85R2487 JRR-D
By: Birdwell S.B. No. 523
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution of the offense of operation of unmanned
aircraft over correctional facility or critical infrastructure
facility.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 423.0045, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 423.0045. OFFENSE: OPERATION OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT OVER
CORRECTIONAL FACILITY OR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY.
SECTION 2. Section 423.0045(a), Government Code, is amended
by amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivision (1-a) to read as
follows:
(1) "Correctional facility" means:
(A) a confinement facility operated by or under
contract with any division of the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice; or
(B) a municipal or county jail.
(1-a) "Critical infrastructure facility" means:
(A) one of the following, if completely enclosed
by a fence or other physical barrier that is obviously designed to
exclude intruders, or if clearly marked with a sign or signs that
are posted on the property, are reasonably likely to come to the
attention of intruders, and indicate that entry is forbidden:
(i) a petroleum or alumina refinery;
(ii) an electrical power generating
facility, substation, switching station, or electrical control
center;
(iii) a chemical, polymer, or rubber
manufacturing facility;
(iv) a water intake structure, water
treatment facility, wastewater treatment plant, or pump station;
(v) a natural gas compressor station;
(vi) a liquid natural gas terminal or
storage facility;
(vii) a telecommunications central
switching office;
(viii) a port, railroad switching yard,
trucking terminal, or other freight transportation facility;
(ix) a gas processing plant, including a
plant used in the processing, treatment, or fractionation of
natural gas;
(x) a transmission facility used by a
federally licensed radio or television station;
(xi) a steelmaking facility that uses an
electric arc furnace to make steel; or
(xii) a dam that is classified as a high
hazard by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality; or
(B) any portion of an aboveground oil, gas, or
chemical pipeline that is enclosed by a fence or other physical
barrier that is obviously designed to exclude intruders.
SECTION 3. Sections 423.0045(b) and (c), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(b) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally
or knowingly:
(1) operates an unmanned aircraft over a correctional
facility or critical infrastructure facility and the unmanned
aircraft is not higher than 400 feet above ground level;
(2) allows an unmanned aircraft to make contact with a
correctional facility or critical infrastructure facility,
including any person or object on the premises of or within the
facility; or
(3) allows an unmanned aircraft to come within a
distance of a correctional facility or critical infrastructure
facility that is close enough to interfere with the operations of or
cause a disturbance to the facility.
(c) This section does not apply to:
(1) conduct described by Subsection (b) that involves
a correctional facility or critical infrastructure facility and
[that] is committed by:
(A) [(1)] the federal government, the state, or a
governmental entity;
(B) [(2)] a person under contract with or
otherwise acting under the direction or on behalf of the federal
government, the state, or a governmental entity;
(C) [(3)] a law enforcement agency;
(D) [(4)] a person under contract with or
otherwise acting under the direction or on behalf of a law
enforcement agency; or
(E) an operator of an unmanned aircraft that is
being used for a commercial purpose, if the operator is authorized
by the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct operations over
that airspace; or
(2) conduct described by Subsection (b) that involves
a critical infrastructure facility and is committed by:
(A) [(5)] an owner or operator of the critical
infrastructure facility;
(B) [(6)] a person under contract with or
otherwise acting under the direction or on behalf of an owner or
operator of the critical infrastructure facility;
(C) [(7)] a person who has the prior written
consent of the owner or operator of the critical infrastructure
facility; or
(D) [(8)] the owner or occupant of the property
on which the critical infrastructure facility is located or a
person who has the prior written consent of the owner or occupant of
that property[; or
[(9) an operator of an unmanned aircraft that is being
used for a commercial purpose, if the operator is authorized by the
Federal Aviation Administration to conduct operations over that
airspace].
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.