Senate Bill 1449 (2016)
SB 1449 is currently the only state-wide law regulating UAS operations in Arizona in accordance with the state legislator and Department of Transportation. It amends Section 13-2904 of tHE Arizona Revised Statutes to add Section 13-3729; Relating to Unmanned Aircraft.
Among the more important points of SB 1449 are the following:
- UAS operations that interfere with law enforcement, firefighting, other operations of manned aircraft, or in any reckless manner that may endanger the life or property of another person are prohibited.
- UAS are not allowed to fly within 500 feet horizontal distance or 250 feet vertical distance from the physical boundary of a critical facility, unless written consent has been granted.
- UAS are not allowed to intentionally photograph or loiter over or near a critical facility
- Prevents any city, town, or county in Arizona from adopting any ordinance, policy, or rule that regulates the ownership or use of an unmanned aircraft. This does not apply to public UAS owned by the city, town, or county.
The law also has a provision that requires the Department of Transportation to monitor FAA regulations on UAS to possibly repeal state laws. However, this section has been repealed since December 31, 2019.
Critical facilities include—but are not limited to—power plants, hospitals, military installations, water
treatment plants, oil and gas facilities, and courthouses, etc.
Arizona State Legislature maintains pre-emption for all rules and regulations that concern recreational and
commercial drone use.
