The second month of the legislative session has come to an end, with every state meeting for their regular legislative session in February except for Louisiana and Florida. On February 26th, Virginia became the first state to adjourn, with Wyoming and Utah shortly to follow on March 3rd. 
 

What We’re Working On 

Drone Prepared: Our model legislation, SB 2146, passed both the House and Senate by a near unanimous vote. It has now been sent to the Governor’s desk, where it awaits final approval. We also released our legal whitepaper this month, which provides the affirmative case for federal preemption of the airspace.
  

State Engagement: In addition to our work with Drone Prepared, we continue to engage on positive and negative legislation in this fast-paced legislative session. In February, we led meetings with stakeholders in Utah to offer industry-perspective on how additional registration and licensing requirements overburden a budding industry, and to get involved with their upcoming AAM committee. We had discussions with legislators in Montana and Missouri to amend aerial trespass language to be more favorable, offering commercial exemptions and the removal of vertical flight limitations. We led engagements with our other drone organization partners on measures in Montana, Maryland, Virginia, Oregon, Utah, promoting federal preemption of the airspace and encouraging the legislators to fall back on existing state code instead of imposing new, duplicative, and drone-specific restrictions.  
 

What We’re Seeing 

As of the end of February, there have been approximately 140 measures introduced relating to UAS and AAM. The legislation continues to follow the trends that emerged at the beginning of the session, but a clear new issue area has emerged as well: Vertiports.  
 

New Trend Alert 

The future of aviation is now, with the AAM industry promising to revolutionize the way people and goods move through urban and rural locations through advanced aviation technology. With eVTOL and other AAM aircraft on the cusp of commercial operations, States are trying to get in early and legislate this emerging technology. While the intent is to support the industry, much of the legislation introduced will actually serve as a barrier.  
 

The vertiport measures generally prohibit exclusive ownership, creating limitations that will cause large hurdles to essential infrastructure development. AUVSI, along with our industry members, have been opposing this legislation. We recommend that legislators use caution when regulating this new industry and take the time to gather industry-input for smart and productive legislation. 
 

What We’re Looking Forward To 

While we are beginning to see some sessions end, many states are just hitting the mid-way point. Going into March, we expect to see less introductions and more committee and chamber action. We look forward to continuing to engage legislators, industry members, and organizational partners to ensure favorable state regulatory environments for uncrewed technologies. 
 

To get weekly updates on all new/active legislation and how AUVSI is engaging, sign up for our Drone Prepared Newsletter: https://auvsi.read.axioshq.com/signup/drone-prepared-updates