I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1192 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to permit the operation of actively 

tethered unmanned aircraft systems by all first responders, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 24, 2023 

Mr. NEHLS (for himself, Mr. STANTON, and Mr. WILLIAMS of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to permit the operation of actively tethered unmanned aircraft systems by 

all first responders, 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 ‘‘First Responders Aer5 ial Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF ACTIVELY TETHERED UNMANNED 

7 AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS. 

8 Section 44801(1) of title 49, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

2 the end; 

3 (2) in subparagraph (C) by striking the period 

4 at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(D) has redundant flight functionality 

7 which permits the unmanned aircraft compo8 nent to maintain normal flight control in the 

9 event that a rotor or flight mechanism fails 

10 during flight; and 

11 ‘‘(E) is programed to initiate a controlled 

12 landing in the event of a tether separation.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. OPERATION OF PUBLIC ACTIVELY TETHERED UN14 MANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44806(c) of title 49, 

16 United States Code, is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (1)(B)— 

18 (A) in clause (i) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

19 end; 

20 (B) in clause (ii) by inserting ‘‘or’’ at the 

21 end; and 

22 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(iii) in an emergency response situa24 tion— 


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1 ‘‘(I) at least a 0.25 mile radius 

2 away from an airport, if such systems 

3 are not operating in the approach or 

4 departure flight path for a runway at 

5 such airport; 

6 ‘‘(II) at least a 0.5 mile radius 

7 away from an airport, if such systems 

8 are operating in the approach or de9 parture flight path for a runway at an 

10 airport; or 

11 ‘‘(III) with approval of air traffic 

12 control personnel for an airport if 

13 such systems are operating closer to 

14 an airport than permitted under sub15 clauses (I) and (II);’’; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

18 ‘‘(A) EMERGENCY RESPONSE SITUA19 TION.—The term ‘emergency response situa20 tion’ means any situation that requires a re21 sponse by an emergency service organization. 

22 ‘‘(B) EMERGENCY SERVICE ORGANIZA23 TION.—The term ‘emergency service organiza24 tion’ means any entity, including an entity con25 tracting with a State or local government, that 


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1 provides emergency services or training for 

2 emergency service providers, including— 

3 ‘‘(i) a fire department; 

4 ‘‘(ii) a police department; 

5 ‘‘(iii) a search and rescue organiza6 tion; and 

7 ‘‘(iv) a public safety organization. 

8 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC ACTIVELY TETHERED UN9 MANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.—The term ‘public 

10 actively tethered unmanned aircraft system’ 

11 means an actively tethered unmanned aircraft 

12 system that is— 

13 ‘‘(i) a public unmanned aircraft sys14 tem; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) operated by an emergency service 

16 organization.’’. 

17 (b) AGENCY GUIDANCE.—Not later than 90 days 

18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

19 of the Federal Aviation Administration shall issue guid20 ance on the implementation of the amendments made by 

21 this section. 

Æ 


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