Brooks Pierce Partner Stephen Hartzell Quoted On New Drone Regulation

Brooks Pierce partner Stephen Hartzell was recently quoted by the Triangle Business Journal regarding changes to North Carolina’s drone laws.

In late July, Governor Roy Cooper signed two bills to further regulate unmanned aircraft use in the state. One piece of legislation expanded the existing drone flight rules to include model aircraft as well. The second bill prohibits drone use near prisons, defining those boundaries as a horizontal distance of 500 feet and vertical distance of 250 feet.

According to Hartzell, this new legislation helps to decrease some of the previous ambiguity regarding drone laws. Although, while it makes sure everyone is abiding by the same rules, he feels that the new legislation won’t stop those who would likely misuse drones from doing so.

“[This is] a way for North Carolina to show that it is ready, willing and able to do business [in the unmanned aerial systems industry],” said Hartzell.

The full article is available here.