II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 816 

To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to establish an Aviation Rulemaking Committee to make recommendations regarding continuous aircraft tracking and transmission of identity, altitude, and location data for high altitude balloons, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 15, 2023 

Mr. KELLY (for himself and Mr. BUDD) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to establish an Aviation Rulemaking Committee 

to make recommendations regarding continuous aircraft 

tracking and transmission of identity, altitude, and location data for high altitude balloons, 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 ‘‘Seeing Objects at Alti5 tude Regularly Act’’ or the ‘‘SOAR Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONTINUOUS AIRCRAFT TRACKING AND TRANS2 MISSION FOR HIGH ALTITUDE BALLOONS. 

3 (a) AVIATION RULEMAKING COMMITTEE.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

5 after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad6 ministrator shall establish an Aviation Rulemaking 

7 Committee (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Com8 mittee’’) to review and develop findings and rec9 ommendations regarding a standard that any high 

10 altitude balloon be equipped with a system for con11 tinuous aircraft tracking that shall transmit, at a 

12 minimum, the altitude, location, and identity of the 

13 high altitude balloon in a manner which is accessible 

14 to air traffic controllers, aircraft, and other users of 

15 the National Airspace System. 

16 (2) COMPOSITION.—The Committee shall con17 sist of members appointed by the Administrator, in18 cluding the following: 

19 (A) Representatives of industry. 

20 (B) Aviation safety experts with specific 

21 knowledge of high altitude balloon operations. 

22 (C) Representatives of the Department of 

23 Defense. 

24 (D) Representatives of Federal agencies 

25 that conduct high altitude balloon operations. 


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1 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 

2 the date of enactment of this section, the Committee 

3 shall submit to the Administrator a report detailing 

4 the findings and recommendations of the Committee 

5 described in paragraph (1). Such report shall include 

6 recommendations regarding the following: 

7 (A) How to update sections 91.215, 

8 91.225, and 99.13 of title 14, Code of Federal 

9 Regulations, to require any high altitude bal10 loons to have a continuous aircraft tracking and 

11 transmission system. 

12 (B) Any necessary updates to the require13 ments for unmanned free balloons under sub14 part D of part 101 of title 14, Code of Federal 

15 Regulations. 

16 (C) Any necessary updates to other Fed17 eral Aviation Administration regulations or re18 quirements deemed appropriate and necessary 

19 by the Administrator to— 

20 (i) ensure any high altitude balloon 

21 has a continuous aircraft tracking and 

22 transmission system; 

23 (ii) ensure all data relating to the alti24 tude, location, and identity of any high al25 titude balloon is made available to air trafVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S816.IS S816

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1 fic controllers, aircraft, and other users of 

2 the National Airspace System; and 

3 (iii) maintain airspace safety. 

4 (b) RULEMAKING AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 

5 Not later than 180 days after the date on which the Com6 mittee submits the report under subsection (a)(3), the Ad7 ministrator shall— 

8 (1) issue a notice of proposed rulemaking to re9 quire a continuous aircraft tracking and trans10 mission system for any high altitude balloon, in ac11 cordance with the recommendations of the Com12 mittee; and 

13 (2) coordinate with foreign authorities (includ14 ing bilateral partners and the International Civil 

15 Aviation Organization (ICAO)) to develop contin16 uous aircraft tracking and transmission system 

17 standards for any high altitude balloon operating 

18 outside of the National Airspace System. 

19 (c) INTERIM STANDARD.—During the period begin20 ning on the date that is 2 years after the date of enact21 ment of this section and ending on the date on which the 

22 Administrator issues a notice of proposed rulemaking 

23 under subsection (b)(1), a person may only operate a high 

24 altitude balloon if such balloon meets the requirements de25 scribed in section 91.215(b) of title 14, Code of Federal 


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1 Regulations, notwithstanding the exemption provided in 

2 subsection (e)(1) of such section 91.215. 

3 (d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 6 

4 months after the date of enactment of this section, and 

5 every 6 months thereafter until the Administrator promul6 gates a final rule under subsection (b), the Administrator 

7 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 

8 a report on the status of the rulemaking and other re9 quirements being developed under such subsection. 

10 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis12 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

13 Aviation Administration. 

14 (2) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON15 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con16 gress’’ means— 

17 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

18 and Transportation of the Senate; 

19 (B) the Committee on Appropriations of 

20 the Senate; 

21 (C) the Committee on Transportation and 

22 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; 

23 and 

24 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of 

25 the House of Representatives. 


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1 (3) HIGH ALTITUDE BALLOON.—The term 

2 ‘‘high altitude balloon’’ means a manned or un3 manned free balloon operating not less than 10,000 

4 feet above sea level. 

Æ 


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