II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1314 

To establish an interim rule for the operation of small unmanned aircraft 

for commercial purposes and their safe integration into the national 

airspace system. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 13, 2015 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself and Mr. HOEVEN) introduced the following bill; 

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

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish an interim rule for the operation of small unmanned aircraft for commercial purposes and their safe 

integration into the national airspace system. 

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 ‘‘Commercial UAS Mod5 ernization Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INTERIM RULE FOR THE OPERATION OF SMALL UN2 MANNED AIRCRAFT FOR COMMERCIAL PUR3 POSES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title III of the FAA 

5 Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (Public Law 112– 

6 95) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 337. OPERATION OF SMALL UNMANNED AIRCRAFT 

8 FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A person may operate a small 

10 unmanned aircraft for commercial purposes without an 

11 airworthiness certificate within the United States, subject 

12 to the requirements under subsection (b) and the oper13 ating restrictions under subsection (c) during the period 

14 beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and 

15 ending on the effective date of a final rule based on the 

16 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Operation and Certifi17 cation of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (80 Fed. 

18 Reg. 9544, February 23, 2015). 

19 ‘‘(b) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) LIABILITY INSURANCE.—A small un21 manned aircraft may not be operated for commercial 

22 purposes during the period set forth in subsection 

23 (a) unless the Administrator receives an attestation 

24 that the owner of such aircraft has a liability insur25 ance policy covering the operation of such aircraft. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REGISTRATION.—A small unmanned air2 craft may not be operated for commercial purposes 

3 unless the owner has registered the aircraft under 

4 section 3(a) of the Commercial UAS Modernization 

5 Act. 

6 ‘‘(3) TESTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) EXAM DEVELOPMENT.—Not later 

8 than 30 days after the date of the enactment of 

9 the Commercial UAS Modernization Act, the 

10 Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis11 tration shall develop an initial aeronautical 

12 knowledge test that meets the requirements set 

13 forth in the notice referred to in subsection (a). 

14 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—An individual may 

15 not operate a small unmanned aircraft for com16 mercial purposes unless he or she— 

17 ‘‘(i) has received a passing grade on 

18 the test developed under subparagraph 

19 (A); 

20 ‘‘(ii) passed a proficiency test admin21 istered by a test site selected pursuant to 

22 section 332(c); and 

23 ‘‘(iii) has demonstrated the ability to 

24 fly the aircraft in accordance with the opVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 May 16, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1314.IS S1314

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1 erating restrictions set forth in subsection 

2 (c). 

3 ‘‘(4) CERTIFICATION.—A small unmanned air4 craft may not be operated for commercial purposes 

5 until the operator of a test site selected pursuant to 

6 section 332(c), in collaboration with a designated 

7 airworthiness representative, certifies that the small 

8 unmanned aircraft— 

9 ‘‘(A) meets the requirements for small un10 manned aircraft set forth in the notice referred 

11 to in subsection (a); and 

12 ‘‘(B) is capable of operating within the 

13 limits described in subsection (c). 

14 ‘‘(c) OPERATING RESTRICTIONS.—During the period 

15 set forth in subsection (a), small unmanned aircraft oper16 ated for commercial purposes— 

17 ‘‘(1) may only be operated under visual line of 

18 sight rules; 

19 ‘‘(2) may not be operated higher than 500 feet 

20 above ground level; 

21 ‘‘(3) may not be operated, unless the operator 

22 has prior authorization from the air traffic control 

23 facility having jurisdiction over that airspace— 

24 ‘‘(A) in Class B, Class C, or Class D air25 space; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) within the lateral boundaries of the 

2 surface area of Class E airspace designated for 

3 an airport; 

4 ‘‘(4) shall comply with model aircraft operating 

5 standards set forth in Advisory Circular 91–57, 

6 which was issued by the Federal Aviation Adminis7 tration on June 9, 1981, or the current revision of 

8 such standards; 

9 ‘‘(5) may only be operated in daylight condi10 tions; 

11 ‘‘(6) shall yield right of way to all other users 

12 of the National Airspace System; 

13 ‘‘(7) may not be operated by any individual 

14 with any physical or mental condition that the indi15 vidual knows, or has reason to know, would interfere 

16 with the safe operation of the aircraft; and 

17 ‘‘(8) may only be operated after a preflight in18 spection (as described in the notice referred to in 

19 subsection (a)). 

20 ‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor21 tation, or designee, may bring a civil action against a per22 son in a district court of the United States to enforce this 

23 section or a requirement or regulation prescribed, or an 

24 order or any term of a certificate or permit issued, under 

25 this section. The action may be brought in the judicial 


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1 district in which the person does business or the violation 

2 occurred. 

3 ‘‘(e) ACCIDENT REPORTING.—The owner or operator 

4 of a small unmanned aircraft that is involved in any acci5 dent causing personal injury or property damage, other 

6 than to the small unmanned aircraft, shall report such ac7 cident to the Federal Aviation Administration not later 

8 than 2 days after such accident.’’. 

9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

10 in section 1(b) of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act 

11 of 2012 is amended by inserting after the item relating 

12 to section 336 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 337. Operation of small unmanned aircraft for commercial purposes.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. DEPUTY ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR UN14 MANNED AIRCRAFT. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title III of the FAA 

16 Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (Public Law 112– 

17 95), as amended by section 2(a), is further amended by 

18 adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 338. DEPUTY ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR UN20 MANNED AIRCRAFT. 

21 ‘‘(a) APPOINTMENT.—The Administrator of the Fed22 eral Aviation Administration (referred to in this section 

23 as the ‘Administrator’) shall appoint a Deputy Associate 

24 Administrator for Unmanned Aircraft (referred to in this 

25 section as the ‘Deputy Associate Administrator’), who 


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1 shall report to the Administrator and to the Secretary of 

2 Transportation. 

3 ‘‘(b) REGISTRATION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) PROCEDURES.—Not later than 30 days 

5 after the date of the enactment of the Commercial 

6 UAS Modernization Act, the Deputy Associate Ad7 ministrator, in consultation with the Administrator, 

8 shall develop procedures for registering small un9 manned aircraft. 

10 ‘‘(2) FEES.—The Deputy Associate Adminis11 trator is authorized to collect reasonable fees, in an 

12 amount to be determined by the Deputy Associate 

13 Administrator, from the owner or operator of the 

14 small unmanned aircraft as part of the registration 

15 process. 

16 ‘‘(c) PRINCIPAL DUTIES.—The Deputy Associate Ad17 ministrator shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) create an achievable comprehensive re19 search and development plan for the safe integration 

20 of unmanned aircraft into the National Airspace 

21 System, which— 

22 ‘‘(A) takes into account work being done at 

23 other Federal agencies, in conjunction with 

24 their industry collaborators; 


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1 ‘‘(B) is based on an initial audit of current 

2 unmanned aircraft activity across the Federal 

3 Government in order to identify gaps and over4 laps; and 

5 ‘‘(C) allows for programmatic exemptions 

6 based on previous analysis. 

7 ‘‘(d) OTHER ISSUES.—The Deputy Associate Admin8 istrator, in consultation with the Administrator, shall de9 velop strategies for resolving— 

10 ‘‘(1) unmanned aircraft spectrum issues; 

11 ‘‘(2) barriers to unmanned aircraft operating 

12 beyond line of sight; 

13 ‘‘(3) barriers to allowing payload carriage; and 

14 ‘‘(4) barriers to utilizing automated unmanned 

15 aircraft systems. 

16 ‘‘(e) EXEMPTIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

18 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Dep19 uty Associate Administrator, in consultation with the 

20 Administrator, shall expedite and expand exemptions 

21 from the interim operating restrictions otherwise ap22 plicable to unmanned aircraft under section 337. 

23 ‘‘(2) EXEMPTIONS.—The exemptions authorized 

24 under paragraph (1) may include— 

25 ‘‘(A) beyond line of sight operations; 


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1 ‘‘(B) programmatic exemptions based on 

2 previous analysis; 

3 ‘‘(C) extended visual line of sight and mar4 ginal visual flight rules weather conditions; and 

5 ‘‘(D) heavier unmanned vehicles.’’. 

6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

7 in section 1(b) of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act 

8 of 2012 is amended by inserting after the item relating 

9 to section 337, as added by section 2(b), the following: 

‘‘Sec. 338. Deputy Associate Administrator for Unmanned Aircraft.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. JOINT AIRCRAFT SYSTEM RESEARCH AND DEVEL11 OPMENT DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS 

12 PROGRAM. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the 

14 Federal Aviation Administration shall establish a joint air15 craft system research and development data collection and 

16 analysis program at the William J. Hughes Technical Cen17 ter (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Center’’). 

18 (b) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES.— 

19 The Director of the Center shall set priorities for data 

20 collection, analysis, and research under the program estab21 lished under subsection (a), including identifying safety 

22 standards for detect and avoid, command and control, au23 tonomous aircraft systems, and air traffic management for 

24 beyond-visual-line of sight operations for such aircraft. 


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1 (c) USE OF TEST SITES.—The program established 

2 under subsection (a) shall utilize the 6 unmanned aircraft 

3 system test sites of the Federal Aviation Administration— 

4 (1) to conduct research; 

5 (2) to collect data; 

6 (3) to develop quarterly milestones to expedite 

7 commercial unmanned aircraft system operations; 

8 and 

9 (4) to work with other Federal agencies, the 

10 Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Sys11 tems, Federally funded research and development 

12 centers, industry, academia, and others, as appro13 priate, to implement the plan referred to in para14 graph (3). 

15 (d) AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PILOT PROGRAM.— 

16 (1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Administrator of 

17 the Federal Aviation Administration, acting through 

18 the Center, and the Administrator of the National 

19 Aeronautics and Space Administration, shall imple20 ment an air traffic management pilot program to re21 search and test a new regulatory structure for com22 mercial and other operations of small unmanned air23 craft in controlled and uncontrolled airspace below 

24 1,200 feet above ground level. 


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1 (2) MANAGEMENT TESTING.—The Center shall 

2 partner with a neutral third party to test the man3 agement of small unmanned aircraft in the airspace 

4 described in paragraph (1). 

5 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

6 of the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days there7 after, the Director of the Center shall submit a report that 

8 summarizes the actions taken under subsections (b), (c), 

9 and (d) to— 

10 (1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

11 Transportation of the Senate; 

12 (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

13 Senate; 

14 (3) the Committee on Transportation and In15 frastructure of the House of Representatives; and 

16 (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

17 House of Representatives. 

Æ 


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