I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1187 

To modify the requirements for the registration of certain aircraft, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 24, 2023 

Mr. LYNCH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To modify the requirements for the registration of certain 

aircraft, 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 ‘‘Civil Aviation Security 

5 and Safety Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF REGISTRATION AP7 PLICATIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in consulta9 tion with the Drug Enforcement Administration of the De10 partment of Justice, Homeland Security Investigations of 


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1 the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of For2 eign Assets Control of the Department of Treasury, the 

3 National Transportation Safety Board, and the Office of 

4 the Inspector General of the Department of Transpor5 tation, shall conduct a comprehensive review of the process 

6 under which the Administration reviews and approves air7 craft registration applications and dealer certifications 

8 under chapter 441 of title 49, United States Code. 

9 (b) CONTENTS OF REVIEW.—The review under sub10 section (a) shall include the identification of criminal, na11 tional security, or safety risks arising from the Civil Avia12 tion Registry process under chapter 441 of title 49, United 

13 States Code. 

14 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 days 

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

16 shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and In17 frastructure and the Committee on Financial Services of 

18 the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com19 merce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on 

20 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a re21 port describing the results of the review under subsection 

22 (a). 

23 (d) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 

24 days after the submission of the report under subsection 

25 (c), the Administrator shall issue such regulations as are 


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1 necessary to require the collection and recording of any 

2 personal identifiable information identified under the com3 prehensive review under subsection (a) determined to be 

4 reasonably necessary for the mitigation of criminal, na5 tional security, or safety risks under chapter 441 of title 

6 49, United States Code. 

7 SEC. 3. REGISTRATION OF AIRCRAFT. 

8 Section 44102 of title 49, United States Code, is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each owner of an aircraft 

12 submitting an application under this section shall in13 clude the name, address, date of birth, driver’s li14 cense or pilot’s license (or both if applicable), and 

15 applicant photos in the submission of such applica16 tion. 

17 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION BY ENTITY.—Each entity 

18 that is not publicly traded submitting an application 

19 under this section shall include— 

20 ‘‘(A) the name, date of birth, physical ad21 dress, and driver’s license or pilot’s license (or 

22 both if applicable), and applicant photos for 

23 each individual that owns more than 25 percent 

24 of the aircraft in the submission of such appli25 cation; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the name, physical address, State of 

2 residence, and taxpayer identification number 

3 for each entity that owns more than 25 percent 

4 of the aircraft in the submission of such appli5 cation. 

6 ‘‘(d) REVIEW OF INFORMATION.—Beginning on the 

7 date of enactment of the Civil Aviation Security and Safe8 ty Act of 2023, the Administrator shall review Office of 

9 Foreign Assets Control sanctions data on individuals and 

10 entities described in subsection (c) with potentially signifi11 cant responsibilities for aircraft ownership for coordina12 tion with the Office of Foreign Assets Control in order 

13 to identify Office of Foreign Assets Control-sanctioned ap14 plicants to the Office of Foreign Assets Control before 

15 issuing a registration or dealer certificate under this chap16 ter. 

17 ‘‘(e) RESTRICTION OF CERTAIN ENTITIES.—Not18 withstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Ad19 ministrator may not issue a registration or dealer certifi20 cate under this chapter to any individual or entity listed 

21 on the sanctions list of the Office of Foreign Assets Con22 trol.’’. 

23 SEC. 4. REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS. 

24 Section 44103 of title 49, United States Code, is 

25 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(e) VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—Beginning on 

2 the date of enactment of the Civil Aviation Security and 

3 Safety Act of 2023, the Administrator shall ensure that 

4 all eligibility and registration information provided in an 

5 application for an aircraft under this chapter is true and 

6 correct and any deficiency described in subsection (f) is 

7 addressed before issuing a registration or dealer certificate 

8 under this chapter. 

9 ‘‘(f) AUTHORITY TO MAKE MODIFICATIONS.—The 

10 Administrator shall make modifications in the application 

11 process under this chapter necessary to make the process 

12 more effective in serving the needs of— 

13 ‘‘(1) buyers and sellers of aircraft; 

14 ‘‘(2) officials responsible for enforcing laws re15 lated to the regulation of controlled substances (as 

16 defined in section 102 of the Comprehensive Drug 

17 Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 (21 

18 U.S.C. 802)); and 

19 ‘‘(3) other users of the process. 

20 ‘‘(g) NATURE OF MODIFICATIONS.—Modifications 

21 made under subsection (e) of this section— 

22 ‘‘(1) may include a system of titling aircraft or 

23 registering all aircraft, even aircraft not operated; 

24 ‘‘(2) shall ensure positive, verifiable, and timely 

25 identification of the true owner; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) shall address at least each of the following 

2 deficiencies in and abuses of the existing system: 

3 ‘‘(A) The registration of aircraft to ficti4 tious persons. 

5 ‘‘(B) The use of false or nonexistent ad6 dresses by persons registering aircraft. 

7 ‘‘(C) The use by a person registering an 

8 aircraft of a post office box or ‘mail drop’ as a 

9 return address to evade identification of the 

10 person’s address. 

11 ‘‘(D) The registration of aircraft to entities 

12 established to facilitate unlawful activities. 

13 ‘‘(E) The submission of names of individ14 uals on applications for registration of aircraft 

15 that are not identifiable. 

16 ‘‘(F) The ability to make frequent legal 

17 changes in the registration markings assigned 

18 to aircraft. 

19 ‘‘(G) The use of false registration mark20 ings on aircraft. 

21 ‘‘(H) The illegal use of ‘reserved’ registra22 tion markings on aircraft. 

23 ‘‘(I) The large number of aircraft classified 

24 as being in ‘self-reported status’. 


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1 ‘‘(J) The lack of a system to ensure timely 

2 and adequate notice of the transfer of owner3 ship of aircraft. 

4 ‘‘(K) The practice of allowing temporary 

5 operation and navigation of aircraft without the 

6 issuance of a certificate of registration.’’. 

7 SEC. 5. REGISTRATION FEES. 

8 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

9 of this Act, the Administrator shall issue such regulations 

10 as are necessary to increase the fees for registration of 

11 an aircraft under section 44103 of title 49, United States 

12 Code, to a level sufficient to cover the costs of efforts of 

13 the Administration to collect and verify applicant data and 

14 to cover the costs of inflation (to reflect the change in the 

15 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers). 

16 SEC. 6. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZATION. 

17 In carrying out this Act, the Administrator shall en18 sure that, as the Administration undertakes information 

19 technology modernization efforts, the information collected 

20 in ancillary files or in PDF format on owners and related 

21 individuals and entities with potentially significant respon22 sibilities for aircraft ownership (including beneficial own23 ers (as such term is defined in section 5901 of title 49, 

24 United States Code), trustors, trustees, beneficiaries, 

25 stockholders, directors, and managers) and declaration of 


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1 international operations are recorded in an electronic for2 mat that facilitates data analytics by the Administration 

3 and relevant Federal national security, law enforcement, 

4 and public safety agencies. The Administrator shall ensure 

5 that such information is linked through a common identi6 fier. The Administrator shall ensure that modernization 

7 efforts include the development and implementation of a 

8 process by which the Administration may easily review rel9 evant Office of Foreign Asset Control sanctions data on 

10 registration and dealer certificate applicants under section 

11 44103 of title 49, United States Code, and flag sanctioned 

12 applicants for such Office. 

13 SEC. 7. INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS. 

14 The Administrator shall provide to the Drug Enforce15 ment Administration and Homeland Security Investiga16 tions declarations of international operations of the Fed17 eral Aviation Administration to maximize the ability of 

18 Federal national security and law enforcement agencies to 

19 assist the Administration in preventing use of the Civil 

20 Aviation Registry for illicit purposes and detect trade21 based money laundering and other cross-border schemes. 

22 SEC. 8. SUSPENSION AND REVOCATION OF CERTIFICATES. 

23 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

24 of this Act, the Administrator shall issue such regulations 

25 as are necessary to implement an enforcement mechanism 


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1 for suspending and revoking dealer certificates under 

2 chapter 441 of title 49, United States Code. 

3 SEC. 9. AIRCRAFT REGISTRY TASK FORCE. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

6 establish an Aircraft Registry Task Force (in this section 

7 referred to as the ‘‘Task Force’’) to examine national se8 curity, law enforcement, and public safety issues related 

9 to civil aircraft registration and developing solutions to 

10 mitigate security and safety risks and increase inter-agen11 cy cooperation. 

12 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force shall include— 

13 (1) the Administrator of the Administration; 

14 and 

15 (2) representatives of— 

16 (A) the Drug Enforcement Administration; 

17 (B) Homeland Security Investigations; 

18 (C) the Office of Foreign Asset Control; 

19 and 

20 (D) any other Federal national security, 

21 law enforcement, or public safety entity deter22 mined necessary by the Administrator to facili23 tate the task force’s mission. 


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1 (c) TERMINATION.—The Task Force under this sec2 tion shall not terminate. 

Æ 


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