Interfering with wildfire suppression and emergency responses with drone.

The prohibition in Section 1714.57(a) was restructured from a single wildfire-focused provision into two subcategories: (1) wildfire suppression or related law enforcement/emergency response, and (2) any emergency response for which the FAA has issued a temporary flight restriction. This extends the bill well beyond wildfires to cover incidents like major disasters, security events, or other TFR-eligible situations.

The bill's digest title was changed from 'Interfering with wildfire suppression with drone' to 'Interfering with wildfire suppression and emergency responses with drone,' reflecting the broader coverage.

The former subdivision (c) exemptions were deleted. Previously, the prohibition did not apply to persons holding an FAA Part 107 Operational Waiver or to persons whose employment duties included viewing the scene or activities. Removing these carve-outs means even licensed commercial drone operators and on-duty personnel could face civil penalties for interference.

Corrected a grammatical error in Section 1714.57(a) from 'interfere with a either of the following' to 'interfere with either of the following.'

Removed amendment history headers (Senate and Assembly amendment dates), line numbers, and the fiscal/vote summary line ('Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.') as part of standard enrolled bill formatting.

Added enrolled bill elements including passage dates (Assembly August 24, 2026; Senate August 20, 2026), governor approval signature line, and chapter designation.

Removed former Section 1708.83, which prohibited operating a drone at the scene of any emergency in a way that impeded firefighters, peace officers, medical personnel, military personnel, or other emergency personnel performing fire suppression, law enforcement, or emergency response duties.

The bill now only adds Section 1714.57 to the Civil Code, which prohibits knowingly or recklessly interfering with wildfire suppression or law enforcement/emergency response efforts related to a wildfire suppression. The scope is limited to wildfire-related incidents rather than all emergencies.

Amendment date updated from March 2, 2026 to March 19, 2026, with the prior date retained as a secondary line. Page numbers and formatting adjusted accordingly.

The bill's scope was narrowed from prohibiting drones at any emergency scene that impede any emergency personnel to only prohibiting drones that knowingly or recklessly interfere with wildfire suppression or law enforcement/emergency response efforts related to a wildfire suppression.

A mental state requirement of 'knowingly or recklessly' was added, meaning a person must have acted with intent or conscious disregard for the risk of interfering with wildfire suppression. The original version had no such mens rea element.

The new Civil Code section was renumbered from 1708.83 (within the privacy and trespass chapter) to 1714.57 (within the torts and negligence chapter), reflecting a shift in legal categorization from privacy/trespass to general tort liability.

The term 'remote piloted aircraft' was changed to 'remote-piloted aircraft' (hyphenated) throughout, which is a minor formatting correction.