House Of Delegates Calls The Aircraft A 'Hot Topic'

The American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates passed a resolution related to the use of drones at its 2020 Midyear Meeting in Austin, TX.

The resolution was included as part of the report to the House of Delegates in a section dealing with real property and estate law. The resolution directs the ABA to urge  federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal governments, and their respective agencies and departments, to protect real property interests, including common law trespass and privacy rights, with respect to any statute, ordinance, regulation, administrative rule, order, or guidance pertaining to the development and usage of unmanned aircraft systems over private property.

The ABA Journal reports that delegate Orlando Lucero of Albuquerque, NM urged approval of the resolution, calling drone use a "hot topic."

"It is imperative that the ABA have policies in place to help guide legislators and regulators. Because the FAA’s mission is to ensure the safe and efficient operation of aircraft, the FAA has not yet incorporated property and privacy concerns into the existing federal regulatory scheme,” Lucero said.

According to the resolution executive summary, its purpose is to highlight the real property rights and interests that are being and will continue to be impacted by the emerging and increasing use of UAS and ensure that any legislation, regulation, rule, order, or guidance adequately addresses and protects those rights and interests. Such real property rights are designed to protect the privacy and physical safety of the real property owners, occupants, and users (and of their assets) and to provide clear guidance to drone operators as to operation of drones.

"A 'one-size fits all' approach to rules governing the operation of drones over private property is not appropriate given the variety of concerns and considerations that each drone usage may raise. Emerging technologies such as UAS do not fit squarely within existing trespass and privacy rights laws; however, it is critical that creation of any statute, ordinance, regulation, administrative rule, order, or guidance pertaining to the development and usage of UAS utilize common law trespass and privacy rights concepts as the framework for such efforts to defend existing real property interests of real property owners and legal occupants since history and experience has shown those concepts to be successful and workable protections that are able to evolve over time," the report states.

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report
www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/directories/policy/midyear-2020/2020-midyear-111.pdf