Florida Senate - 2025                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1422
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì742930ÈÎ742930                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/18/2025           .                                
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       The Committee on Criminal Justice (Truenow) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) and paragraphs
    6  (a) and (b) of subsection (4) of section 330.41, Florida
    7  Statutes, are amended to read:
    8         330.41 Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act.—
    9         (2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this act, the term:
   10         (a) “Critical infrastructure facility” means any of the
   11  following, if completely enclosed by a fence or other physical
   12  barrier that is obviously designed to exclude intruders, or if
   13  clearly marked with a sign or signs which indicate that entry is
   14  forbidden and which are posted on the property in a manner
   15  reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders:
   16         1. A power generation or transmission facility, substation,
   17  switching station, or electrical control center.
   18         2. A chemical or rubber manufacturing or storage facility.
   19         3. A water intake structure, water treatment facility,
   20  wastewater treatment plant, or pump station.
   21         4. A mining facility.
   22         5. A natural gas or compressed gas compressor station,
   23  storage facility, or natural gas or compressed gas pipeline.
   24         6. A liquid natural gas or propane gas terminal or storage
   25  facility.
   26         7. Any portion of an aboveground oil or gas pipeline.
   27         8. A refinery.
   28         9. A gas processing plant, including a plant used in the
   29  processing, treatment, or fractionation of natural gas.
   30         10. A wireless or wired communications facility, including
   31  the tower, antennas antennae, support structures, and all
   32  associated ground-based equipment.
   33         11. A seaport as listed in s. 311.09(1), which need not be
   34  completely enclosed by a fence or other physical barrier and
   35  need not be marked with a sign or signs indicating that entry is
   36  forbidden.
   37         12. An inland port or other facility or group of facilities
   38  serving as a point of intermodal transfer of freight in a
   39  specific area physically separated from a seaport.
   40         13. An airport as defined in s. 330.27.
   41         14. A spaceport territory as defined in s. 331.303(19).
   42         15. A military installation as defined in 10 U.S.C. s.
   43  2801(c)(4) and an armory as defined in s. 250.01.
   44         16. A dam as defined in s. 373.403(1) or other structures,
   45  such as locks, floodgates, or dikes, which are designed to
   46  maintain or control the level of navigable waterways.
   47         17. A state correctional institution as defined in s.
   48  944.02 or a contractor-operated correctional facility authorized
   49  under chapter 957.
   50         18. A secure detention center or facility as defined in s.
   51  985.03, or a moderate-risk residential facility, a high-risk
   52  residential facility, or a maximum-risk residential facility as
   53  those terms are described in s. 985.03(44).
   54         19. A county detention facility as defined in s. 951.23.
   55         20. A critical infrastructure facility as defined in s.
   56  692.201.
   57         (4) PROTECTION OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES.—
   58         (a) A person may not knowingly or willfully:
   59         1. Operate a drone over a critical infrastructure facility,
   60  unless the operation is for a commercial purpose and is
   61  authorized by and in compliance with the Federal Aviation
   62  Administration regulations;
   63         2. Allow a drone to make contact with a critical
   64  infrastructure facility, including any person or object on the
   65  premises of or within the facility; or
   66         3. Allow a drone to come within a distance of a critical
   67  infrastructure facility that is close enough to interfere with
   68  the operations of or cause a disturbance to the facility.
   69         (b) A person who violates paragraph (a) commits a felony of
   70  the third misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as
   71  provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. A person who commits a
   72  second or subsequent violation commits a misdemeanor of the
   73  first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
   74  775.083.
   75         Section 2. Section 330.411, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   76  read:
   77         330.411 Prohibited possession, alteration, or operation of
   78  unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system.—
   79         (1) A person may not knowingly or willfully possess or
   80  operate an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system as
   81  defined in s. 330.41(2) s. 330.41 with an attached weapon,
   82  firearm, explosive, destructive device, or ammunition as defined
   83  in s. 790.001.
   84         (2)A person may not knowingly or willfully alter,
   85  manipulate, tamper with, or otherwise change an unmanned
   86  aircraft or unmanned aircraft system’s hardware or software to
   87  purposefully frustrate any tool, system, or technology intended
   88  to satisfy the remote identification requirements established by
   89  the Federal Aviation Administration as they relate to any
   90  unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft systems in violation of
   91  s. 330.41(4)(a), unless authorized by the administrator of the
   92  Federal Aviation Administration or the Secretary of Defense, or
   93  their respective designees.
   94         (3)A person may not knowingly or willfully possess or
   95  operate an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system that
   96  has been altered, manipulated, tampered with, or otherwise
   97  changed to purposefully frustrate any tool, system, or
   98  technology intended to satisfy the remote identification
   99  requirements established by the Federal Aviation Administration
  100  as they relate to any unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft
  101  systems in violation of s. 330.41(4)(a), unless authorized by
  102  the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration or the
  103  Secretary of Defense, or their respective designees.
  104         (4)A person who violates subsection (1), subsection (2),
  105  or subsection (3) commits a felony of the third degree,
  106  punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
  107         (5) A person who, without lawful authority, possesses or
  108  operates an unmanned aircraft system carrying a weapon of mass
  109  destruction, a hoax weapon of mass destruction, a biological
  110  agent, or a toxin, as those terms are defined in s. 790.166(1),
  111  commits a felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in
  112  s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
  113         Section 3. Paragraph (d) of subsection (4) of section
  114  934.50, Florida Statutes, is amended, paragraph (r) is added to
  115  that subsection, and subsection (8) is added to that section, to
  116  read:
  117         934.50 Searches and seizure using a drone.—
  118         (4) EXCEPTIONS.—This section does not prohibit the use of a
  119  drone:
  120         (d) To provide a law enforcement agency with an aerial
  121  perspective of a crowd of 50 people or more or to provide or
  122  maintain the public safety of such crowd, provided that:
  123         1. The law enforcement agency that uses the drone to
  124  provide an aerial perspective of a crowd of 50 people or more
  125  must have policies and procedures that include guidelines:
  126         a. For the agency’s use of a drone.
  127         b. For the proper storage, retention, and release of any
  128  images or video captured by the drone.
  129         c. That address the personal safety and constitutional
  130  protections of the people being observed.
  131         2. The head of the law enforcement agency using the drone
  132  for this purpose must provide written authorization for such use
  133  and must maintain a copy on file at the agency.
  134         (r) By a law enforcement agency in furtherance of providing
  135  and maintaining the security of an elected official pursuant to
  136  s. 943.68.
  137         (8) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—
  138         (a) An individual who knowingly or willfully violates
  139  paragraph (3)(b) commits a misdemeanor of the first degree,
  140  punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
  141         (b) An individual who knowingly or willfully violates
  142  paragraph (3)(b) and intentionally distributes surveillance
  143  obtained in violation of that paragraph commits a felony of the
  144  third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083,
  145  or s. 775.084.
  146  
  147  This subsection does not apply to a state agency, a political
  148  subdivision, a law enforcement agency, or its officers,
  149  employees, or agents.
  150         Section 4. This act shall take effect October 1, 2025.
  151  
  152  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  153  And the title is amended as follows:
  154         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  155  and insert:
  156                        A bill to be entitled                      
  157         An act relating to unmanned aircraft or unmanned
  158         aircraft systems; amending s. 330.41, F.S.; revising
  159         the definition of the term “critical infrastructure
  160         facility”; providing an exception to the prohibition
  161         on operating a drone over a critical infrastructure
  162         facility; increasing the criminal penalty for certain
  163         prohibited actions relating to drones; amending s.
  164         330.411, F.S.; prohibiting certain actions relating to
  165         unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft systems;
  166         providing exceptions; providing criminal penalties;
  167         amending s. 934.50, F.S.; revising and providing
  168         exceptions to certain prohibited actions relating to
  169         drones; providing criminal penalties; providing
  170         applicability; providing an effective date.