While FAA Regulations Stay Grounded, State Drone Laws Take Flight

Harvest photo taken from a UAV.
Thanks @TheChadColby.

Indiana is one of at least twelve states that enacted laws this past year limiting use "unmanned aerial vehicles" (UAVs) or "drones." The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has known about the coming wave of drones for years, but as summer comes to an end in 2014, the FAA still has no regulation on the books. Driven by fears that unregulated drone flights will lead to accidents and the invasion of privacy, many states have filled a perceived regulatory gap with their own anti-drone legislation.

Indiana Sets Rules for "Satellite" Manure Storage Structures

A few years ago, concerned Indiana residents raised complaints with their elected officials about the storage of manure in remote ponds, or “lagoons” that were not sited next to existing livestock farms.  There was also concern that poultry litter was being shipped across state lines from Ohio into Indiana (this is perfectly legal, by the way, due to the Interstate Commerce Clause in the US Constitution).  The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) for years had regulated concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and their Indiana equivalent, confined animal feeding operations (CFOs), but nowhere did the rules capture these stand-alone manure structures.  Now Indiana has rules on the books.