34 (Tied) | Pennsylvania

• Airspace Lease Law: 0/30
• Avigation Easement Law: 0/25
• Task Force or Program Office: 20/20
• Law Vesting Landowners with Air Rights: 10/10
• Sandbox: 0/10
• Jobs Estimate: 2/5

Factors Helping the State Score

• Task Force or Program Office: Pennsylvania gets full points. The state has a drone task force overseen by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. This task force was created by Governor Tom Wolf in 2021 and develops statewide policy recommendations that aim to integrate drones into the state transportation system and to develop commercial drone services.
• Law Vesting Landowners with Air Rights: Pennsylvania law expressly provides air rights to landowners, which reduces litigation risk for drone operators because landowners know the extent of their property rights.

Factors Hindering the State Score

• Airspace Lease Law: Pennsylvania law does not allow public authorities to lease low-altitude airspace above state and local roads. An airspace lease law would allow state or local officials to create drone highways above these roadways.
• Avigation Easement Law: Pennsylvania law does not create an avigation easement, which means drone operators may be subject to nuisance and trespass laws, even if their drones do not disturb people on the ground.
• Sandbox: Pennsylvania does not have a drone sandbox. State officials should consider dedicating state facilities and airspace to commercial drone testing and should have a prominent, open invitation for drone companies to test their hardware and services.
• Jobs Estimate: Pennsylvania is in the fourth quintile when it comes to the number of drone-related jobs per 100,000 people, receiving two out of five points.

These factors make Pennsylvania tied (with Utah) for the 34th most drone-friendly state in the country.