beginning on and after the effective date of this section, a public
entity shall not purchase or otherwise acquire an unmanned aerial
vehicle system that is manufactured or assembled by a foreign
adversary.
(2)
No state funds shall be used in connection with unmanned aerial
vehicle systems manufactured or assembled by a foreign adversary that
are purchased on or after the effective date of this section,
including state funds that are awarded through a contract, grant, or
cooperative agreement or that are otherwise made available.
(3)
A public entity shall not operate an unmanned aerial vehicle system
manufactured or assembled by a foreign adversary that is purchased on
or after the effective date of this section.
(C)
Division (B) of this section does not apply if either federal law or
federal regulations allow for the continued purchase and operation of
an unmanned aerial vehicle system or an unmanned aerial vehicle
system's component parts that are manufactured or assembled by a
foreign adversary.
(D)(1)
The secretary of state shall compile and update at least one time
every six months a registry of foreign adversaries and other persons
that, based on the best information available to the secretary of
state, constitute a threat to the agricultural production, critical
infrastructure, security, or military defense of this state or the
United States.
(2)
The registry shall be published on the secretary of state's web site.
(3)
The secretary of state shall consult all of the following in
compiling the registry:
(a)
The list of persons determined by the secretary of commerce of the
United States to have engaged in a long-term pattern or serious
instances of conduct significantly adverse to the national security
of the United States or the security and safety of United States
persons and, therefore, to constitute foreign adversaries for the
purposes of Executive Order 13873, issued by the president of the
United States on May 15, 2019;
(b)
The terrorist exclusion list compiled by the secretary of state of
the United States in consultation with the attorney general of the
United States under 8 U.S.C. 1182;
(c)
The list of countries determined by the secretary of state of the
United States that have repeatedly provided support for acts of
international terrorism under 50 U.S.C. 4813(c) and 22 U.S.C.
2780(d);
(d)
The list of individuals and entities designated by or in accordance
with Executive Order 13224, issued by the president of the United
States on September 23, 2021, or Executive Order 13268, issued by the
president of the United States on July 2, 2002.
(4)
The secretary of state shall not include on the registry any person
that does not appear on at least one of the federal lists described
in division (D)(3) of this section.
Section
2.
That
existing sections 4561.01 and 4561.11 of the Revised Code are hereby
repealed.
Section
3.
Section
5501.84 of the Revised Code, as enacted by this act, takes effect
forty-eight months after the effective date of this section.
Speaker
___________________ of the House of Representatives.
President
___________________ of the Senate.
Passed
________________________, 20____
Approved
________________________, 20____
Governor.
The section numbering of law
of a general and permanent nature is complete and in conformity with
the Revised Code.
Director, Legislative
Service Commission.
Filed
in the office of the Secretary of State at Columbus, Ohio, on the
____ day of ___________, A. D. 20____.
Secretary of State.
File
No. _________ Effective Date ___________________