Wisconsin Public Safety Grants & Drone Compliance

AB 683: Proposed Telecom Restriction

AB 683 concerned foreign-adversary and FCC-listed equipment in critical telecommunications infrastructure. It passed the Assembly but failed in the Senate on March 23, 2026. The draft's references to 15 C.F.R. §791.4 and the FCC Covered List did not create current state law or a mandatory firewall for locally funded drones.

No general Wisconsin statute identified here makes a named drone brand automatically legal for every city or county purchase. A local agency should apply its procurement, IT, records and privacy rules and review any state-network agreement.

Enacted Wisconsin Drone-Use Rules

Wis. Stat. §175.55 generally requires a warrant before a Wisconsin law-enforcement agency uses a drone to gather evidence or other information in a criminal investigation at a place where an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy. The statute specifies exceptions, including public places, active search and rescue, escaped prisoners, arrest-warrant surveillance and certain imminent dangers or evidence-destruction circumstances.

Wis. Stat. §942.10 separately penalizes intentional drone observation or recording of an individual in a location with a reasonable expectation of privacy, with an exception for law-enforcement use authorized under §175.55. WisDOT's UAS guide links the relevant state statutes and FAA guidance. Document the mission, warrant analysis, pilot, registration and airspace authority.

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. A drone bought with local money can still present an issue when federal funds support its operation; this rule does not declare every foreign-made drone prohibited.

BJA's UAS policy requires express prior approval for purchases under BJA awards. Its certification references the DCMA Blue UAS Cleared List; it addresses modifications, accessories, federal information, Commerce screening and privacy, civil-liberties and IT-cybersecurity policies. Obtain the approval through the application or award-modification process before ordering.

Wisconsin IT and Connected Surveillance

The Wisconsin Division of Enterprise Technology's IT policies and standards provide an executive-branch baseline for data and system security. They do not, by themselves, establish AB 683's proposed prohibited-equipment list for every municipality. For state-hosted data or shared networks, get the receiving agency's security and integration requirements in writing.

For cameras, ALPR, drone payloads and radios, document manufacturer, component and FCC identifiers, remote access, cloud endpoints, firmware updates, retention, account controls and incident response. NDAA Section 889 concerns specified covered telecommunications and video-surveillance equipment and services in federal contracting; check applicable award and contract clauses instead of treating “NDAA compliant” as a universal label.

FCC and TAA Are Separate Questions

The FCC's December 2025 Covered List action affects new authorizations for foreign-produced UAS and critical components. The FCC says it does not prohibit use, sale or import of previously authorized device models. Verify the particular model and authorization.

Trade Agreements Act / FAR Subpart 25.4 rules concern covered federal acquisitions and do not automatically apply to every Wisconsin municipal grant purchase. Blue UAS listing, FCC authorization, origin documentation, grant allowability and operational legality each require their own check.

Record the Approval Trail

Put the funding source, specific notice and approved budget beside the system bill of materials. Retain manufacturer and assembly evidence, cloud/data-flow assessment, any BJA certification or FEMA equipment-category approval, vendor and contract clauses, and the FAA and Wisconsin operational review. Ask the grant administrator whether acquisition, maintenance and use are all allowable before committing funds.