Steve Cohen: “This amendment would add animal feeding operations and meat and food processing facilities to a growing list of sites…”

“This amendment would add animal feeding operations and meat and food processing facilities to a growing list of sites over which the FAA will restrict drone flights. These restrictions that currently exist are intended to be used for facilities where overhead drone activity would present a potential public safety and security concern--critical infrastructures like energy and oil facilities and State prisons. There is no practical reason why animal agriculture facilities should qualify for this kind of restriction, particularly when having that restriction might endanger energy and oil facilities. These facilities do not involve sensitive or potentially hazardous operations as energy and oil facilities and State prisons do. These restrictions already exist to ensure the safety of such facilities, facility workers, and the public. The designation is not intended to be used to inhibit First Amendment rights, protect intellectual property, or help facilities avoid accountability. Allowing such exceptions is a slippery slope in restricting First Amendment rights as the national airspace is public space. This would delay FAA rulemaking to create these public safety restrictions by several months or years, sacrificing public safety to shield meat processing facilities and possibly endangering time that could better be spent with energy and oil facilities and State prisons.…”