I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8854 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a program to track 

potential sources of airborne foreign object debris to prevent the collision 

of aircraft with such debris, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 3, 2020 

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a program to track potential sources of airborne foreign object 

debris to prevent the collision of aircraft with such debris, 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 ‘‘Aerospace Debris Safe5 ty Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FOREIGN OBJECT DEBRIS COLLISION AVOIDANCE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 447 of title 49, United 

3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘§ 44741. Foreign object debris collision avoidance 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transpor7 tation, in coordination with the Administrator of the Fed8 eral Aviation Administration, shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) establish a program to track objects that 

10 are potential sources of covered airborne foreign ob11 ject debris; 

12 ‘‘(2) establish a database containing data and 

13 information on such objects; 

14 ‘‘(3) utilize existing tools and methods, includ15 ing communication with the owners or operators of 

16 such objects, to determine on an ongoing basis the 

17 likelihood and the circumstances, including the time 

18 and location, under which such objects may reenter 

19 the Earth’s atmosphere in a controlled or uncon20 trolled manner; 

21 ‘‘(4) assess the potential of a reentry of each 

22 such object to create covered airborne foreign object 

23 debris; and 

24 ‘‘(5) establish a system, in consultation with the 

25 Chief Operating Officer for the air traffic control 

26 system, by which— 


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1 ‘‘(A) airspace may be dynamically con2 trolled or restricted due to the presence or ex3 pected presence of covered airborne foreign ob4 ject debris; and 

5 ‘‘(B) aircraft at risk of being impacted by 

6 covered airborne foreign object debris can be 

7 expeditiously notified and redirected. 

8 ‘‘(b) TRACKING PROGRAM.—In establishing the pro9 gram under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary may— 

10 ‘‘(1) acquire or establish facilities and equip11 ment to directly track objects that are potential 

12 sources of covered airborne foreign object debris; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(2) contract for, or utilize reliable sources of, 

15 data and information relating to such objects from 

16 other Federal agencies or any eligible entity, includ17 ing by using the authority provided in section 

18 106(l)(6). 

19 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL DATA AND INFORMATION.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Prior to receiving data and 

21 information from a Federal agency under subsection 

22 (b)(2), or using such data and information for any 

23 purpose under this section, the Secretary shall enter 

24 into an agreement with the head of such Federal 

25 agency that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) details the purposes for which the 

2 Secretary is authorized to use such data and in3 formation; 

4 ‘‘(B) describes the conditions under which 

5 data and information may not be released, in6 cluding a list of eligible entities or categories of 

7 eligible entities that are not permitted to receive 

8 such data and information; 

9 ‘‘(C) ensures that such data or information 

10 is safety-related and unclassified; 

11 ‘‘(D) designates the Secretary as the sole 

12 or primary Federal distributor of such data and 

13 information to an eligible entity; and 

14 ‘‘(E) contains any other condition or re15 striction as the Secretary and the head of such 

16 Federal agency consider appropriate. 

17 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary may not 

18 enter into an agreement with the head of a Federal 

19 agency under this subsection that restricts the abil20 ity of the Secretary to provide the minimum data 

21 and information necessary to an eligible entity to ef22 fectively provide services described under subsection 

23 (d). 

24 ‘‘(d) SAFETY OF AIRSPACE AND AIRCRAFT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) UNITED STATES AIRSPACE.—The Sec2 retary shall provide the service under subsection 

3 (a)(5) to aircraft operating in United States airspace 

4 or airspace assigned to the United States at no 

5 charge. 

6 ‘‘(2) FOREIGN AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary 

7 may enter into an agreement with a foreign air navi8 gation service provider for the Secretary to provide 

9 the services described in subsection (a)(5)(B) to the 

10 foreign air navigation service provider, provided that 

11 the foreign air navigation service provider— 

12 ‘‘(A) remunerates the Secretary at a rate 

13 that is reasonably related to the cost of pro14 viding such services, as determined by the Sec15 retary; and 

16 ‘‘(B) agrees to indemnify and hold the 

17 United States Government harmless from any 

18 claim related to the provision of such services 

19 and any related action or omission. 

20 ‘‘(e) OTHER USES OF DATA AND INFORMATION; 

21 OTHER SERVICES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary, in coordina23 tion with appropriate entities within the Department 

24 of Transportation and in consultation with the heads 

25 of other relevant Federal agencies— 


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1 ‘‘(A) shall carry out a program to improve 

2 the collection, processing, and dissemination of 

3 data and information contained in the database 

4 established under subsection (a)(2) and to pro5 vide services relating to such data and informa6 tion, as the Secretary determines appropriate; 

7 ‘‘(B) subject to paragraph (2), may pro8 vide such data, information, and services to an 

9 eligible entity; and 

10 ‘‘(C) may obtain such data, information, 

11 and services from an eligible entity. 

12 ‘‘(2) TYPE OF INFORMATION PROVIDED.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Data and information 

14 provided to an eligible entity under paragraph 

15 (1)(B) shall be safety-related and unclassified. 

16 ‘‘(B) INTERESTS OF THE UNITED

17 STATES.—The Secretary, in consultation with 

18 the head of a Federal agency with which the 

19 Secretary has entered into an agreement under 

20 subsection (c), shall develop a policy to deter21 mine the type of information that may be pro22 vided under paragraph (1) without compro23 mising the national security interests of the 

24 United States. 

25 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC SERVICES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

2 designate a basic level of data, information, and 

3 services described in paragraph (1) to be pro4 vided at no charge to an eligible entity and pub5 lic services to be provided at no charge, includ6 ing— 

7 ‘‘(i) a public catalog of objects con8 tained in the database established under 

9 subsection (a)(2); 

10 ‘‘(ii) emergency conjunction notifica11 tions for objects that are potential sources 

12 of covered airborne foreign object debris; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(iii) any other data, information, or 

15 services the Secretary considers appro16 priate. 

17 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may 

18 not provide data, information, or services under 

19 subparagraph (A)(iii) that compete with prod20 ucts offered by United States commercial enti21 ties. 

22 ‘‘(4) ADVANCED SERVICES.—The Secretary 

23 may undertake activities to promote the creation and 

24 provision of more advanced levels of data, informaVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8854.IH H8854

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1 tion, and services to foster the public and private en2 hancement of transportation safety. 

3 ‘‘(5) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary shall estab4 lish procedures by which the authority under this 

5 subsection shall be carried out. 

6 ‘‘(6) IMMUNITY.—The United States, any agen7 cies and instrumentalities thereof, and any individ8 uals, firms, corporations, and other persons acting 

9 for the United States, shall be immune from any 

10 suit in any court for any cause of action arising 

11 from the provision or receipt data, information, or 

12 services described in paragraph (1) whether or not 

13 provided in accordance with this section, or any re14 lated action or omission. 

15 ‘‘(f) NON-DELEGATION.—Except as provided in sub16 section (e)(5), the authority under this section may only 

17 be delegated by the Secretary of Transportation to an offi18 cer or employee of the Department of Transportation, in19 cluding the Federal Aviation Administration. 

20 ‘‘(g) FUNDING.—Out of amounts made available 

21 under section 106(k)(2)(D) of title 49, United States 

22 Code, $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 

23 2023 may be expended by the Secretary to carry out this 

24 section. 

25 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) COVERED AIRBORNE FOREIGN OBJECT DE2 BRIS.—The term ‘covered airborne foreign object de3 bris’ means any manmade object in the atmosphere 

4 that— 

5 ‘‘(A) was previously in Earth orbit; 

6 ‘‘(B) is uncontrolled; and 

7 ‘‘(C) poses a potential risk to the safe 

8 flight of civil aircraft in air commerce. 

9 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en10 tity’ means any non-Federal entity, including any of 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(A) A State. 

13 ‘‘(B) A political subdivision of a State. 

14 ‘‘(C) A United States commercial entity. 

15 ‘‘(D) The government of a foreign country. 

16 ‘‘(E) A foreign commercial entity.’’. 

17 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

18 (1) SECTION 44737.—Chapter 447 of title 49, 

19 United States Code, is further amended by redesig20 nating the second section 44737 (as added by sec21 tion 581 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018) 

22 as section 44740. 

23 (2) ANALYSIS.—The analysis for chapter 447 of 

24 title 49, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (A) by striking the item relating to the 

2 second section 44737 (as added by section 581 

3 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018); and 

4 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

5 section 44739 the following new items: 

‘‘44740. Special rule for certain aircraft operations. 

‘‘44741. Foreign object debris collision avoidance.’’. 

6 (3) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN AIRCRAFT OP7 ERATIONS.—Section 44740 of title 49, United States 

8 Code (as redesignated by paragraph (1)), is amend9 ed— 

10 (A) in the heading by striking the period 

11 at the end; 

12 (B) in subsection (a)(1) by striking ‘‘chap13 ter’’ and inserting ‘‘section’’; 

14 (C) in subsection (b)(1) by striking ‘‘(1)’’ 

15 the second time it appears; and 

16 (D) in subsection (c)(2) by adding a period 

17 at the end. 

Æ 


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