sailingaway
02-02-2013, 09:49 PM
Can the air near your shoes be considered "public airspace?" In Oregon, at least, it soon might be.
A new bill making its way through Oregon's state senate would establish something known as "Airspace of Oregon" which the state could use to regulate drone use by agencies and private citizens.
Proponents of the bill are trying to get ahead of a nationwide push to set rules for unmanned aerial vehicle use by civilians, which some advocates worry could intrude on personal privacy.
[RELATED: Time to Think About Drone Legislation?]
"The use of drones domestically will raise significant new privacy issues which cannot be addressed by current law," says Becky Straus, legislative director of ACLU's Oregon office. "We are not and should not be a surveillance state. Drones should never be used for mass surveillance. Law enforcement should only use them when there is individualized suspicion of criminal wrongdoing."
But experts say it's unclear whether Oregon would be allowed to regulate ankle-level airspace at all, since it's typically covered by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Though the bill says that "Oregon Airspace" would be "the space above the ground that is not part of airspace governed by federal law," Mitch Swecker, director of the Oregon Department of Aviation says it's not that simple.
"I don't know that we can establish an Oregonian airspace," he says. "It's premature and early in the process, but the FAA controls all airspace."
A 2002 attempt by Huntington Beach, Calif., to ban banner-towing airplanes was thrown out in court after the FAA said it had ultimate control over airspace.
Allen Kenitzer, a spokesperson for the FAA Northwest region, which includes Oregon, told U.S. News that he could not comment on pending legislation, but that "federal airspace" can start as low as 500 feet above the ground in some parts of the country.
more at link:
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/01/31/oregon-drone-bill-would-claim-the-airspace-above-your-shoestrings
A new bill making its way through Oregon's state senate would establish something known as "Airspace of Oregon" which the state could use to regulate drone use by agencies and private citizens.
Proponents of the bill are trying to get ahead of a nationwide push to set rules for unmanned aerial vehicle use by civilians, which some advocates worry could intrude on personal privacy.
[RELATED: Time to Think About Drone Legislation?]
"The use of drones domestically will raise significant new privacy issues which cannot be addressed by current law," says Becky Straus, legislative director of ACLU's Oregon office. "We are not and should not be a surveillance state. Drones should never be used for mass surveillance. Law enforcement should only use them when there is individualized suspicion of criminal wrongdoing."
But experts say it's unclear whether Oregon would be allowed to regulate ankle-level airspace at all, since it's typically covered by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Though the bill says that "Oregon Airspace" would be "the space above the ground that is not part of airspace governed by federal law," Mitch Swecker, director of the Oregon Department of Aviation says it's not that simple.
"I don't know that we can establish an Oregonian airspace," he says. "It's premature and early in the process, but the FAA controls all airspace."
A 2002 attempt by Huntington Beach, Calif., to ban banner-towing airplanes was thrown out in court after the FAA said it had ultimate control over airspace.
Allen Kenitzer, a spokesperson for the FAA Northwest region, which includes Oregon, told U.S. News that he could not comment on pending legislation, but that "federal airspace" can start as low as 500 feet above the ground in some parts of the country.
more at link:
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/01/31/oregon-drone-bill-would-claim-the-airspace-above-your-shoestrings