SHIELD U Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 896 To authorize Counter-UAS activities on and off commercial service airport property, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 21, 2023 Mr. LEE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To authorize Counter-UAS activities on and off commercial service airport property, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Harmful In- 4 cidents to Enforce Lawful Drone Use Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘SHIELD U Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act: 8 (1) COMMERCIAL SERVICE AIRPORT.—The term 9 ‘‘commercial service airport’’ has the meaning given 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S896.IS S896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 896 IS that term in paragraph (7) of section 47102 of title 1 49, United States Code, and includes the area of 2 navigable airspace necessary to ensure safety in the 3 takeoff and landing of aircraft at the airport. 4 (2) COVERED AIR CARRIER.—The term ‘‘cov- 5 ered air carrier’’ means an air carrier or a foreign 6 air carrier as those terms are defined in section 7 40102 of title 49, United States Code. 8 (3) COUNTER-UAS ACTIVITIES.—The term 9 ‘‘Counter-UAS activities’’ means the following: 10 (A) Detecting, identifying, monitoring, and 11 tracking an unmanned aircraft or unmanned 12 aircraft system, without prior consent, including 13 by means of intercept or other access of a wire 14 communication, an oral communication, or an 15 electronic communication used to control the 16 unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft sys- 17 tem. 18 (B) Warning an operator of an unmanned 19 aircraft or unmanned aircraft system, including 20 by passive or active, and direct or indirect phys- 21 ical, electronic, radio, and electromagnetic 22 means. 23 (C) Disrupting control of an unmanned 24 aircraft or unmanned aircraft system, without 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S896.IS S896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 896 IS prior consent, including by disabling the un- 1 manned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system 2 by intercepting, interfering, or causing inter- 3 ference with wire, oral, electronic, or radio com- 4 munications used to control the unmanned air- 5 craft or unmanned aircraft system. 6 (D) Seizing or exercising control of an un- 7 manned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system. 8 (E) Seizing or otherwise confiscating an 9 unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft sys- 10 tem. 11 (F) Using reasonable force to disable, 12 damage, or destroy an unmanned aircraft or 13 unmanned aircraft system. 14 (4) NAVIGABLE AIRSPACE.—The term ‘‘navi- 15 gable airspace’’ has the meaning given that term in 16 paragraph (32) of section 40102 of title 49, United 17 States Code. 18 (5) NON-KINETIC EQUIPMENT.—The term 19 ‘‘non-kinetic equipment’’ means equipment that is 20 used to— 21 (A) intercept or otherwise access a wire 22 communication, an oral communication, an elec- 23 tronic communication, or a radio communica- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S896.IS S896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 896 IS tion used to control an unmanned aircraft or 1 unmanned aircraft system; and 2 (B) disrupt control of the unmanned air- 3 craft or unmanned aircraft system, without 4 prior consent, including by disabling the un- 5 manned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system 6 by intercepting, interfering, or causing inter- 7 ference with wire, oral, electronic, or radio com- 8 munications that are used to control the un- 9 manned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system. 10 (6) THREATS POSED BY AN UNMANNED AIR- 11 CRAFT OR UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.—The 12 term ‘‘threats posed by an unmanned aircraft or un- 13 manned aircraft system’’ means an unauthorized ac- 14 tivity of an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft 15 system that is reasonably believed to— 16 (A) create the potential for bodily harm to, 17 or loss of human life of, a person within prop- 18 erty under the jurisdiction of— 19 (i) a commercial service airport; or 20 (ii) a State or locality; or 21 (B) have the potential to cause severe eco- 22 nomic damage to— 23 (i) property of a commercial service 24 airport; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S896.IS S896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 896 IS (ii) property under the jurisdiction of 1 a State or locality. 2 (7) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT, UNMANNED AIR- 3 CRAFT SYSTEM.—The terms ‘‘unmanned aircraft’’ 4 and ‘‘unmanned aircraft system’’ have the meanings 5 given those terms in section 44801 of title 49, 6 United States Code. 7 SEC. 3. COUNTER-UAS ACTIVITIES ON COMMERCIAL SERV- 8 ICE AIRPORT PROPERTY. 9 (a) COUNTER-UAS ACTIVITIES.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 11 provision of law and subject to paragraph (3), with 12 respect to a commercial service airport, the following 13 departments and agencies may, in a manner con- 14 sistent with the Fourth Amendment to the Constitu- 15 tion of the United States, carry out Counter-UAS 16 activities for purposes of detecting, identifying, and 17 mitigating the threats posed by an unmanned air- 18 craft or unmanned aircraft system to the safety or 19 security of the airport: 20 (A) The Department of Homeland Secu- 21 rity. 22 (B) The State and local law enforcement 23 agencies in the State in which the airport is lo- 24 cated. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S896.IS S896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 896 IS (C) The law enforcement agency of the air- 1 port. 2 (2) TESTING AUTHORITY.—Subject to para- 3 graphs (3) and (4), the Secretary of Homeland Se- 4 curity, the heads of the State or local law enforce- 5 ment agencies of the State in which a commercial 6 service airport is located, or the law enforcement 7 agency of the commercial service airport, may re- 8 search, test, provide training on, and evaluate any 9 equipment, including any electronic equipment, to 10 determine the capability and utility of the equipment 11 to carry out Counter-UAS activities to detect, iden- 12 tify, and mitigate the threats posed by an unmanned 13 aircraft or unmanned aircraft system to the safety 14 or security of the airport. 15 (3) AIRPORT OPERATOR CONSENT REQUIRED.— 16 Activities permitted under paragraph (1) or (2) shall 17 only be carried out with the consent of, in consulta- 18 tion with, and with the participation of, the airport 19 operator. 20 (4) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT FOR TEST- 21 ING OF NON-KINETIC EQUIPMENT.—Any testing of 22 non-kinetic equipment carried out under the author- 23 ity of this subsection shall be done in consultation 24 with the Federal Communications Commission and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S896.IS S896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 896 IS the National Telecommunications and Information 1 Administration. 2 (b) NON-KINETIC EQUIPMENT.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before adopting any stand- 4 ard operating procedures within a tactical response 5 plan for use of non-kinetic equipment to carry out 6 a Counter-UAS activity under the authority of this 7 section, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the 8 heads of the State, local, or airport law enforcement 9 agencies of the State in which a commercial service 10 airport is located, shall do the following: 11 (A) Consult with the Federal Communica- 12 tions Commission and the National Tele- 13 communications and Information Administra- 14 tion about the use of non-kinetic equipment to 15 carry out a Counter-UAS activity consistent 16 with the tactical response plan updates required 17 under subsection (c). 18 (B) Jointly, with the Federal Communica- 19 tions Commission and the National Tele- 20 communications and Information Administra- 21 tion, create a process for an authorized des- 22 ignee of the commercial service airport to, con- 23 sistent with procedures outlined in the tactical 24 response plan (as updated under subsection 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S896.IS S896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 896 IS (c)), notify the Commission when non-kinetic 1 equipment has been used to carry out a 2 Counter-UAS activity. 3 (2) FCC AND NTIA DUTIES.—The Federal 4 Communications Commission and the National Tele- 5 communications and Information Administration 6 shall— 7 (A) not later than 30 days after the date 8 of enactment of this Act, assign to an office of 9 the Commission and to an office of the Admin- 10 istration, respectively, responsibility for car- 11 rying out the consultation regarding the use of 12 non-kinetic equipment to carry out Counter- 13 UAS activities required by paragraph (1)(A) 14 and the consultation regarding the testing of 15 non-kinetic equipment required by subsection 16 (a)(4); and 17 (B) not later than 180 days after the re- 18 sponsibility described in subparagraph (A) is 19 assigned to each such office— 20 (i) publicly designate an office of the 21 Commission and an office of the Adminis- 22 tration, respectively, to receive the notifica- 23 tions from commercial service airports re- 24 quired under paragraph (1)(B); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S896.IS S896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 896 IS (ii) make publicly available the proc- 1 ess for the Commission and the Adminis- 2 tration to carry out any follow up consulta- 3 tion, if necessary. 4 (3) NONDUPLICATION.—To the greatest extent 5 practicable, the Federal Communications Commis- 6 sion and the National Telecommunications and In- 7 formation Administration shall coordinate with re- 8 spect to the consultations, process creation, follow 9 up consultations, and other requirements of this sub- 10 section and subsection (a)(4) so as to minimize du- 11 plication of requirements, efforts, and expenditures. 12 (c) TACTICAL RESPONSE PLAN UPDATES.— 13 (1) TASK FORCE.—Not later than 2 years after 14 the date of enactment of this Act, the airport direc- 15 tor of each commercial service airport shall convene 16 a task force for purposes of establishing or modi- 17 fying the emergency action preparedness plan for 18 the airport to include a tactical response plan for the 19 detection, identification, and mitigation of threats 20 posed by an unmanned aircraft or unmanned air- 21 craft system. 22 (2) REQUIRED COORDINATION.—Each task 23 force convened under paragraph (1) shall coordinate 24 the establishing or modifying of the airport’s emer- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S896.IS S896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 896 IS gency action preparedness plan with representatives 1 of the following: 2 (A) The Department of Transportation. 3 (B) The Federal Aviation Administration. 4 (C) The Department of Homeland Secu- 5 rity. 6 (D) The State and local law enforcement 7 agencies in the State in which the airport is lo- 8 cated. 9 (E) The law enforcement agency of the air- 10 port. 11 (F) The covered air carriers operating at 12 the airport. 13 (G) Representatives of general aviation op- 14 erators at the airport. 15 (H) Representatives of providers of tele- 16 communications and broadband service with a 17 service area that covers the airport property or 18 the navigable airspace necessary to ensure safe- 19 ty in the takeoff and landing of aircraft at such 20 airport. 21 (3) DUTIES.—As part of the inclusion of a tac- 22 tical response plan in the emergency action pre- 23 paredness plan for a commercial service airport, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S896.IS S896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 896 IS each task force convened under paragraph (1) shall 1 do the following: 2 (A) Create and define the various threat 3 levels posed by an unmanned aircraft or un- 4 manned aircraft system to the airport. 5 (B) Create the standard operating proce- 6 dures for responding to each threat level de- 7 fined under subparagraph (A) that include a re- 8 quirement to minimize collateral damage. 9 (C) Define and assign to each entity speci- 10 fied in paragraph (2), the role and responsibil- 11 ities of the entity in carrying out the standard 12 operating procedures for responding to a speci- 13 fied threat posed by an unmanned aircraft or 14 unmanned aircraft system to the airport. 15 (D) Designate the applicable State and 16 local law enforcement agencies, or the law en- 17 forcement agency of the airport, in coordination 18 with the Department of Homeland Security, as 19 the first responders to any specified threat 20 posed by an unmanned aircraft or unmanned 21 aircraft system to the airport. 22 (E) Narrowly tailor the use of non-kinetic 23 Counter-UAS equipment (if applicable under 24 the standard operating procedures) to only tem- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S896.IS S896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 896 IS porary activities necessary to mitigate an imme- 1 diate threat posed by an unmanned aircraft or 2 unmanned aircraft system to the airport. 3 (F) Incorporate any existing Federal guid- 4 ance for updating airport emergency plans for 5 responding to unauthorized unmanned aircraft 6 system operations into 1 tactical response plan 7 for addressing threats posed by an unmanned 8 aircraft or unmanned aircraft system. 9 (4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 10 subsection shall be construed to require multiple tac- 11 tical response plans or emergency action prepared- 12 ness plans for addressing the threats posed by an 13 unmanned aircraft, an unmanned aircraft system, or 14 unauthorized unmanned aircraft system operations. 15 (d) AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM ELIGI- 16 BILITY.—Notwithstanding section 47102 of title 49, 17 United States Code, the definition of the term ‘‘airport 18 development’’ under that section shall include the pur- 19 chase of equipment necessary to carry out Counter-UAS 20 activities at commercial service airports. 21 (e) BEST PRACTICES.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 23 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 24 of the Federal Aviation Administration [Text truncated for display. 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