North Carolina Governor signs new UAS bills into law

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According to the Courier-Tribune, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has signed two bills regarding drone use in the state. One of the bills is a new law that is meant to make sure that UAS operations remain safe, while the other bill revises existing laws.

The first bill, known as House Bill 128, prohibits UAS use near prisons, with near being defined as “a horizontal distance of 500 feet or a vertical distance of 250 feet.” The law will go into effect on December 1, and the North Carolina Department of Transportation will mark the boundaries using signs.

The second bill, known as House Bill 337, revises existing laws in the state surrounding UAS. The language of the law has been changed “to clarify that UAS laws will now apply to model aircraft as well,” and this part of the law will also go into effect on December 1.

Under the law, model aircraft users are still exempt from North Carolina’s permitting requirements.

Other adjustments in the law “serve to streamline North Carolina regulations with federal regulations.”

For one, a person must be at least 16 years old to obtain a commercial permit to operate UAS, which now matches the minimum age federal law stipulates.

Also, people who want to obtain a commercial permit will be able to use any government-issued form of photo identification allowed by the FAA. This section of the law went into effect immediately.

Through the revisions to the law, restrictions on UAS use in emergency management have also been loosened. Now, emergency management agencies will be able to use UAS for all activities related to emergency management, and the restriction on the use of special imaging technology has also been removed.

Additionally, private and commercial operators will now be able to assist law enforcement with emergency management missions such as search and rescue operations, thanks to the removal of the restriction on the use of technologies such as thermal and infrared, which were previously only allowed for scientific purposes.

Updates to reflect all of these changes have been made to the UAS Knowledge Test Study Guide, which is available on the N.C. Division of Aviation website.

Information ​on how to ensure that one is compliant with current regulations is also available.

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