Legislature(2013 - 2014)SENATE FINANCE 532
04/13/2013 09:00 AM Senate FINANCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB180 | |
| HCR6 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 180 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HCR 6 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
CS FOR HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 6(EDT)
Recognizing the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft
Systems Integration at the University of Alaska
Fairbanks as a national leader in unmanned aircraft
research and development; and relating to a Task Force
on Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
9:19:54 AM
Senator Bishop MOVED to ADOPT the proposed committee
substitute for HCR 6, Work Draft 28-LS0655\P, (4/12/13,
Gardner) as a working document.
9:20:07 AM
Vice-Chair Fairclough OBJECTED for the purpose of
discussion.
CHRISTINE MARASIGAN, STAFF, SENATOR KEVIN MEYER, discussed
the changes in the current bill. She stated that the two
major changes could be found on Pages 3 and 4 of the
legislation. She explained that on Page 3, line 11, the 15
person task force was changed to a 7 person task force. She
said that Page 4 reflected that the termination date of the
committee had been moved to July 1, 2014.
9:21:06 AM
Senator Olson queried the ultimate goal of the taskforce.
Ms. Marasigan deferred the question to the bill sponsor.
Senator Olson understood that the CS had changed the number
of people on the taskforce and the termination date, but
had not altered the original purpose of the taskforce.
Ms. Marasigan replied in the affirmative.
9:21:57 AM
Vice-Chair Fairclough WITHDREW her OBJECTION. There being
NO further OBJECTION, Work Draft 28-LS0655\P was ADOPTED.
9:22:13 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SHELLEY HUGHES, appreciated the changes
proposed in the CS. She said that the legislative taskforce
would be responsible for providing policy recommendations
for the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Integration. She said that with emerging technology certain
laws had to be revisited in order to ensure that the safety
and privacy of Alaskans. She stated that constituents had
expressed concern about the use of military drones. She
relayed that she had researched drones and had discovered
that the technology could be used for good; she believed it
was important to embrace the technology for the purpose of
doing good. She thought that the aircraft could be used to
save lives and cited an instance where a drone was used to
locate a downed aircraft near Bethel. She stated that as
the unmanned aircraft were integrated into national
airspace the field would grow from 70,000 to 100,000 jobs
nationwide in the next three years. She stressed that
because Alaska was go far ahead in this field than the rest
of the country, the economic rewards to the state could be
substantial. She said that the taskforce would examine
privacy concerns as well as the application and use of the
unmanned aircraft and potential unmanned aircraft use in
the private sector.
9:26:03 AM
AT EASE
9:26:52 AM
RECONVENED
Vice-Chair Fairclough discussed the fiscal note.
Senator Dunleavy pointed out to the committee that the
fiscal note still reflected a 13 member taskforce.
Vice-Chair Fairclough noted that fiscal note 2 had replaced
fiscal note 1. She stated that there had been concern that
the committee would cost money; the legislation stated that
taskforce members would be allowed travel and per diem. She
understood that the costs would be absorbed and no
additional funds would be needed.
Representative Shelly Hughes agreed.
Vice-Chair Fairclough OPENED public testimony.
9:28:37 AM
STEVE COLLIGAN, E-TERRA, LLC, MAT-SU (via teleconference),
testified in support of HCR 6. He believed that the
technology would revolutionize data gathering. He said that
the evolution of the industry should be integrated into
Alaska law in order to craft meaningful legislation that
protected the public.
9:33:19 AM
Senator Olson queried the maximum altitude that the drones
could reach.
Mr. Colligan replied that the ceiling was restricted at 400
feet. He added that certain aircraft had a weight limit as
well.
9:35:30 AM
RO BAILEY, UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA, ANCHORAGE (via
teleconference), explained that the range and altitude
consult for unmanned aircraft system was the same as any
manned aircraft system. She said that the ones that the
university had been working with were generally much
smaller, less than 55 pounds, but capable of significant
altitudes. She stated that the drones used by the military
could go up to an excess of 60,000 feet. She stressed that
no unmanned aircraft system could enter the national
airspace system without extensive study by the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA). She said that test sites
were designed to completely develop the processes and
procedures to ensure that manned aviation was safe at all
times when the operation of unmanned aircraft systems was
expanded beyond public entities to private and commercial
entities.
9:37:44 AM
Senator Olson wondered about the plans for dealing with out
of control drones.
Ms. Bailey replied that jam proof communication systems
were being discussed to reduce the probability of a drone
being taken over. She added that the aircraft would undergo
significant testing and extensive, well protected software
would be used in the drone, which would cause the autopilot
to make specific and known actions. She shared that the
drones would ultimately have a system onboard with a
separate and secure communication like that would allow the
drone to be forcibly crashed.
9:41:36 AM
Senator Olson assumed that the taskforce would address the
issue of drones colliding with manned aircraft.
Representative Hughes replied in the affirmative.
Vice-Chair Fairclough returned the gavel to Senator Meyer.
9:43:17 AM
Co-Chair Meyer CLOSED public testimony.
Vice-Chair Fairclough MOVED to REPORT HCR 6 out of
committee with individual recommendations and a forthcoming
amended fiscal note.
SCS CSHCR 6(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with a "do
pass" recommendation and with a new indeterminate fiscal
note from the Legislature.
Co-Chair Meyer discussed housekeeping.
9:44:58 AM
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