Drones and Environmental Monitoring

• Date: 01 February 2017

2-2017 NEWS & ANALYSIS 47 ELR 10101

D I A L O G U E

Drones and Environmental

Monitoring

Summary

Aerial drones are emerging as an eective tool for

environmental monitoring and enforcement because

of their ability to reach areas that would be other-

wise inaccessible or cost-prohibitive. However, the

regulatory framework has not developed as fast as the

technology, raising concerns. As EPA and other agen-

cies consider using drones to monitor industrial sites

and farmland, many landowners claim it would be

an invasion of privacy. Using drones for inspections

also raises legal questions about information obtained

from drone yovers and the associated evidentiary

requirements. Fraught with legal uncertainty and

signicant public interest, the use of drones for envi-

ronmental monitoring and enforcement raises impor-

tant questions for many stakeholders. On August 30,

2016, ELI convened a panel to discuss drone use and

regulation. Below, we present a transcript of the dis-

cussion, which has been edited for style, clarity, a nd

space considerations.

Joanna Simon (moderator) is an Associate w ith Morrison

& Foerster LLP.

Amanda Essex is an Attorney and Policy Associate with

the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Joseph Muhlhausen is the co-founder of CielMap.

Jeramie Scott is the National Security C ounsel for the

Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Joanna Simon: As an Associate w ith Morrison & Foer-

ster L LP, my practice started out in traditional aviation,

doing liability work for big parts manufacturers, speci-

cally avionic manufacturers. Over the past two to t hree

years, it has largely transitioned into an unmanned air-

craft systems (UAS) practice—so, I’m excited to talk to

you all about drones.

On the panel, we have Amanda Essex, who is an Attor-

ney and Policy Associate in the Transportation Program

at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

She has worked for NCSL since 2013, joining the transpor-

tation program in December 2014. ere, she researches,

writes, and presents on a range of topics that includes UAS.

Next, we have Joseph Muhlhausen. He is the co-founder

of CielMap, a geospatial data analysis company with a focus

on environmental mapping, monitoring, and risk assess-

ment. He is a remote-sensing specialist with many years of

experience in the environmental and sustainable develop-

ment applications of satellite images. He will give u s some

insights specically into environmenta l issues, sensing, and

the types of technologies that might go into that.

We also have Jeramie Scott, who is the National Secu-

rity Counsel a nd Privacy Coalition Coordinator for the

Electronic Privacy Control Center (EPIC). His work

focuses on privacy issues implicated by domestic surveil-

lance programs that use drones, biometrics, big data, and

license plate readers. He a lso runs monthly privacy coali-

tion meetings that bring together representatives from

consumer and privacy organizations with key Washington,

D.C., decisionmakers in the privacy eld.

e focus of my presentation is on Part 107 of the Fed-

eral Aviation Regulations,1 which is the new small UAS

regulation t hat became eective August 29, 2016. Before

we do a deep dive into Part 107, I’d like to start with where

we are as a society—how the rest of the people in the coun-

try use drones—not just people who are using them for an

ocial or business purpose.

e reason it’s important to consider how drones a re

viewed in popular culture is t hat societ y is really d riving

how FAA is going to regulate drone activity. We have to

think about what pressures are facing the agency as they

move forward with regulation. ere are many benecial

uses for drones, wh ich include solar and infrastructure

monitoring. en, there are well-known uses i n the lm

and agricu lture industries. Delivery of packages a nd even

people may be possible at some point. Of course, environ-

mental use s are a big portion of what this might include,

such as pipeline monitoring, emergency preparedne ss,

and conservation.

You now have a better idea about what we do. We have

represented a wide variet y of drone clients, ranging from

the manufacturers, to ser vice providers, to Facebook in

their high-altitude platform, to e Nature Conservancy

(TNC), which you see at the forefront in using drones for

conservation. ey have all rea lly pushed FAA to develop

rules that make sense for their usage.

1. Operation and Certication of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems, 14

C.F.R. Part 107 (2016).

Copyright © 2017 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.