HCR 6: 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.
00 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 6 01 Recognizing the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration at the 02 University of Alaska Fairbanks as a national leader in unmanned aircraft research and 03 development; and relating to a Task Force on Unmanned Aircraft Systems. 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 WHEREAS the legislature recognizes the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft 06 Systems Integration at University of Alaska Fairbanks as the state's leader in unmanned 07 aircraft systems research, meeting the goals of industry, the Federal Aviation Administration, 08 and government operations; and 09 WHEREAS the legislature has provided significant financial support to the Alaska 10 Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration at University of Alaska Fairbanks to 11 further the Center's research initiatives; and 12 WHEREAS the State of Alaska, the University of Alaska, the Alaska Aerospace 13 Corporation, the Alaska Aviation Safety Project, and other public and private institutions have 14 developed cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Federal 15 Aviation Administration, the United States Department of Interior, the United States
01 Department of Defense, and others to further advance the research, development and use of 02 technology to benefit and support Alaskans and Americans with the safe use of unmanned 03 aircraft systems; and 04 WHEREAS, since 2001, the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems 05 Integration at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has been designing payloads and upgrades 06 for unmanned aircraft systems, testing and evaluating their safety and effectiveness, 07 developing and demonstrating new uses for various potential users, working with the Federal 08 Aviation Administration to make the use of unmanned aircraft systems safe, and developing 09 technology to improve safety; and 10 WHEREAS the University of Alaska Fairbanks has become known across the nation 11 for its leadership in advancing the state of the art and the safe use of unmanned aircraft 12 systems; and 13 WHEREAS the importance of the Center's work to the state was recently recognized 14 by the Board of Regents of the University of Alaska when the regents established the Alaska 15 Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to 16 continue research and development of unmanned aircraft systems for the benefit of the state; 17 and 18 WHEREAS, as the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration at the 19 University of Alaska Fairbanks has demonstrated, unmanned aircraft systems can be designed 20 for gathering information necessary to protect human life in search and rescue operations, 21 aiding in the management of resources, including marine mammal and fisheries research, 22 providing humanitarian assistance, providing a platform for scientific research in the Arctic, 23 and for other private and public sector activities, as was demonstrated when the Center used 24 an unmanned aircraft system to assist the United States Coast Guard Cutter Healy and the 25 Russian tanker Renda in delivering fuel to Nome in 2012; and 26 WHEREAS unmanned aircraft systems may present a substantial risk to privacy, but 27 neither the Federal Aviation Administration nor any other state or federal agency currently 28 has specific statutory authority to regulate privacy matters relating to unmanned aircraft 29 systems; and 30 WHEREAS the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration at the 31 University of Alaska Fairbanks is located in an area of geographic and climatic diversity
01 where the air and surface population density is desirable for conducting research and 02 development of unmanned aircraft systems; and 03 WHEREAS the Federal Aviation Administration currently requires the designation of 04 one pilot to be in command of an unmanned aircraft system at all times, restricts use of 05 unmanned aircraft systems by public agencies to conduct routine flights over urban or 06 populated areas and over heavily trafficked roads or open-air assemblies of people, the 07 discharge or dropping of objects while in flight, and the operation of unmanned aircraft 08 systems without the capability of pilot intervention; 09 WHEREAS Alaska state government and the state's business and research community 10 continue to work with the Federal Aviation Administration to promote the establishment of 11 safe unmanned aircraft system ranges onshore and offshore Alaska, which will help establish 12 procedures for the safe operation of unmanned aircraft systems in the National Airspace 13 System; and 14 WHEREAS the state has the highest per capita use of general aviation activity in the 15 nation, and Alaska aviation organizations have helped the Federal Aviation Administration 16 develop the next generation of air traffic control for the nation and the world, while making 17 major gains for the state's aviation safety in the process; 18 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature recognizes the Alaska Center 19 for Unmanned Aircraft at the University of Alaska Fairbanks as a leader in aviation 20 pioneering and further recognizes the significant benefit to the state and nation the Center 21 provides in research and development of unmanned aircraft systems; and be it 22 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature fully supports the efforts 23 of the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration at the University of Alaska 24 Fairbanks to become one of the nation's six test sites for unmanned aircraft systems testing 25 and research; and be it 26 FURTHER RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the Task Force on 27 Unmanned Aircraft Systems is created in the legislative branch and shall consist of 15 28 members, who, except for the member from the senate and the member from the house of 29 representatives, shall be appointed jointly by the president of the senate and the speaker of the 30 house of representatives, as follows: 31 (1) one senator selected by the president of the senate, who shall serve as co-
01 chair; 02 (2) one representative selected by the speaker of the house of representatives, 03 who shall serve as co-chair; 04 (3) the commissioner of transportation and public facilities or the 05 commissioner's designee; 06 (4) the commissioner of public safety or the commissioner's designee; 07 (5) the commissioner of natural resources or the commissioner's designee; 08 (6) one member representing municipal law enforcement; 09 (7) the attorney general or the attorney general's designee; 10 (8) the commissioner of fish and game or the commissioner's designee; 11 (9) the adjutant general of the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs or 12 the adjunct general's designee; 13 (10) a member representing the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems 14 Integration at University of Alaska Fairbanks; 15 (11) a member of the Academy of Model Aeronautics; 16 (12) a member from the Aviation Advisory Board; 17 (13) a member from the Medallion Foundation; and be it 18 (14) one member of the Aerospace States Association; 19 (15) one member of the Alaska UAS Interest Group, United States 20 Department of the Interior; and be it 21 FURTHER RESOLVED that a vacancy on the task force shall be filled in the 22 manner of the original appointment; and be it 23 FURTHER RESOLVED that the duties of the task force shall include 24 (1) reviewing regulations and guidance from the Federal Aviation 25 Administration regarding unmanned aircraft systems; 26 (2) providing written recommendations, together with suggested legislation, 27 for a comprehensive state policy for unmanned aircraft that protects privacy and allows the 28 use of unmanned aircraft systems for public and private applications; and 29 (3) submitting, not later than January 15, 2014, an initial report to the 30 legislature and, not later than January 15, 2015, submitting a final report to the legislature; 31 and be it
01 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force may meet as frequently as necessary to 02 carry out its responsibilities; and be it 03 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force may meet during and between legislative 04 sessions and may request administrative and technical support from the University of Alaska 05 Fairbanks; and be it 06 FURTHER RESOLVED that the public members of the task force serve without 07 compensation but are entitled to per diem and travel expenses authorized for boards and 08 commissions under AS 39.20.180; and be it 09 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force terminates on January 15, 2015.