Texas Outlaws Low Drone Flights Over Big Farms

[douglas9]

HOUSTON (CN) – Fly a drone over a factory farm in Texas where cattle or pigs are raised in confinement and you could go to jail under a new law that critics call unconstitutional.

Responding to farmers’ fears that a biochemical attack launched from a drone could wipe out their stock and poison the food chain, House Bill 1643 adds concentrated animal feeding operations to the state’s list of “critical infrastructure.”

It’s a class B misdemeanor in Texas, punishable by up to 180 days in jail, to fly a drone lower than 400 feet above refineries, train depots, dams, natural gas and power plants and many other structures.

House Bill 1643, by Drew Springer, R-Muenster, adds oil drilling sites and cellphone towers to the no-flyover list. The Legislature sent the bill to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk Tuesday. Springer’s aide said Abbott is expected to sign it and it will take effect in September.


http://www.courthousenews.com/texas-outlaws-low-drone-flights-big-farms/

[matt819]

1. Okay

Fly higher than 400 feet with better cameras.

Problem solved.

[LeftyMom]

2. Meaning you need much heavier and more expensive optics and thus a bigger, more expensive drone

to get a useful picture.

That's the difference between spending a few hundred bucks and closer to the price of a decent used car. It effectively prices most individuals and local activist groups out of investigating CAFOs even before you consider the very real possibility of losing one's equipment to gunfire (because Texas,) police confiscation, etc.