STOP Illicit Drones Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1830 To prohibit the Federal Aviation Administration from awarding any Federal assistance to entities from certain foreign countries for projects related to unmanned aircraft systems, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 6, 2023 Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To prohibit the Federal Aviation Administration from award- ing any Federal assistance to entities from certain for- eign countries for projects related to unmanned aircraft systems, 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 ‘‘Stemming The Oper- 4 ation of Pernicious and Illicit Drones Act’’ or the ‘‘STOP 5 Illicit Drones Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Jun 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1830.IS S1830 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1830 IS (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 1 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 2 Aviation Administration. 3 (2) COVERED FOREIGN COUNTRY.—The term 4 ‘‘covered foreign country’’ means any of the fol- 5 lowing: 6 (A) The People’s Republic of China. 7 (B) The Russian Federation. 8 (C) The Islamic Republic of Iran. 9 (D) The Democratic People’s Republic of 10 Korea. 11 (E) The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. 12 (F) The Republic of Cuba. 13 (G) Any other country the Administrator 14 deems necessary. 15 (3) COVERED FOREIGN ENTITY.—The term 16 ‘‘covered foreign entity’’ means an entity that is— 17 (A) included on the Consolidated Screening 18 List maintained by the Under Secretary of 19 Commerce for International Trade; 20 (B) domiciled in a covered foreign country; 21 (C) subject to influence or control by the 22 government of a covered foreign country; or 23 (D) owned by an entity that is described in 24 subparagraph (A), (B), or (C). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Jun 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1830.IS S1830 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1830 IS (4) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM; UAS.—The 1 terms ‘‘unmanned aircraft system’’ and ‘‘UAS’’ have 2 the meaning given the term ‘‘unmanned aircraft sys- 3 tem’’ in section 44801 of title 49, United States 4 Code. 5 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON FUNDING FOR ENTITIES FROM 6 COVERED FOREIGN COUNTRIES FOR 7 PROJECTS RELATED TO UNMANNED AIR- 8 CRAFT SYSTEMS. 9 (a) AVIATION RESEARCH GRANTS PROGRAM.—Not 10 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 11 section, the Administrator shall amend FAA Order 12 9550.7B, Aviation Research Grants Program (dated No- 13 vember 25, 2014), as well as any corresponding policy or 14 guidance material, to prohibit— 15 (1) any covered foreign entity from receiving 16 aviation research and development grants for any 17 project related to unmanned aircraft systems; and 18 (2) any entity from using such grants to part- 19 ner with or otherwise transact business relating to 20 covered unmanned aircraft systems with covered for- 21 eign entities. 22 (b) AVIATION WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PRO- 23 GRAMS.—Section 625(c) of the FAA Reauthorization Act 24 of 2018 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Jun 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1830.IS S1830 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1830 IS (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 1 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘An application for a 2 grant’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to paragraph (3), an 3 application for a grant’’; 4 (2) in paragraph (2), in the matter preceding 5 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘An application for a 6 grant’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to paragraph (3), an 7 application for a grant’’; and 8 (3) by adding at the end the following new 9 paragraph: 10 ‘‘(3) APPLICATIONS FROM COVERED FOREIGN 11 ENTITIES.— 12 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—Beginning on the 13 date of enactment of this paragraph, an appli- 14 cation for a grant under the program estab- 15 lished under subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2) may 16 not be submitted for an eligible project related 17 to unmanned aircraft systems (as defined in 18 section 44801 of title 49, United States Code) 19 by— 20 ‘‘(i) a covered foreign entity; or 21 ‘‘(ii) an entity that uses or intends to 22 use such grant to benefit a covered foreign 23 entity. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Jun 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1830.IS S1830 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1830 IS ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 1 paragraph: 2 ‘‘(i) COVERED FOREIGN COUNTRY.— 3 The term ‘covered foreign country’ means 4 any of the following: 5 ‘‘(I) The People’s Republic of 6 China. 7 ‘‘(II) The Russian Federation. 8 ‘‘(III) The Islamic Republic of 9 Iran. 10 ‘‘(IV) The Democratic People’s 11 Republic of Korea. 12 ‘‘(V) The Bolivarian Republic of 13 Venezuela. 14 ‘‘(VI) The Republic of Cuba. 15 ‘‘(VII) Any other country the Ad- 16 ministrator of the Federal Aviation 17 Administration deems necessary. 18 ‘‘(ii) COVERED FOREIGN ENTITY.— 19 The term ‘covered foreign entity’ means an 20 entity that is— 21 ‘‘(I) included on the Consolidated 22 Screening List maintained by the 23 Under Secretary of Commerce for 24 International Trade; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Jun 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1830.IS S1830 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1830 IS ‘‘(II) domiciled in a covered for- 1 eign country; 2 ‘‘(III) subject to influence or con- 3 trol by the government of a covered 4 foreign country; or 5 ‘‘(IV) owned by an entity that is 6 described in subclause (I), (II), or 7 (III).’’. 8 (c) CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.— 9 (1) COMMUNITY AND TECHNICAL COLLEGE 10 CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN SMALL UNMANNED 11 AIRCRAFT SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY TRAINING.—Sec- 12 tion 631 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 13 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note) is amended— 14 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Not 15 later than 180 days’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to 16 subsection (f), not later than 180 days’’; and 17 (B) by adding at the end the following new 18 subsection: 19 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITION.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date of 21 enactment of this subsection, the Secretary of 22 Transportation may not designate any covered for- 23 eign entity as a Center of Excellence under sub- 24 section (a). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Jun 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1830.IS S1830 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1830 IS ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub- 1 section: 2 ‘‘(A) COVERED FOREIGN COUNTRY.—The 3 term ‘covered foreign country’ means any of the 4 following: 5 ‘‘(i) The People’s Republic of China. 6 ‘‘(ii) The Russian Federation. 7 ‘‘(iii) The Islamic Republic of Iran. 8 ‘‘(iv) The Democratic People’s Repub- 9 lic of Korea. 10 ‘‘(v) The Bolivarian Republic of Ven- 11 ezuela. 12 ‘‘(vi) The Republic of Cuba. 13 ‘‘(vii) Any other country the Adminis- 14 trator of the Federal Aviation Administra- 15 tion deems necessary. 16 ‘‘(B) COVERED FOREIGN ENTITY.—The 17 term ‘covered foreign entity’ means an entity 18 that is— 19 ‘‘(i) included on the Consolidated 20 Screening List maintained by the Under 21 Secretary of Commerce for International 22 Trade; 23 ‘‘(ii) domiciled in a covered foreign 24 country; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Jun 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1830.IS S1830 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1830 IS ‘‘(iii) subject to influence or control by 1 the government of a covered foreign coun- 2 try; or 3 ‘‘(iv) owned by an entity that is de- 4 scribed in clause (i), (ii), or (iii).’’. 5 (2) REGIONAL CENTERS OF AIR TRANSPOR- 6 TATION EXCELLENCE.—Section 44513 of title 49, 7 United States Code, is amended— 8 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘The Ad- 9 ministrator’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to sub- 10 section (i), the Administrator’’; and 11 (B) by adding at the end the following new 12 subsection: 13 ‘‘(i) PROHIBITION.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date of 15 enactment of this subsection, the Administrator may 16 not issue a grant under subsection (a) to a covered 17 foreign entity to establish or operate a regional cen- 18 ter of air transportation excellence related to un- 19 manned aircraft systems (as defined in section 20 44801). 21 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub- 22 section: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Jun 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1830.IS S1830 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1830 IS ‘‘(A) COVERED FOREIGN COUNTRY.—The 1 term ‘covered foreign country’ means any of the 2 following: 3 ‘‘(i) The People’s Republic of China. 4 ‘‘(ii) The Russian Federation. 5 ‘‘(iii) The Islamic Republic of Iran. 6 ‘‘(iv) The Democratic People’s Repub- 7 lic of Korea. 8 ‘‘(v) The Bolivarian Republic of Ven- 9 ezuela. 10 ‘‘(vi) The Republic of Cuba. 11 ‘‘(vii) Any other country the Adminis- 12 trator deems necessary. 13 ‘‘(B) COVERED FOREIGN ENTITY.—The 14 term ‘covered foreign entity’ means an entity 15 that is— 16 ‘‘(i) included on the Consolidated 17 Screening List maintained by the Under 18 Secretary of Commerce for International 19 Trade; 20 ‘‘(ii) domiciled in a covered foreign 21 country; 22 ‘‘(iii) subject to influence or control by 23 the government of a covered foreign coun- 24 try; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:06 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1830.IS S1830 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1830 IS ‘‘(iv) owned by an entity that is de- 1 scribed in clause (i), (ii), or (iii).’’. 2 (d) OTHER FAA FUNDING.— 3 (1) FACILITIES, PERSONNEL, AND RE- 4 SEARCH.— 5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 445 of title 6 49, United States Code, is amended by adding 7 at the end the following new section: 8 ‘‘§ 44520. Prohibition on drone-related funding to cov- 9 ered foreign entities 10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Fed- 11 eral Aviation Administration may not issue a grant under 12 this chapter to a covered foreign entity for any project 13 related to unmanned aircraft systems. 14 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 15 ‘‘(1) COVERED FOREIGN COUNTRY.—The term 16 ‘covered foreign country’ means any of the following: 17 ‘‘(A) The People’s Republic of China. 18 ‘‘(B) The Russian Federation. 19 ‘‘(C) The Islamic Republic of Iran. 20 ‘‘(D) The Democratic People’s Republic of 21 Korea. 22 ‘‘(E) The Bolivarian Republic of Ven- 23 ezuela. 24 ‘‘(F) The Republic of Cuba. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Jun 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1830.IS S1830 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1830 IS ‘‘(G) Any other country the Administrator 1 of the Federal Aviation Administration deems 2 necessary. 3 ‘‘(2) COVERED FOREIGN ENTITY.—The term 4 ‘covered foreign entity’ means an entity that is— 5 ‘‘(A) included on the Consolidated Screen- 6 ing List maintained by the Under Secretary of 7 Commerce for International Trade; 8 ‘‘(B) domiciled in a covered foreign coun- 9 try; 10 ‘‘(C) subject to influence or control by the 11 government of a covered foreign country; or 12 ‘‘(D) owned by an entity that is described 13 in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C). 14 ‘‘(3) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.—The term 15 ‘unmanned aircraft system’ has the meaning given 16 that term in section 44801. 17 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The prohibition under sub- 18 section (a) shall apply to any grant awarded by the Ad- 19 ministrator on or after the date of enactment of this sec- 20 tion.’’. 21 (B) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis 22 for chapter 445 of such title 49 is amended by 23 inserting after the item relating to section 24 44519 the following: 25 ‘‘44520. Prohibition on drone-related funding to covered foreign entities.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Jun 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1830.IS S1830 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 1830 IS (2) AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT PROJECT GRANT 1 APPLICATIONS.—Section 47105(a) of title 49, 2 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 3 end the following new paragraph: 4 ‘‘(4) PROHIBITION.— 5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 6 Transportation may not award a grant under 7 this subchapter to a covered foreign entity for 8 any project related to unmanned aircraft sys- 9 tems (as defined in section 44801). 10 ‘‘(B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The prohibition 11 under subparagraph (A) shall apply to any 12 grant awarded by the Secretary on or after the 13 date of enactment of this paragraph. 14 ‘‘(C) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 15 paragraph: 16 ‘‘(i) COVERED FOREIGN COUNTRY.— 17 The term ‘covered foreign country’ means 18 any of the following: 19 ‘‘(I) The People’s Republic of 20 China. 21 ‘‘(II) The Russian Federation. 22 ‘‘(III) The Islamic Republic of 23 Iran. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Jun 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1830.IS S1830 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •S 1830 IS ‘‘(IV) The Democratic People’s 1 Republic of Korea. 2 ‘‘(V) The Bolivarian Republic of 3 Venezuela. 4 ‘‘(VI) The Republic of Cuba. 5 ‘‘(VII) Any other country the Ad- 6 ministrator of the Federal Aviation 7 Administration deems necessary. 8 ‘‘(ii) COVERED FOREIGN ENTITY.— 9 The term ‘covered foreign entity’ means an 10 entity that is— 11 ‘‘(I) included on the Consolidated 12 Screening List maintained by the 13 Under Secretary of Commerce for 14 International Trade; 15 ‘‘(II) domiciled in a covered for- 16 eign country; 17 ‘‘(III) subject to influence or con- 18 trol by the government of a covered 19 foreign country; or 20 ‘‘(IV) owned by an entity that is 21 described in subclause (I), (II), or 22 (III).’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Jun 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1830.IS S1830 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 14 •S 1830 IS (3) AIP FUNDING ELIGIBILITY.—Section 1 44810(e) of title 49, United States Code, is amend- 2 ed— 3 (A) by striking ‘‘ELIGIBILITY.—Upon the 4 certification’’ and inserting ‘‘ELIGIBILITY.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 6 upon the certification’’; and 7 (B) by adding at the end the following new 8 paragraph: 9 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION.— 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 11 may not award a grant under paragraph (1) to 12 a covered foreign entity for any project related 13 to unmanned aircraft systems. 14 ‘‘(B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The prohibition 15 under subparagraph (A) shall apply to any 16 grant awa [Text truncated for display. 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