STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5944--A
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 16, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sen. SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to the unlawful use or opera-
tion of an unmanned aircraft
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 240.00 of the penal law is amended by adding a new
2 subdivision 8 to read as follows:
3 8. "Unmanned aircraft" means a device used for flight in the air which
4 is operated remotely without the possibility of direct human inter-
5 vention from within or on the aircraft.
6 § 2. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 240.80 to read
7 as follows:
8 § 240.80 Unlawful use or operation of an unmanned aircraft.
9 A person is guilty of unlawful use or operation of an unmanned
10 aircraft when during the personal use or operation of such aircraft,
11 except as otherwise provided by federal law, he or she intentionally
12 operates an unmanned aircraft:
13 1. in violation of federal laws or regulations of the United States
14 department of transportation and the federal aviation administration
15 (FAA) or successors thereof; or
16 2. in a reckless manner so as to endanger the life or safety of anoth-
17 er person or property of a person.
18 Unlawful use or operation of an unmanned aircraft is a violation.
19 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
20 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06149-05-9
