[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 53 (Thursday, April 7, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S1832]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 3558. Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Tillis, and Mr. Blumenthal)
submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 3464
submitted by Mr. Thune (for himself and Mr. Nelson) to the bill H.R.
636, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permanently extend
increased expensing limitations, and for other purposes; which was
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
Strike section 2152 and insert the following:
SEC. 2152. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.
(a) Federal Preemption Relating to Manufacture and Design
of Civil Unmanned Aircraft Systems.--Subject to the
limitations in subsection (c), no State or political
subdivision of a State may enact or enforce any law,
regulation, or other provision having the force and effect of
law relating to the design, manufacture, testing,
certification, or maintenance of a civil unmanned aircraft
system, including equipment or technology requirements.
(b) Limited Preemption Relating to Operations of Civil
Unmanned Aircraft Systems.--
(1) Limitations.--Nothing in this title, any amendment made
by this title, or any standard, rule, requirement, standard
of performance, safety determination, or certification
implemented pursuant to this title or any amendment made by
this title, shall be construed to preempt any State or local
law, regulation, or other provision having the force and
effect of law relating to the operation of a civil unmanned
aircraft system in the national airspace system, unless the
Secretary of Transportation has issued a regulation governing
such operation, and only to the extent that the State or
local law, regulation, or other provision presents an
obstacle to that regulation.
(2) Protection of state and local interests.--Any Federal
regulation relating to the operation of civil unmanned
aircraft systems shall preserve, to the greatest extent
practicable, legitimate State and local interests in
protecting--
(A) public safety;
(B) personal privacy;
(C) private property and land use;
(D) nuisance and noise pollution;
(E) public buildings, such as police departments,
courthouses, and prisons;
(F) schools, including institutions of primary, secondary,
and higher education;
(G) stadiums, parks, amusement parks, and beaches;
(H) power plants, electrical infrastructure, highways,
bridges, roads, and other infrastructure; and
(I) special events, including sporting events, parades, and
festivals.
(c) Additional Limits on Preemption.--Nothing in this
title, any amendment made by this title, or any standard,
rule, regulation, requirement, standard of performance,
safety determination, or certification implemented pursuant
to this title or any amendment made by this title, shall be
construed to limit, preempt, preclude, displace, or supplant
any of the following, whether created before, on, or after
the date of the enactment of this Act:
(1) Any cause of action for personal injury, wrongful
death, property damage, or other injury based on negligence,
strict liability, products liability, failure to warn, or any
other legal theory of liability under any State law, maritime
law, or State or Federal common law or statutory theory.
(2) Any State, local, or Federal statute, policy, or rule
creating a remedy for civil relief (including those for civil
damage), a penalty for criminal conduct, or another other
lawfully imposed penalty, including laws (and the enforcement
thereof) relating to trespass, nuisance, voyeurism, privacy,
data security, harassment, reckless endangerment, wrongful
death, personal injury, property damage, speed limits, land
use or other illegal acts arising from the use of unmanned
aircraft systems.
(3) Any right to the exclusive control of the immediate
reaches of the airspace above property, as described by the
Supreme Court of the United States in United States v.
Causby, 328 U.S. 256 (1946).
(d) Concurrent Enforcement.--
(1) State and local enforcement authorized.--In any case in
which the attorney general of a State, or an official or
agency of a State or political subdivision of a State, has
reason to believe that an interest of the residents of that
State or political subdivision has been or is threatened or
adversely affected by any operator of a civil unmanned
aircraft who violates any rule, regulation, or standard
promulgated under this Act or other provision of Federal law
related to the operation of civil unmanned aircraft, the
attorney general of the State or official or agency of the
State or political subdivision, is authorized to take
enforcement action under this subsection.
(2) Authorized actions.--Enforcement actions authorized
under this subsection include--
(A) a civil action on behalf of the residents of a State or
political subdivision of a State in State court or in a
district court of the United States of appropriate
jurisdiction to enjoin further violation of Federal law;
(B) appropriate monetary penalties as may be authorized
under the laws and procedures of the State or political
subdivision; and
(C) an order to produce the proof of passage of the
aeronautical knowledge and safety test described in section
44808(a)(7) of title 49, United States Code.
(3) Guidance.--The Administrator of the Federal Aviation
Administration shall issue guidance to State and local
governments with respect to enforcement under this subsection
that clearly and concisely describes the requirements of
Federal law and regulations as applicable to operators of
civil unmanned aircraft to enable enforcement as described in
paragraph (2).
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