Organizations File Amicus Brief On Behalf Of Photographer And Press Associations In Texas Lawsuit

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) argue a Texas law that restricts the use of drones for capturing images and operations over critical infrastructure unlawfully intrudes upon federal sovereignty over the national airspace. In a joint amicus brief filed in support of plaintiffs challenging the law in federal court, AUVSI and CTA also argue the law’s restrictions present a significant threat to the burgeoning unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) industry in the state.

Texas Government Code Chapter 423 regulates multiple aspects of UAS navigation and operation, including prohibiting UAS operations over certain critical infrastructure. In 2019, the National Press Photographers Association, the Texas Press Association and Texas-based journalist Joe Pappalardo, who currently serves as a contributing editor for Popular Mechanics, filed suit, claiming the law violated the FAA’s jurisdiction over the airspace.

Federal control of the airspace – delegated in practice by Congress to the FAA – is a bedrock principle of aviation law that dates back well over 50 years and is one of the reasons the United States maintains an aviation safety record that is the envy of the rest of the world.

“Operational restrictions that control how aircraft use the national airspace are not only essential to ensuring safety, they are the paradigmatic case where federal control is strongest,” the two organizations write in the amicus brief. “Indeed, the Federal Aviation Act was passed precisely in order to vest exclusive control over air navigation with a federal authority, and to avoid the disastrous consequences that arose when multiple jurisdictions attempted to control movement through the same airspace.”

Though the Texas law includes an exemption for commercial operations, AUVSI and CTA emphasize in the filing that “the FAA’s mandate to integrate UAS into the national airspace extends to all ‘civil’ UAS—a category that includes all aircraft that are not government-owned or operated and thus extends more broadly than commercial UAS.”

AUVSI and CTA also urge the Court to deny the defendant’s motion to dismiss and for the lawsuit to proceed.

(Source: AUVSI news release. Image from file)

FMI: www.auvsi.org