Balloon Location and Identification Pronouncement Study Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4229 To direct the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct a study and submit a report on the effects of unmanned free balloons on aviation safety. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 20, 2023 Ms. SHERRILL (for herself, Mr. GIMENEZ, and Ms. GARCIA of Texas) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Trans- portation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, 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 direct the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct a study and submit a report on the effects of unmanned free balloons on aviation safety. 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 ‘‘Balloon Location and 4 Identification Pronouncement Study Act’’ or the ‘‘BLIPS 5 Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:07 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4229.IH H4229 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4229 IH SEC. 2. STUDY AND REPORT ON EFFECTS OF UNMANNED 1 FREE BALLOONS ON AVIATION SAFETY. 2 (a) STUDY.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The officials concerned shall 4 conduct a study on the effects on aviation safety of 5 domestically launched unmanned free balloons that 6 do not emit an electronic or radio signal that is able 7 to be located or tracked by the owner of the balloon 8 or by civil or military airspace authorities. 9 (2) ELEMENTS.—The study described in para- 10 graph (1) shall include an analysis of— 11 (A) how flights of the balloons described in 12 paragraph (1) have or could affect aviation 13 safety; 14 (B) how such balloon flights have contrib- 15 uted or could contribute to misidentified threats 16 to civil or military air vehicles or infrastructure; 17 and 18 (C) how such balloon flights have impacted 19 or could impact defense readiness and air traf- 20 fic control operations. 21 (b) REPORT.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months 23 after the date of enactment of this section, the offi- 24 cials concerned shall submit to the appropriate con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:07 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4229.IH H4229 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4229 IH gressional committees a report detailing the results 1 of the study described in subsection (a)(1). 2 (2) DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS.— 3 The report described in paragraph (1) shall include 4 discussion and recommendations pertaining to— 5 (A) the efficacy, feasibility, technical speci- 6 fications, and potential civil and military im- 7 pacts of mandating that each domestically 8 launched unmanned free balloon be equipped 9 with an electronic or radio emitter that can be 10 tracked with near real-time, geolocational, and 11 altitudinal precision, and which can transmit 12 identifying information of the balloon or its 13 owner; and 14 (B) how the officials concerned can collect 15 and use the data of such emitters for airspace 16 deconfliction and maintaining a safe airspace 17 picture by integrating the data into a real-time 18 or near real-time digital system that supports 19 the operations of the Federal Aviation Adminis- 20 tration and the Department of Defense. 21 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 22 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 23 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 24 mittees’’ means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:07 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4229.IH H4229 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4229 IH (A) the Committee on Armed Services of 1 the House of Representatives; 2 (B) the Committee on Transportation and 3 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; 4 (C) the Committee on Armed Services of 5 the Senate; and 6 (D) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 7 and Transportation of the Senate. 8 (2) OFFICIALS CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘offi- 9 cials concerned’’ means the Secretary of Defense 10 and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Ad- 11 ministration. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:07 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4229.IH H4229 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS