II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4744 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish in the Department 

of Transportation a drone infrastructure inspection grant program and 

a drone education and training grant program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2022 

Ms. ROSEN (for herself, Mr. BOOZMAN, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish in 

the Department of Transportation a drone infrastructure 

inspection grant program and a drone education and 

training grant program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Drone Infrastructure 

5 Inspection Grant Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DRONE INFRASTRUCTURE INSPECTION GRANT 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Transportation 

4 shall establish a drone infrastructure inspection grant pro5 gram to make grants to governmental entities to facilitate 

6 the use of eligible small unmanned aircraft systems to in7 crease efficiency, reduce costs, improve worker and com8 munity safety, reduce carbon emissions, or meet other pri9 orities (as determined by the Secretary) related to critical 

10 infrastructure projects. 

11 (b) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—A governmental enti12 ty may use a grant provided under this section to— 

13 (1) purchase or lease eligible small unmanned 

14 aircraft systems; 

15 (2) support operational capabilities of eligible 

16 small unmanned aircraft systems by the govern17 mental entity; 

18 (3) contract for services performed with an eli19 gible small unmanned aircraft system in cir20 cumstances in which the governmental entity does 

21 not have the resources or expertise to safely carry 

22 out or assist in carrying out the activities described 

23 under subsection (a); and 

24 (4) support the program management capability 

25 of the governmental entity to use an eligible small 

26 unmanned aircraft system. 


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1 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

2 under this section, a governmental entity shall submit an 

3 application to the Secretary at such time, in such form, 

4 and containing such information as the Secretary may re5 quire, including an assurance that the governmental entity 

6 or its contractor will comply with relevant Federal regula7 tions. 

8 (d) SELECTION OF APPLICANTS.—In selecting an ap9 plicant for a grant under this section, the Secretary shall 

10 prioritize projects that propose to— 

11 (1) carry out a critical infrastructure project in 

12 a historically disadvantaged community; or 

13 (2) address a safety risk in the inspection, oper14 ation, maintenance, repair, modernization, or con15 struction of an element of critical infrastructure. 

16 (e) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section shall be 

17 construed as to interfere with an agreement between a 

18 governmental entity and a labor union. 

19 (f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

20 after the first grant is provided under this section, the 

21 Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 

22 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com23 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 

24 of Representatives a report that evaluates the program 

25 carried out under this section, including— 


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1 (1) a description of the number of grants 

2 awarded; 

3 (2) the amount of each grant; 

4 (3) the activities funded under this section; and 

5 (4) the effectiveness of such funded activities in 

6 meeting the objectives described in subsection (a). 

7 (g) FUNDING.— 

8 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

10 subparagraph (B), the Federal share of the cost 

11 of a project carried out using a grant under 

12 this section shall not exceed 80 percent of the 

13 total project cost. 

14 (B) WAIVER.—The Secretary may increase 

15 the Federal share requirement under subpara16 graph (A) to up to 100 percent for a project 

17 carried out using a grant under this section by 

18 a governmental entity if such entity— 

19 (i) submits a written application to 

20 the Secretary requesting an increase in the 

21 Federal share; and 

22 (ii) demonstrates that the additional 

23 assistance is necessary to facilitate the ac24 ceptance and full use of a grant under this 

25 section, such as alleviating economic hardVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Aug 06, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4744.IS S4744

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1 ship, meeting additional workforce needs, 

2 or such other uses that the Secretary de3 termines to be appropriate. 

4 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

6 this section— 

7 (A) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; and 

8 (B) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2024. 

9 SEC. 3. DRONE EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE TRAINING 

10 GRANT PROGRAM. 

11 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Transportation 

12 shall establish a drone education and training grant pro13 gram to make grants to educational institutions for work14 force training for eligible small unmanned aircraft system 

15 technology. 

16 (b) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—Amounts from a 

17 grant under this section shall be used in furtherance of 

18 activities authorized under sections 631 and 632 of the 

19 FAA Reauthorization Act 2018 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note). 

20 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

21 under this section, an educational institution shall submit 

22 an application to the Secretary at such time, in such form, 

23 and containing such information as the Secretary may re24 quire. 


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1 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec3 tion— 

4 (1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; and 

5 (2) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2024. 

6 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) COVERED FOREIGN ENTITY.—The term 

9 ‘‘covered foreign entity’’ means an entity— 

10 (A) included on the Consolidated Screening 

11 List or Entity List as designated by the Sec12 retary of Commerce; 

13 (B) domiciled in the People’s Republic of 

14 China or the Russian Federation; 

15 (C) subject to influence or control by the 

16 government of the People’s Republic of China 

17 or by the Russian Federation; or 

18 (D) is a subsidiary or affiliate of an entity 

19 described in subparagraphs (A) through (C). 

20 (2) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

21 ‘‘critical infrastructure’’ has the meaning given such 

22 term in section 1016(e) of the Critical Infrastruc23 tures Protection Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)). 

24 (3) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT.— 

25 The term ‘‘critical infrastructure project’’ means a 


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1 project for the inspection, operation, maintenance, 

2 repair, modernization, or construction of an element 

3 of critical infrastructure, including mitigating envi4 ronmental hazards to such infrastructure. 

5 (4) EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.—The term 

6 ‘‘educational institution’’ means an institution of 

7 higher education (as defined in section 101 of the 

8 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) 

9 that participates in a program authorized under sec10 tions 631 and 632 of the FAA Reauthorization Act 

11 of 2018 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note). 

12 (5) ELEMENT OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUC13 TURE.—The term ‘‘element of critical infrastruc14 ture’’ means a critical infrastructure facility or 

15 asset, including public bridges, tunnels, roads, high16 ways, dams, electric grid, water infrastructure, com17 munication systems, pipelines, or other related facili18 ties or assets, as defined by the Secretary. 

19 (6) ELIGIBLE SMALL UNMANNED AIRCRAFT

20 SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘eligible small unmanned air21 craft system’’ means a small unmanned aircraft sys22 tem manufactured or assembled by a company that 

23 is domiciled in the United States and is not a cov24 ered foreign entity. 


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1 (7) GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘gov2 ernmental entity’’ means— 

3 (A) a State, the District of Columbia, the 

4 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of 

5 the United States, or a political subdivision 

6 thereof; 

7 (B) a unit of local government; 

8 (C) a Tribal Government; 

9 (D) a metropolitan planning organization; 

10 or 

11 (E) a combination of the entities described 

12 in subparagraphs (A) through (D). 

13 (8) SMALL UNMANNED AIRCRAFT; UNMANNED

14 AIRCRAFT; UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.—The 

15 terms ‘‘small unmanned aircraft’’, ‘‘unmanned air16 craft’’, and ‘‘unmanned aircraft system’’ have the 

17 meanings given such terms in section 44801 of title 

18 49, United States Code. 

Æ 


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