I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5879 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to permit small, unmanned aircraft 

pilot research for public safety, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 3, 2023 

Mr. NEHLS (for himself, Mr. HUNT, Mr. FINSTAD, Mr. GUEST, Mr. DAVIS

of North Carolina, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, and Mr. STAUBER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, 

Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to permit small, 

unmanned aircraft pilot research for public safety, 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 ‘‘Drone Research and 

5 Innovation for Law Enforcement Act of 2023’’. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 5879 IH

1 SEC. 2. SMALL UNMANNED AIRCRAFT PILOT RESEARCH 

2 FOR PUBLIC SAFETY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 448 of title 49, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 44811. Small unmanned aircraft pilot research for 

7 public safety 

8 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION REGARDING WEAPONS.—The pro9 hibition regarding unmanned aircraft armed with dan10 gerous weapons under section 363 of the FAA Reauthor11 ization Act of 2018 (49 U.S.C. 44802 note) is reaffirmed. 

12 ‘‘(b) PILOT RESEARCH PROGRAM.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 months 

14 after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad15 ministrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 

16 shall initiate a pilot research program to study the 

17 potential use of non-lethal de-escalation unmanned 

18 aircraft by law enforcement agencies. 

19 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The study required under 

20 subsection (b) shall address— 

21 ‘‘(A) the process of assessing and vali22 dating conducted energy devices or other non23 lethal de-escalation equipment that may be at24 tached to unmanned aircraft; 

25 ‘‘(B) training protocols for law enforce26 ment and agents of the Administration; and 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 5879 IH

1 ‘‘(C) operational and safety protocols for 

2 operators of non-lethal de-escalation unmanned 

3 aircraft and agencies directly overseeing the op4 eration of such unmanned aircraft. 

5 ‘‘(3) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Administrator shall 

6 enter into interagency agreements with the Depart7 ments of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, 

8 and State large metropolitan and rural law enforce9 ment agencies with regard to the pilot research pro10 gram established under this subsection. The Admin11 istrator shall designate the Center of Excellence for 

12 Unmanned Aerial Systems designated under section 

13 44814, in collaboration with Federal, State, and 

14 large metropolitan law enforcement as well as rural 

15 law enforcement training facilities, as the location 

16 for such program. 

17 ‘‘(4) CONSULTATION.—The Administrator shall 

18 solicit input from, and coordinate with, relevant 

19 stakeholders as appropriate in carrying out the pilot 

20 research program established under this subsection. 

21 ‘‘(5) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

23 shall submit to the Committee on Transportation 

24 and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives 

25 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 5879 IH

1 Transportation a report on the results of the pilot 

2 research program that includes a plan outlining a 

3 proposed process through which a law enforcement 

4 applicant to such program may seek permission from 

5 the Administrator to operate non-lethal de-escalation 

6 unmanned aircraft. 

7 ‘‘(c) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 90 days after 

8 submitting the report set required under subsection (b)(5), 

9 the Administrator shall initiate a rulemaking to create a 

10 process through which the Administrator may provide ap11 proval to operate non-lethal de-escalation unmanned air12 craft. 

13 ‘‘(d) MANUFACTURING REQUIREMENT.—Any non-le14 thal de-escalation unmanned aircraft used under the pilot 

15 research program may be manufactured in the United 

16 States, as defined by the Federal Trade Commission under 

17 part 323 of title 16, Code of Federal Regulations. 

18 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS OF NON-LETHAL DE-ESCALATION

19 UNMANNED AIRCRAFT.—In this section: 

20 ‘‘(1) NON-LETHAL DE-ESCALATION UNMANNED

21 AIRCRAFT.—The term ‘non-lethal de-escalation un22 manned aircraft’ means an unmanned aircraft 

23 equipped with 1 or more non-lethal weapons or de24 vices that is— 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HR 5879 IH

1 ‘‘(A) used by law enforcement personnel in 

2 scenarios that present significant risk to human 

3 life, including the life of law enforcement per4 sonnel, captives, uninvolved individuals, the 

5 public, or a suspected criminal; and 

6 ‘‘(B) in which the suspected criminal is in 

7 an position through which he or she could po8 tentially escalate the situation and expose 

9 human life to a high level of risk. 

10 ‘‘(2) NON-LETHAL WEAPON.—The term ‘non-le11 thal weapon’ has the meaning given the term in used 

12 in DOD Directive Number 300.03E, issued on Au13 gust 31, 2018, by the Department of Defense.’’. 

14 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap15 ter 448 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 

16 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘ ‘44811. Small unmanned aircraft pilot research for public safety.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB