We must present a unified opposition to Senate Bill 600
It’s time for the Remote Pilot community to once again come together again and voice our concern over a bill currently before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation (CST). We need to take action now!
Senator Mike Lee (R, Utah) has once again introduced a bill that would directly and severely impact the UAS community. It would create yet one more layer of government intrusion into not only our UAS businesses, but also our recreational time spent flying our drones and r/c aircraft.
What it does: hands over control over all airspace below 200 feet to state and local government.
Why it is bad:
~This will create a patchwork of UAS laws. We could literally end up flying a single project in multiple jurisdictions. Who’s rules would we be subject to?
~If you travel for work, or even just within different communities of your own city, we would have to spend time making sure we are following the laws of that particular city. This would increase our non-billable hours, and cut into our profits (which we pay taxes on).
~This opens up the door for political subdivisions to start charging fees for launching, landing, or operating within the airspace or district under their control. How would that be kept track of? Would we need to be connected to a network so the cities and states (& counties) can keep track? That is yet an additional fee that would cut into our profits. It’s very unlikely a client would allow us a line item for these fees. And there is a current Texas bill that will require UAS operators to pay by the minute for flights within an “avigation easement” if passed.
~States would be specifically authorized to require their own different types of equipment on drones. Would our drones need new gear (equipage) in order to satisfy the possible tracking requirements. How about if we have jobs in different states? What if different municipalities had different equipage requirements? How many modules would we need to buy?
~The entire goal of Senator Lee’s bill is to give political subdivisions control (& taxing authority) of the first 200’ of the NAS. The majority of small UAS operations take place under 200’. Electrical inspections take place under 200’. Roof inspections take place under 200’. Video and still imagery takes place under 200’. If we no longer have free and unfettered access under that magic 200’ limit, it would severely impact our ability to perform our jobs. It would be fair to say that it would make some of those operations no longer feasible for some small DSP companies.
~If passed, this would require UTM participation (& likely the additional cost a network connection) to fly in a particular municipality’s airspace. And there is no exception for VLOS operations.
~And all of this will increase barriers to entry, stymie innovation, and directly affect the bottom line of every UAS business in the country. And with the severe setbacks already affecting small businesses thanks to the COVID restrictions, DSPA feels this will be the final nail in the coffin of even more small and medium sized Drone Service Providers.
This is not Senator Lee’s first attempt to cripple our access to the National Airspace System (NAS), just his latest. And just like our industry-wide response to the RID NPRM, we need to unify and make sure the members of the CST know that it’s critical for this bill to never see the light of day on the Senate floor. If this is defeated in committee, Senator Lee and those that have supported similar legislation in the past (Senator Feinstein D-CA, and Senator Scott R-FL) will now know that future bills will not just breeze through the legislative process without a fight from the UAS Industry. And they will know that fight will always be organized.
As such, we strongly urge each of you to write to members of the CST if they are from your state, or a neighboring state. Or, if they’re not from your state, we urge you to write to the Majority Chair, and the Minority Ranking Member. You can find the list of committee members here: https://www.commerce.senate.gov/members. And if one of the committee members is from your state, send an email to them and to the committee leaders.
From that page, you can find the email address of each of the members. Feel free to call their local office as well, and if you can arrange a meeting with a field representative or one of their policy advisors, even better. But if you decide to call, make sure you email too. DSPA suggests that you personalize your email. Tell your Senator how the bill will directly affect you, your business, and your family.
Tips on contacting legislators.
We appreciate your passion for this industry, and your willingness to go on record with your elected officials. Remember, they are not elected to lead us, they are elected to serve us. Sometimes we just need to help them understand how they can best serve us and our businesses.
This could also be a good time to set yourself up as the Senator’s UAS industry contact if they ever have the need to know some industry insight. Add that to you email or phone call.
If you want to read the full bill, here you go. If you can’t understand it all, don’t worry, you’re not alone. It’s rife with Government Speak. That’s why DSPA has done this for you. Lee Bill: https://bit.ly/30YXGix
Many organizations are opposed to the bill, and the Drone Service Providers Alliance (DSPA) has taken up the challenge of voicing the concern of the small and medium size DSPs. After all, that is our mission.
Please comment below if you have any questions, or reach out directly to Kenji@dspalliance.org or Vic@dspalliance.org.
Please consider joining DSPA, and help us help you so we can be “A UNITED VOICE FOR POSITIVE CHANGE“.
