UAS National Airspace Integration Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1927 To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to de- velop a comprehensive unmanned aircraft system integration strategy, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 12, 2023 Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. WICKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Admin- istration to develop a comprehensive unmanned aircraft system integration strategy, 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 ‘‘UAS National Airspace 4 Integration Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that it is important that 7 the United States maintain global leadership in advanced 8 aviation to maintain and improve national security, safety, 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1927.IS S1927 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1927 IS sustainability, and economic strength domestically and 1 globally. 2 SEC. 3. COMPREHENSIVE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM 3 INTEGRATION STRATEGY. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 5 date of enactment of this section, the Administrator shall 6 submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a com- 7 prehensive integration strategy for unmanned aircraft sys- 8 tems, including civil unmanned aircraft systems operating 9 in controlled airspace, that includes the following: 10 (1) A comprehensive mission statement that 11 summarizes the main purpose of the strategy. 12 (2) A description of the objectives to be 13 achieved by the strategy, which shall include the fol- 14 lowing: 15 (A) Timely implementation of statutory 16 provisions related to drone integration in sub- 17 title B of title III of division B of the FAA Re- 18 authorization Act of 2018 (Public Law 115– 19 254). 20 (B) Actions taken by the FAA to imple- 21 ment recommendations related to unmanned 22 aircraft systems, including civil unmanned air- 23 craft systems operating in controlled airspace, 24 included in aviation rulemaking committee re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1927.IS S1927 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1927 IS ports published since the enactment of the FAA 1 Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Public Law 115– 2 254). 3 (C) Any other objectives determined appro- 4 priate by the Administrator. 5 (3) A description of steps to achieve strategy 6 objectives, including milestones and performance 7 metrics to gauge results. 8 (4) A description of the process by which the 9 scope and objectives of the strategy were developed. 10 (5) The costs of executing the strategy, includ- 11 ing the sources of such costs, and the types of re- 12 sources and investments, skills and technology, and 13 human, capital, information, and other resources re- 14 quired to meet the objectives of the strategy. 15 (6) A description of the roles and responsibil- 16 ities of each FAA office tasked with executing the 17 objectives of the strategy. 18 (7) A plan to establish mechanisms to allow 19 various FAA offices or other necessary interagency 20 stakeholders involved in implementing the strategy 21 to coordinate in meeting strategy objectives. 22 (8) Processes for ensuring transparency and re- 23 ceiving input from applicants and relevant stake- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1927.IS S1927 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1927 IS holders in the course of executing the objectives of 1 the strategy. 2 (9) A list of key factors external to the FAA 3 that are beyond the control of the FAA which could 4 significantly affect the achievement of the strategy 5 objectives. 6 (b) CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFINGS.—Beginning 6 7 months after the date of enactment of this section, and 8 every 6 months thereafter, the Administrator shall provide 9 a briefing for the appropriate Committees of Congress 10 on— 11 (1) the status of implementation of each ele- 12 ment of the strategy developed under subsection (a); 13 (2) any revisions made to the strategy since the 14 last briefing; and 15 (3) any additional actions taken by the Admin- 16 istrator to integrate unmanned aircraft systems into 17 the National Airspace System. 18 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 19 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 20 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 21 Aviation Administration. 22 (2) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 23 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1927.IS S1927 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1927 IS gress’’ has the meaning given such term in section 1 44801 of title 49, United States Code. 2 (3) FAA.—The term ‘‘FAA’’ means the Fed- 3 eral Aviation Administration. 4 (4) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.—The term 5 ‘‘unmanned aircraft system’’ has the meaning given 6 such term in section 44801 of title 49, United 7 States Code. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1927.IS S1927 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS