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Rhode Island Considers Regulations for Growing Drone Industry

A House commission hearing on drone policy discussed the issues of confidentiality, safety and the possibility of hampering an emerging industry.

(TNS) — As the number of unmanned aircraft, or drones, in the skies has climbed over the past year, so have calls for Rhode Island to regulate the devices to protect public safety and preserve personal privacy.

Drone advocates say that would be a mistake that could cripple a growing industry and put the state at an economic disadvantage.

Both sides of the debate spoke out Thursday at the final hearing of a House commission studying drone policy.

"I hope Rhode Island will take the chance to embrace this technology, allow it to flourish and allow high-tech jobs to flourish in the state," said Andy Trench, founder of XactSense, a Warwick company that makes drone equipment. "This will be the dawn of the commercial [Unmanned Aerial Vehicle] era. Over-regulating before knowing the full potential would be a huge mistake."

On the other side, Joanne Maceroni, government affairs manager of the Narragansett Bay Commission, the quasi-state water treatment agency, urged lawmakers to prohibit drone use near any wastewater treatment facility in the state.

Drones flying over treatment plants could pose a "confidentiality" risk, Maceroni said, and allow "sabotage" through materials dropped into treatment tanks. She said the agency was also worried about drones colliding with the commission's three large wind turbines at the Field's Point plant in Providence.

Stephen Rosario, senior director at the American Chemistry Council, a chemical manufacturing trade group, said drones presented a "safety concern" to the industry. He didn't go into specifics on what language he would like in a drone bill, but said he had provided it to lawmakers.

Hillary Davis of the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island said her organization was seeking limits on law enforcement use of drones, including an all-out ban on "weaponized drones."

Given all those concerns, what might a Rhode Island drone law eventually look like?

Commission chairman Stephen Ucci, D-Johnston, said he intends to file a bill later this session that would address at least four different issues: cleaning up existing state aviation regulations for unmanned aircraft, protecting personal privacy, improving drone safety and creating special penalties for malicious drone use.

The primary regulator of aviation, manned and unmanned, in the country is the Federal Aviation Administration and some drone enthusiasts have questioned whether states have the authority to limit drone use.

Ucci said he believes Rhode Island can't prohibit flight, set altitude restrictions or create its own drone registry, but could limit certain behavior involving drones, such as trespassing, and could require users to seek permission before flying near certain places.

Rep. Raymond Gallison, D-Bristol, filed a drone regulation bill earlier this month that would, among other things, require people to register their drones with the state and prohibit drone use near any airport, military installation, government building, school, college or university. A similar bill filed last year was not passed.

- A House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Gallison bill scheduled for Wednesday was postponed on Gallison's request, said Larry Berman, spokesman for Speaker Nicholas Mattiello.

Meanwhile, a deadline for recreational drone users to register their devices with the FAA passed earlier this week and agency spokesman Jim Peters said 368,472 drones were registered nationwide.

The FAA does not break out drone registrations by geographical area, Peters said, so it is unknown how many of those are operating in Rhode Island.

©2016 The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.