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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, First Regular Session
AMENDED
defensive
driving schools; fees
(NOW:
defensive driving school)
(NOW: unmanned aircraft; critical infrastructure prohibition)
As Passed by the Senate, S.B. 1350 required, effective January 1, 2026, the Arizona Supreme Court to adopt rules to allow persons attending defensive driving school to pay the fees associated with completing a defensive driving school diversion program over an extended time period.
The House of Representatives adopted a strike-everything amendment that does the following:
Purpose
Prohibits, beginning December 31, 2028, the state, a state agency or a state agency's independent contractor from operating an unmanned aircraft that is manufactured or assembled by a company domiciled in the People's Republic of China for collecting data concerning any restricted critical infrastructure unless the unmanned aircraft is equipped with outlined software to prevent the extraction of intelligence data by a covered foreign entity.
Background
It is unlawful for a person to operate a model aircraft or a civil unmanned aircraft if the operation: 1) is prohibited by federal law or regulation that governs aeronautics, including Federal Aviation Administration regulations; or 2) interferes with a law enforcement, firefighter or emergency services operation. It is also unlawful for a person to operate or use an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system to intentionally photograph or loiter over or near a critical facility in the furtherance of any criminal offense. A city or town may not enact or adopt any ordinance, policy or rule that relates to the ownership or operation of an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system or otherwise engage in the regulation of the ownership or operation of an unmanned aircraft or an unmanned aircraft system (A.R.S. § 13-3729).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Prohibits, beginning December 31, 2028, the state, a state agency or a state agency's independent contractor from using or operating an unmanned aircraft that is manufactured or assembled by a company domiciled in the People's Republic of China for the purpose of collecting data concerning any restricted critical infrastructure in Arizona.
2. Allows the state, a state agency or a state agency's independent contractor to use or operate an unmanned aircraft that is manufactured or assembled by a company domiciled in the People's Republic of China for the purpose of collecting data concerning any restricted critical infrastructure if the unmanned aircraft can prevent the extraction of intelligence data from the unmanned aircraft by a covered foreign entity using:
a) United States security software that is compliant with the security standards of the National Institute of Standards and Technology; or
b) a security software that is functionally equivalent to the outlined U.S. security software that prevents exfiltration of unmanned aircraft system data in each case and that:
i. has not been developed and is maintained by a public or private entity that is not a company domiciled in the People's Republic of China or subject to the control of a company domiciled in the People's Republic of China; and
ii. is compliant with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) compliance standard 800-53 or any successor security standard that NIST may develop from time to time.
3. Requires an independent third party to annually verify that the prescribed security software follows all applicable security standards established by the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Arizona Department of Homeland Security (AZDOHS).
4. Allows the third-party verification to be handled by any agency in Arizona or the manufacturer of the secure firewall, the boundary protection software communications technology or any equivalent technology.
5. Specifies that the third-party verification requirements do not require any end user of the outlined technology to undertake a separate verification process.
6. Requires the AZDOHS and DPS to designate critical infrastructure in Arizona as restricted on a site-specific basis.
7. Allows the AZDOHS and DPS to only designate restricted critical infrastructure by category or type of installation as reasonably necessary to effectuate the outlined prohibition on using an unmanned aircraft.
8. Requires the AZDOHS and DPS, when determining the designation of restricted critical infrastructure in Arizona, to consider:
a) the sensitivity of data concerning installations and facilities that are reasonably accessible by unmanned aircraft mounted cameras and other sensors;
b) the availability of similar data from sources other than unmanned aircrafts, such as satellites equipped with terrestrial data collection systems; and
c) the efficacy, cost and availability of unmanned aircraft models that are produced by companies that are not domiciled in the People's Republic of China and that counter unmanned aircrafts.
9. Exempts, from the prohibition on using an unmanned aircraft as outlined, the AZDOHS, DPS, a municipal law enforcement agency, a municipal fire department, a fire district, a county sheriff's department or any third party that is delivering data collection services using unmanned aircraft systems to any law enforcement agency.
10. Defines critical infrastructure as:
a) gas and oil production, storage or delivery systems;
b) water supply refinement, storage or delivery systems;
c) electrical power delivery systems;
d) telecommunications networks; or
e) transportation systems and services.
11. Defines restricted critical infrastructure as critical infrastructure located in this state that has been designated as restricted by the AZDOHS and DPS, in consultation with any relevant state and federal agencies and standards.
12. Specifies that restricted critical infrastructure does not include energy, electrical, water or telecommunications systems or other utility distribution lines or systems or public roadways.
13. Defines unmanned aircraft as an aircraft that is operated without human intervention from within or on the aircraft.
14. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Amendments Adopted by House of Representatives
ˇ Adopted the strike-everything amendment.
House Action
LARA 3/24/25 DPA/SE 6-3-0-0
3rd Read 6/18/25 42-17-1
Prepared by Senate Research
June 18, 2025
AN/slp