Aerospace Debris Safety Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8854 To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a program to track potential sources of airborne foreign object debris to prevent the collision of aircraft with such debris, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 3, 2020 Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a pro- gram to track potential sources of airborne foreign object debris to prevent the collision of aircraft with such de- bris, 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 ‘‘Aerospace Debris Safe- 4 ty Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8854.IH H8854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8854 IH SEC. 2. FOREIGN OBJECT DEBRIS COLLISION AVOIDANCE. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 447 of title 49, United 2 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘§ 44741. Foreign object debris collision avoidance 5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transpor- 6 tation, in coordination with the Administrator of the Fed- 7 eral Aviation Administration, shall— 8 ‘‘(1) establish a program to track objects that 9 are potential sources of covered airborne foreign ob- 10 ject debris; 11 ‘‘(2) establish a database containing data and 12 information on such objects; 13 ‘‘(3) utilize existing tools and methods, includ- 14 ing communication with the owners or operators of 15 such objects, to determine on an ongoing basis the 16 likelihood and the circumstances, including the time 17 and location, under which such objects may reenter 18 the Earth’s atmosphere in a controlled or uncon- 19 trolled manner; 20 ‘‘(4) assess the potential of a reentry of each 21 such object to create covered airborne foreign object 22 debris; and 23 ‘‘(5) establish a system, in consultation with the 24 Chief Operating Officer for the air traffic control 25 system, by which— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8854.IH H8854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8854 IH ‘‘(A) airspace may be dynamically con- 1 trolled or restricted due to the presence or ex- 2 pected presence of covered airborne foreign ob- 3 ject debris; and 4 ‘‘(B) aircraft at risk of being impacted by 5 covered airborne foreign object debris can be 6 expeditiously notified and redirected. 7 ‘‘(b) TRACKING PROGRAM.—In establishing the pro- 8 gram under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary may— 9 ‘‘(1) acquire or establish facilities and equip- 10 ment to directly track objects that are potential 11 sources of covered airborne foreign object debris; 12 and 13 ‘‘(2) contract for, or utilize reliable sources of, 14 data and information relating to such objects from 15 other Federal agencies or any eligible entity, includ- 16 ing by using the authority provided in section 17 106(l)(6). 18 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL DATA AND INFORMATION.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Prior to receiving data and 20 information from a Federal agency under subsection 21 (b)(2), or using such data and information for any 22 purpose under this section, the Secretary shall enter 23 into an agreement with the head of such Federal 24 agency that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8854.IH H8854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8854 IH ‘‘(A) details the purposes for which the 1 Secretary is authorized to use such data and in- 2 formation; 3 ‘‘(B) describes the conditions under which 4 data and information may not be released, in- 5 cluding a list of eligible entities or categories of 6 eligible entities that are not permitted to receive 7 such data and information; 8 ‘‘(C) ensures that such data or information 9 is safety-related and unclassified; 10 ‘‘(D) designates the Secretary as the sole 11 or primary Federal distributor of such data and 12 information to an eligible entity; and 13 ‘‘(E) contains any other condition or re- 14 striction as the Secretary and the head of such 15 Federal agency consider appropriate. 16 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary may not 17 enter into an agreement with the head of a Federal 18 agency under this subsection that restricts the abil- 19 ity of the Secretary to provide the minimum data 20 and information necessary to an eligible entity to ef- 21 fectively provide services described under subsection 22 (d). 23 ‘‘(d) SAFETY OF AIRSPACE AND AIRCRAFT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8854.IH H8854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8854 IH ‘‘(1) UNITED STATES AIRSPACE.—The Sec- 1 retary shall provide the service under subsection 2 (a)(5) to aircraft operating in United States airspace 3 or airspace assigned to the United States at no 4 charge. 5 ‘‘(2) FOREIGN AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary 6 may enter into an agreement with a foreign air navi- 7 gation service provider for the Secretary to provide 8 the services described in subsection (a)(5)(B) to the 9 foreign air navigation service provider, provided that 10 the foreign air navigation service provider— 11 ‘‘(A) remunerates the Secretary at a rate 12 that is reasonably related to the cost of pro- 13 viding such services, as determined by the Sec- 14 retary; and 15 ‘‘(B) agrees to indemnify and hold the 16 United States Government harmless from any 17 claim related to the provision of such services 18 and any related action or omission. 19 ‘‘(e) OTHER USES OF DATA AND INFORMATION; 20 OTHER SERVICES.— 21 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary, in coordina- 22 tion with appropriate entities within the Department 23 of Transportation and in consultation with the heads 24 of other relevant Federal agencies— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8854.IH H8854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8854 IH ‘‘(A) shall carry out a program to improve 1 the collection, processing, and dissemination of 2 data and information contained in the database 3 established under subsection (a)(2) and to pro- 4 vide services relating to such data and informa- 5 tion, as the Secretary determines appropriate; 6 ‘‘(B) subject to paragraph (2), may pro- 7 vide such data, information, and services to an 8 eligible entity; and 9 ‘‘(C) may obtain such data, information, 10 and services from an eligible entity. 11 ‘‘(2) TYPE OF INFORMATION PROVIDED.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Data and information 13 provided to an eligible entity under paragraph 14 (1)(B) shall be safety-related and unclassified. 15 ‘‘(B) INTERESTS OF THE UNITED 16 STATES.—The Secretary, in consultation with 17 the head of a Federal agency with which the 18 Secretary has entered into an agreement under 19 subsection (c), shall develop a policy to deter- 20 mine the type of information that may be pro- 21 vided under paragraph (1) without compro- 22 mising the national security interests of the 23 United States. 24 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC SERVICES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8854.IH H8854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8854 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 1 designate a basic level of data, information, and 2 services described in paragraph (1) to be pro- 3 vided at no charge to an eligible entity and pub- 4 lic services to be provided at no charge, includ- 5 ing— 6 ‘‘(i) a public catalog of objects con- 7 tained in the database established under 8 subsection (a)(2); 9 ‘‘(ii) emergency conjunction notifica- 10 tions for objects that are potential sources 11 of covered airborne foreign object debris; 12 and 13 ‘‘(iii) any other data, information, or 14 services the Secretary considers appro- 15 priate. 16 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may 17 not provide data, information, or services under 18 subparagraph (A)(iii) that compete with prod- 19 ucts offered by United States commercial enti- 20 ties. 21 ‘‘(4) ADVANCED SERVICES.—The Secretary 22 may undertake activities to promote the creation and 23 provision of more advanced levels of data, informa- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8854.IH H8854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8854 IH tion, and services to foster the public and private en- 1 hancement of transportation safety. 2 ‘‘(5) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary shall estab- 3 lish procedures by which the authority under this 4 subsection shall be carried out. 5 ‘‘(6) IMMUNITY.—The United States, any agen- 6 cies and instrumentalities thereof, and any individ- 7 uals, firms, corporations, and other persons acting 8 for the United States, shall be immune from any 9 suit in any court for any cause of action arising 10 from the provision or receipt data, information, or 11 services described in paragraph (1) whether or not 12 provided in accordance with this section, or any re- 13 lated action or omission. 14 ‘‘(f) NON-DELEGATION.—Except as provided in sub- 15 section (e)(5), the authority under this section may only 16 be delegated by the Secretary of Transportation to an offi- 17 cer or employee of the Department of Transportation, in- 18 cluding the Federal Aviation Administration. 19 ‘‘(g) FUNDING.—Out of amounts made available 20 under section 106(k)(2)(D) of title 49, United States 21 Code, $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 22 2023 may be expended by the Secretary to carry out this 23 section. 24 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:22 Dec 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8854.IH H8854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8854 IH ‘‘(1) COVERED AIRBORNE FOREIGN OBJECT DE- 1 BRIS.—The term ‘covered airborne foreign object de- 2 bris’ means any manmade object in the atmosphere 3 that— 4 ‘‘(A) was previously in Earth orbit; 5 ‘‘(B) is uncontrolled; and 6 ‘‘(C) poses a potential risk to the safe 7 flight of civil aircraft in air commerce. 8 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 9 tity’ means any non-Federal entity, including any of 10 the following: 11 ‘‘(A) A State. 12 ‘‘(B) A political subdivision of a State. 13 ‘‘(C) A United States commercial entity. 14 ‘‘(D) The government of a foreign country. 15 ‘‘(E) A foreign commercial entity.’’. 16 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 17 (1) SECTION 44737.—Chapter 447 of title 49, 18 United States Code, is further amended by redesig- 19 nating the second section 44737 (as added by sec- 20 tion 581 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018) 21 as section 44740. 22 (2) ANALYSIS.—The analysis for chapter 447 of 23 title 49, United States Code, is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8854.IH H8854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8854 IH (A) by striking the item relating to the 1 second section 44737 (as added by section 581 2 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018); and 3 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 4 section 44739 the following new items: 5 ‘‘44740. Special rule for certain aircraft operations. ‘‘44741. Foreign object debris collision avoidance.’’. (3) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN AIRCRAFT OP- 6 ERATIONS.—Section 44740 of title 49, United States 7 Code (as redesignated by paragraph (1)), is amend- 8 ed— 9 (A) in the heading by striking the period 10 at the end; 11 (B) in subsection (a)(1) by striking ‘‘chap- 12 ter’’ and inserting ‘‘section’’; 13 (C) in subsection (b)(1) by striking ‘‘(1)’’ 14 the second time it appears; and 15 (D) in subsection (c)(2) by adding a period 16 at the end. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8854.IH H8854 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS