§ 124n. Protection of certain facilities and assets from unmanned aircraft

§ 124n. Protection of certain facilities and assets from unmanned aircraft

(a) Authorities

(1) Authority of the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice Notwithstanding section 46502 of title 49 or sections 32, 1030, 1367 and chapters 119 and 206 of title 18, the Secretary and the Attorney General may, for their respective Departments, take and may authorize personnel to take such actions as are described in subsection (b)(1) that are necessary to enforce the law, protect the public, or to mitigate a credible threat that an unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft poses to the safety or security of a covered facility or asset.

(2) Authority of State, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement and correctional agencies Notwithstanding section 46502 of title 49 or sections 32, 1030, 1367 and chapters 119 and 206 of title 18, notwithstanding the laws of any particular State, local, Tribal, or territorial jurisdiction, and after completing the training detailed in subsection (d)(2), any State, local, Tribal, or territorial law enforcement or correctional agency may, subject to subsection (d)(2), take, and authorize personnel with assigned duties that include the security or protection of people, facilities, or assets, to take such actions as are described in subsection (b)(1) that are necessary to mitigate a credible threat that an unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft poses to the safety or security of people, facilities, and assets, a venue or set of venues used for large-scale public gatherings or events, critical infrastructure, or correctional facilities.

(b) Actions described

(1) In general The actions authorized in subsection (a) are the following:

(A) During the operation of the unmanned aircraft system, detect, identify, monitor, and track the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft, without prior consent, including by means of intercept or other access of a wire communication, an oral communication, or an electronic communication used to control the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft.

(B) Warn the operator of the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft, including by passive or active, and direct or indirect physical, electronic, radio, electromagnetic means, and through the use of remote identification broadcast or other means.

(C) Disrupt control of the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft, without prior consent, including by disabling the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft by intercepting, interfering, or causing interference with wire, oral, electronic, or radio communications used to control the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft.

(D) Seize or exercise control of the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft.

(E) Seize or otherwise confiscate the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft.

(F) Use reasonable force, if necessary, to disable, damage, or destroy the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft.

(2) Required coordination The Secretary and the Attorney General shall develop for their respective Departments the actions described in paragraph (1) in coordination with the Secretary of Transportation.

(3) Research, testing, training, and evaluation The Secretary and the Attorney General shall conduct research, testing, training on, and evaluation of any equipment, including any electronic equipment, to determine its capability and utility prior to the use of any such technology for any action described in subsection (b)(1).

(4) Coordination The Secretary and the Attorney General shall coordinate with the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration when any action authorized by this section might affect aviation safety, civilian aviation and aerospace operations, aircraft airworthiness, or the use of the airspace.

(c) Forfeiture

(1) Federal agencies Any unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft described in subsection (a) that is seized by the Secretary or the Attorney General pursuant to subsection (a)(1) is subject to forfeiture to the United States.

(2) Other agencies Any unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft described in subsection (a) that is seized by a State, local, Tribal, or territorial law enforcement or correctional agency pursuant to subsection (a)(2) is subject to forfeiture under the laws of the agency’s jurisdiction.

(d) Regulations and guidance

(1) In general The Secretary, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Transportation may prescribe regulations and shall issue guidance in the respective areas of each Secretary, the Attorney General, or any State, local, Tribal, or territorial law enforcement or correctional agency to carry out this section.

(2) State, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement training and certification

(A) Training and certification required

(i) In general Only State, local, Tribal, or territorial law enforcement and correctional officers who have been trained and certified by the Attorney General, or the Attorney General’s designee, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security through a national schoolhouse which will serve as the sole certifying authority for State, local, Tribal, territorial, and correctional officers in the use of the authority granted under subsection (a)(2), may exercise authorities in subsection (b)(1)(C), (D), and (F).

(ii) Training and certification procedures The Attorney General, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Transportation, shall, not later than 180 days after December 18, 2025, develop training and certification procedures for the use of the authority described in subsection (a)(2) that State, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement and correctional officers shall be required to satisfy before taking any actions described in subsection (b)(1).

(iii) Technologies Technologies used by State, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement or correctional agencies to take actions described in subsection (b)(1) shall be limited to systems or technologies that are included on a list of authorized technologies maintained jointly by the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation, the Federal Communications Commission, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

(B) Oversight The Attorney General, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, shall oversee compliance with the requirements set forth in subsection (e) with respect to the use of the authority granted under subsection (a)(2) by each State, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement agency that has been certified pursuant to the training and certification requirements described in subparagraph (A).

(C) State, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement and correctional agencies mitigation notification requirement

(i) In general Any State, local, Tribal, or territorial law enforcement or correctional agency exercising authority under subsection (a)(2) shall, within 48 hours of taking any mitigation action described in subsection (b)(1), submit a notification to the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security containing—

(I) the date, time, and geographic location of the mitigation action;

(II) a brief description of the credible threat or safety concern necessitating such action;

(III) the type of mitigation capability employed; and

(IV) any known operational effects, including the seizure, disabling, or destruction of an unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft.

(ii) Report mechanism The Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish a streamlined and secure submission mechanism to support the notification requirement under clause (i).

(D) Reports Not later than 1 year after December 18, 2025, and biannually thereafter, the Attorney General, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Transportation, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees an unclassified report with a classified annex on activities carried out by State, local, Tribal, and territorial law and correctional enforcement agencies exercising the authority granted under subsection (a)(2) and subject to the training and certification requirements described in subparagraph (A), including—

(i) a description of the training and certification procedures developed and implemented pursuant to subparagraph (A)(ii);

(ii) a list of State, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement and correctional agencies that applied for and were certified to exercise the authorities granted by subsection (a)(2);

(iii) a list of currently authorized technologies pursuant to subparagraph (A)(iii);

(iv) the frequency, location, and circumstances of State, local, Tribal, territorial, and correctional officers mitigation deployments and types of mitigation employed;

(v) a list of any aviation security or safety incidents that occurred due to State, local, Tribal, territorial, and correctional officers deployment of counter-UAS technologies;

(vi) recommendations for improving State, local, Tribal, and territorial law and correctional agencies counter-UAS training, oversight, compliance, and execution and the compliance audits required by section 8606(b)(2) of the SAFER SKIES Act; and

(vii) a determination on if State, local, Tribal, and territorial law and correctional agencies are able to fully protect critical infrastructure from the drone threat and if not, recommendations on how to expand counter-UAS authorities to critical infrastructure owners.

(3) Coordination

(A) Coordination with Department of Transportation The Secretary and the Attorney General shall coordinate the development of their respective guidance under paragraph (1) with the Secretary of Transportation.

(B) Effect on aviation safety The Secretary and the Attorney General shall respectively coordinate with the Secretary of Transportation and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration before issuing any guidance, or otherwise implementing this section, if such guidance or implementation might affect aviation safety, civilian aviation and aerospace operations, aircraft airworthiness, or the use of airspace.

(e) Privacy protection The regulations or guidance issued to carry out actions authorized under subsection (b) by each Secretary, the Attorney General, or any State, local, Tribal, or territorial law enforcement or correctional agency, as the case may be, shall ensure that—

(1) the interception or acquisition of, or access to, or maintenance or use of, communications to or from an unmanned aircraft system under this section is conducted in a manner consistent with the First and Fourth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States and applicable provisions of Federal law;

(2) communications to or from an unmanned aircraft system are intercepted or acquired only to the extent necessary to support an action described in subsection (b)(1);

(3) records of such communications are maintained only for as long as necessary, and in no event for more than 180 days, unless the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Attorney General, or any State, local, Tribal, or territorial law enforcement or correctional agency determine 11 So in original. Probably should be “determines”. that maintenance of such records is necessary to investigate or prosecute a violation of law, directly support an ongoing security operation, is required under Federal, State, local, Tribal, or territorial law (as applicable), or for the purpose of any litigation;

(4) such communications are not disclosed outside the Department of Homeland Security 22 So in original. Probably should be followed by a comma. the Department of Justice, or the State, local, Tribal, or territorial law enforcement or correctional agency unless the disclosure—

(A) is necessary to investigate or prosecute a violation of law;

(B) would support the Department of Defense, a Federal law enforcement agency, or the enforcement activities of a regulatory agency of the Federal Government in connection with a criminal or civil investigation of, or any regulatory, statutory, or other enforcement action relating to an action described in subsection (b)(1);

(C) is between the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice in the course of a security or protection operation of either agency or a joint operation of such agencies; or

(D) is otherwise required by law; and

(5) to the extent necessary, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice are authorized to share threat information, which shall not include communications other than those of an aeronautical communications system, as allowed for in section 2511(2)(g)(ii)(IV) of title 18 or information readily available to the public referred to in subsection (b), with State, local, territorial, or Tribal law enforcement agencies in the course of a security or protection operation.

(f) Budget The Secretary and the Attorney General shall submit to Congress, as a part of the homeland security or justice budget materials for each fiscal year after fiscal year 2019, a consolidated funding display that identifies the funding source for the actions described in subsection (b)(1) within the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Justice. The funding display shall be in unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex.

(g) Semiannual briefings and notifications

(1) In general On a semiannual basis during the period beginning 6 months after October 5, 2018, and ending on the date specified in subsection (i), the Secretary and the Attorney General shall, respectively, provide a briefing to the appropriate congressional committees on the activities carried out pursuant to this section.

(2) Requirement Each briefing required under paragraph (1) shall be conducted jointly with the Secretary of Transportation.

(3) Content Each briefing required under paragraph (1) shall include—

(A) policies, programs, and procedures to mitigate or eliminate impacts of such activities to the National Airspace System;

(B) a description of instances in which actions described in subsection (b)(1) have been taken, including all such instances that may have resulted in harm, damage, or loss to a person or to private property;

(C) a description of the guidance, policies, or procedures established to address privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties issues implicated by the actions allowed under this section, as well as any changes or subsequent efforts that would significantly affect privacy, civil rights or civil liberties;

(D) a description of options considered and steps taken to mitigate any identified impacts to the national airspace system related to the use of any system or technology, including the minimization of the use of any technology that disrupts the transmission of radio or electronic signals, for carrying out the actions described in subsection (b)(1);

(E) a description of instances in which communications intercepted or acquired during the course of operations of an unmanned aircraft system were held for more than 180 days or shared outside of the Department of Justice or the Department of Homeland Security;

(F) how the Secretary, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Transportation have informed the public as to the possible use of authorities under this section; 33 So in original. Probably should be followed by “and”.

(G) how the Secretary, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Transportation have engaged with Federal, State, Tribal, territorial, and local law enforcement agencies to implement and use such authorities, including those exercised under subsection (a)(2).

(4) Unclassified form Each briefing required under paragraph (1) shall be in unclassified form, but may be accompanied by an additional classified briefing.

(5) Notification Within 30 days of deploying any new technology to carry out the actions described in subsection (b)(1), the Secretary and the Attorney General shall, respectively, submit a notification to the appropriate congressional committees. Such notification shall include a description of options considered to mitigate any identified impacts to the national airspace system related to the use of any system or technology, including the minimization of the use of any technology that disrupts the transmission of radio or electronic signals, for carrying out the actions described in subsection (b)(1).

(h) Rule of construction Nothing in this section may be construed to—

(1) vest in the Secretary or the Attorney General any authority of the Secretary of Transportation or the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration;

(2) vest in the Secretary of Transportation or the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration any authority of the Secretary or the Attorney General;

(3) vest in the Secretary of Homeland Security any authority of the Attorney General;

(4) vest in the Attorney General any authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security; or

(5) provide a new basis of liability for any State, local, territorial, or tribal law enforcement officers who participate in the protection of a mass gathering identified by the Secretary or Attorney General under subsection (k)(3)(C)(iii)(II), act within the scope of their authority, and do not exercise the authority granted to the Secretary and Attorney General by this section.

(i) Applicability of other laws to activities related to the mitigation of threats from unmanned aircraft systems or unmanned aircraft Sections 32, 1030, and 1367 and chapters 119 and 206 of title 18 and section 46502 of title 49 may not be construed to apply to activities of the Coast Guard, whether under this section or any other provision of law, that—

(1) are conducted outside the United States; and

(2) are related to the mitigation of threats from unmanned aircraft systems or unmanned aircraft.

(j) Terminations

(1) Counter-UAS authority The authority to carry out this section with respect to a covered facility or asset, protecting the public, and enforcing the law shall terminate on September 30, 2031.

(2) State, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement and correctional agencies Authority of State, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement and correctional agencies under subsection (a)(2) shall terminate on December 31, 2031.

(k) Scope of authority Nothing in this section shall be construed to provide the Secretary or the Attorney General with additional authorities beyond those described in subsections (a) and (k)(3)(C)(iii).

(l) Definitions In this section:

(1) The term “appropriate congressional committees” means—

(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; and

(B) the Committee on Homeland Security, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.