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.