West Virginia Public Safety Grants & Drone Compliance

HB 5421 Remains a Proposal

The Legislature's bill history shows introduction and committee referral on February 10, 2026, with no enactment. The introduced text contemplated a state-funds restriction, future public-entity operation limit and replacement grant. Agencies should monitor later legislation, but should not budget around a nonexistent 2029 mandate or replacement award.

For a locally funded purchase, evaluate the agency's own procurement and security rules. Federal money used later to operate the same aircraft can bring separate restrictions.

Enacted WV Drone-Use and Privacy Rules

WV Code §61-16-2 prohibits specified privacy invasions, harassment, reckless operation and intentional interference with law enforcement or emergency medical personnel. Subsection (b) addresses flight over a targeted facility to deploy an object, gather information with intent to harm, or obtain protected information for the operator's own use or profit. It is not a blanket ban on every overflight of critical infrastructure.

Subsection (d) provides a law-enforcement exemption when the agency complies with the article; surveillance and criminal investigations must meet the Fourth Amendment and West Virginia Constitution, Article III, §6. Review warrants, retention, public-records practices and FAA flight authority for the actual mission.

Federal Awards: ASDA and BJA

OMB M-26-02, Appendix D implements the American Security Drone Act: from December 22, 2025, recipients and subrecipients generally may not use federal award funds to procure or in connection with operating a FASC-prohibited UAS, subject to specified exemptions and waivers. That is an award-funding rule, not a claim that every foreign-made aircraft is automatically banned from all local use.

BJA's UAS policy permits a UAS purchase under its awards only with express prior approval. Its current certification refers to the DCMA Blue UAS Cleared List, disallows modifications or added accessories and federal-information processing under the award, and requires privacy, civil-liberties and IT-cybersecurity assurances and Commerce screening. Submit the required material with the application or request award modification before buying.

Connected Surveillance and University Partners

For cameras, ALPR, thermal imaging and drone payloads, document the actual manufacturer and assembly, radios, components, software update path, cloud endpoints, access roles, retention and incident response. A grant-eligible camera still needs the purchaser's privacy and cybersecurity review. NDAA Section 889's federal-contract clause addresses specified covered telecommunications and video-surveillance equipment and services; apply the relevant contract and award terms instead of a generic “NDAA compliant” label.

WVU's research-security guidance flags federal UAS restrictions for university research. An agency–university project should identify every federal funding stream, covered aircraft and information flow before purchasing or sharing flight operations.

FCC and TAA Are Separate Checks

The FCC's December 2025 Covered List action affects new equipment authorizations for foreign-produced UAS and critical components; the FCC states that previously authorized models are not thereby prohibited from use, sale or import. Check the precise FCC authorization and device model.

The Trade Agreements Act / FAR Subpart 25.4 applies to covered federal acquisitions, not automatically to every West Virginia city or county procurement. Blue UAS status, FCC authorization, country of origin and grant allowability are different questions.

Build the Procurement File

Before submission, record the project mission, award source and fiscal year; itemized budget and FEMA equipment-list category if applicable; UAS manufacturer and component evidence; BJA approval or other granting-agency authorization; cybersecurity and data-flow review; and FAA registration, pilot and airspace plan. Ask the grant administrator about equipment eligibility and any local cost share before ordering.