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Alabama legislators advanced a bill this week that would impose new criminal penalties on nonviolent protests against pipelines and significantly restrict areas where watchdog groups can use aerial drones to track pollution, the Huffington Post reported.

The bill closely resembles legislation passed in multiple states which appear to be based on American Legislative Exchange Council model legislation created following the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. Kentucky, South Dakota, and West Virginia all passed similar bills in March as the coronavirus pandemic took most public attention.

The Alabama bill comes the year after a coalition of environmental groups used drone photography to prove a coal company was illegally dumping acid mine drainage into a local river. “[The bill is] pretty cynical,” Connor Gibson, a researcher at Greenpeace told the Huffington Post. “It’s a combination of deterrent against would-be protesters and revenge insurance if anyone dares engage in nonviolent direct action against pipelines or polluting facilities.”