Advancing Unmanned Delivery Services Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6943 To require the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a study on unmanned delivery service, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 19, 2020 Mr. LATTA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To require the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a study on unmanned delivery service, 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 ‘‘Advancing Unmanned 4 Delivery Services Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ADVANCING UNMANNED DELIVERY SERVICES 6 STUDY. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Jun 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6943.IH H6943 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6943 IH (1) STUDY REQUIRED.—Not later than 2 years 1 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 2 retary of Commerce, in coordination with the head 3 of any other appropriate Federal agency, shall con- 4 duct a study on the impact of unmanned delivery 5 services on United States businesses conducting 6 interstate commerce. 7 (2) REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDY.—In con- 8 ducting the study, the Secretary shall do the fol- 9 lowing: 10 (A) Conduct a survey through outreach to 11 participating entities to— 12 (i) establish a list of the industry sec- 13 tors that develop and use unmanned deliv- 14 ery services, including the use of autono- 15 mous vehicles, drones, and robots; 16 (ii) review how unmanned delivery 17 services are currently being used and any 18 potential future applications of such serv- 19 ices; 20 (iii) identify any challenges to the de- 21 velopment and adoption of unmanned de- 22 livery services; and 23 (iv) review how such services may be 24 used to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Jun 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6943.IH H6943 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6943 IH (I) deliver groceries, meals, medi- 1 cations, and other necessities to senior 2 citizens, people with disabilities, and 3 people without access to traditional 4 public transportation; 5 (II) address challenges public 6 health emergencies present, including 7 delivering groceries, meals, medica- 8 tions, medical supplies, and other ne- 9 cessities during such emergencies; and 10 (III) any other potential use of 11 such services. 12 (B) Develop and conduct a survey of Fed- 13 eral activity related to unmanned delivery serv- 14 ices to— 15 (i) establish a list of Federal agencies 16 asserting jurisdiction over industry sectors 17 identified under subparagraph (A)(i); 18 (ii) develop a brief description of the 19 jurisdiction and expertise of the Federal 20 agencies regarding unmanned delivery 21 services; and 22 (iii) identify all interagency activities 23 regarding unmanned delivery services. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Jun 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6943.IH H6943 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6943 IH (C) Conduct an international survey of 1 other countries to establish a compendium at 2 least 10 and not more than 15 countries con- 3 sisting of each country’s national strategy on 4 unmanned delivery services to determine where 5 the United States ranks with respect to the de- 6 velopment and adoption of such services. 7 (D) Conduct a survey of the marketplace 8 and supply chain of unmanned delivery services 9 to— 10 (i) assess the severity of risks posed 11 to such marketplace and supply chain; 12 (ii) review the ability of foreign gov- 13 ernments or third parties to exploit such 14 supply chain in a manner that raises risks 15 to the economic and national security of 16 the United States; and 17 (iii) identify emerging risks and long- 18 term trends in such marketplace and sup- 19 ply chain. 20 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 6 21 months after the completion of the study required pursu- 22 ant to subsection (a), the Secretary, in coordination with 23 the head of any other appropriate Federal agency, shall 24 submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Jun 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6943.IH H6943 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6943 IH House of Representatives and the Committee on Com- 1 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 2 that contains— 3 (1) the results of the study conducted under 4 subsection (a); and 5 (2) recommendations to— 6 (A) develop and implement a comprehen- 7 sive plan to promote the development and adop- 8 tion of unmanned delivery services in the 9 United States; 10 (B) develop policies that States can adopt 11 to encourage the development and adoption of 12 unmanned delivery services; 13 (C) develop a national strategy to advance 14 the United States position in the world on the 15 development and adoption of unmanned delivery 16 services; 17 (D) develop strategies to mitigate current 18 and emerging risks to the marketplace and sup- 19 ply chain of unmanned delivery services; and 20 (E) develop legislation to accomplish such 21 recommendations. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Jun 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6943.IH H6943 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS