Northern Border Coordination Act

To establish the Northern Border Coordination Center, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Northern Border Coordination Act 2. Definitions In this Act: (1) Center The term Center (2) C–UAS The term C–UAS (3) Department The term Department (4) Northern border The term northern border (5) Secretary The term Secretary (6) Unmanned aircraft; unmanned aircraft systems The terms unmanned aircraft unmanned aircraft system 3. Northern Border Coordination Center (a) Establishment Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish the Northern Border Coordination Center. (b) Purpose The purpose of the Center shall be to serve as the Department’s forward deployed centralized coordination center for operations, domain awareness, information sharing, intelligence, training, and stakeholder engagement with Federal, State, tribal, local, and international government partners along the northern border of the United States at a location that is collocated with an existing U.S. Border Patrol sector headquarters, the U.S. Border Patrol Northern Border Coordination Center, an Air and Marine Operations branch, and a United States Coast Guard air station. (c) Components (1) In general The Center shall collocate personnel and activities of— (A) U.S. Customs and Border Protection, including U.S. Border Patrol and Air and Marine Operations; (B) the United States Coast Guard; (C) Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers; (D) the Science and Technology Directorate; (E) other components and offices of the Department that the Secretary determines to be necessary; and (F) additional Federal, State, tribal, local, and international government partners, as the Secretary determines to be necessary and appropriate to support operations described in this Act. (d) Functions The Center shall perform the functions described in this subsection in addition to any other functions assigned by the Secretary. (1) Northern border security strategy The Center, in collaboration with relevant offices and components of the Department, shall— (A) serve as a coordination mechanism for operational components for the implementation, evaluation, and updating of the Northern Border Security Strategy and any successor strategy; and (B) support the development of best practices and policies for personnel at the northern border to support such implementation. (2) Training The Center shall serve as a training location to support the delivery of training or exercises for Department personnel and Federal, State, tribal, local, and international government partners. (3) Metrics The Center, in collaboration with relevant offices and components of the Department, shall coordinate the development and tracking of border security metrics for the northern border. (4) Resource and technological needs and challenges The Center, in collaboration with relevant offices and components of the Department, shall— (A) identify resource and technological needs or challenges affecting security along the northern border; (B) serve as a testing ground and demonstration location for the testing of border security technology, including determining such technology’s suitability and performance in the northern border and maritime environments; and (C) develop and test new technological capabilities to respond to the increased use of unmanned aircraft systems, including to specifically improve domain awareness along the northern border. (5) Air and marine operations (A) Quick reaction capabilities In support of the Center, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations— (i) shall establish and maintain capability that is collocated with the Center and available for quick deployment in support of the northern border missions of the Center, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Department, specifically missions in the Great Lakes region; and (ii) in coordination with the Center and relevant offices and components of the Department, shall evaluate requirements and make recommendations to support the operations of large unmanned aircraft systems based at the Center. (B) Northern border domain awareness In order to coordinate with the Center and support its operations, the Air and Marine Operations Center shall establish a unit at the Center to provide the Center the capability— (i) to support air and maritime domain awareness and information sharing efforts along the northern border; (ii) to provide dedicated monitoring of northern border systems; and (iii) to lead, in coordination with other U.S. Customs and Border Protection components, Federal, State, tribal, local, and international governments, and private sector partners, the Center’s efforts to track and monitor legitimate cross-border traffic involving unmanned aircraft and unmanned aircraft systems. (6) Counter-unmanned aircraft systems The Center shall support counter-unmanned aircraft systems operations along the northern border to respond to the increased use of unmanned aircraft systems. (7) Privacy and civil rights The Center, in collaboration with the Chief Privacy Officer and the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of the Department, shall ensure that operations and practices of the Center comply with the privacy and civil rights policies of the Department and its components. (e) Annual reporting Not later than 180 days after the establishment of the Center, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives (1) personnel levels; (2) additional resources that are needed to support the operations of the Center and northern border operations of the Department; and (3) any additional assets or authorities that are needed to increase security and domain awareness along the northern border. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Northern Border Coordination Act 2. Definitions In this Act: (1) Center The term Center (2) Department The term Department (3) Northern border The term northern border (4) Secretary The term Secretary 3. Northern Border Coordination Center (a) Establishment Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish the Northern Border Coordination Center. (b) Purpose The purpose of the Center shall be to serve as the Department’s forward deployed centralized coordination center for operations, domain awareness, information sharing, intelligence, training, and stakeholder engagement with Federal, State, tribal, local, and international government partners along the northern border of the United States. The Center shall be placed along the northern border at a location that is collocated with an existing U.S. Border Patrol sector headquarters, an Air and Marine Operations branch, and a United States Coast Guard air station, and other existing Department activities. (c) Components (1) In general The Center shall collocate personnel and activities of— (A) U.S. Customs and Border Protection, including U.S. Border Patrol and Air and Marine Operations; (B) the United States Coast Guard; (C) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations; (D) other components and offices of the Department that the Secretary determines to be necessary, including to support the training, technology testing, and development described in subsection (d); and (E) additional Federal, State, tribal, local, and international government partners, as the Secretary determines to be necessary and appropriate to support the coordination of operations described in this Act. (d) Functions The Center shall perform the functions described in this subsection in addition to any other functions assigned by the Secretary. (1) Northern border strategy The Center, in collaboration with relevant offices and components of the Department, shall— (A) serve as a coordination mechanism for operational components for the implementation, evaluation, and updating of the Northern Border Strategy and any successor strategy; and (B) support the development of best practices and policies for personnel at the northern border to support such implementation. (2) Training The Center shall serve as a training location to support the delivery of training or exercises for Department personnel and Federal, State, tribal, local, and international government partners. (3) Metrics The Center, in collaboration with relevant offices and components of the Department, shall coordinate the development and tracking of border security metrics for the northern border. (4) Resource and technological needs and challenges The Center, in collaboration with relevant offices and components of the Department, shall— (A) identify resource and technological needs or challenges affecting security along the northern border; and (B) serve as a testing ground and demonstration location for the testing of border security technology, including determining such technology’s suitability and performance in the northern border and maritime environments. (5) Air and marine operations (A) Quick reaction capabilities In support of the Center, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations— (i) shall establish and maintain capability that is collocated with the Center and available for quick deployment in support of the northern border missions, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Department, including missions in the Great Lakes region; and (ii) in coordination with the Center and relevant offices and components of the Department, shall evaluate requirements and make recommendations to support the operations of large unmanned aircraft systems based at the Center. (B) Northern border domain awareness In order to coordinate with the Center and support its operations, the Air and Marine Operations Center shall collocate personnel and resources with the Center to enhance the Department’s capabilities to— (i) support air and maritime domain awareness and information sharing efforts along the northern border; (ii) provide dedicated monitoring of northern border systems; and (iii) lead, in coordination with other U.S. Customs and Border Protection components, Federal, State, tribal, local, and international governments, and private sector partners, the Center’s efforts to track and monitor legitimate cross-border traffic involving unmanned aircraft and unmanned aircraft systems. (6) Counter-unmanned aircraft systems Pursuant to policies established by the Secretary, the Center shall support counter-unmanned aircraft systems operations along the northern border to respond to the increased use of unmanned aircraft systems. Such support may involve development, testing, and evaluation of technologies. (7) Privacy and civil rights The Center, in collaboration with the Chief Privacy Officer and the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of the Department, shall ensure that operations and practices of the Center comply with the privacy and civil rights policies of the Department and its components. (e) Annual reporting Not later than 180 days after the establishment of the Center, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives (1) personnel levels; (2) additional resources that are needed to support the operations of the Center and northern border operations of the Department; and (3) any additional assets or authorities that are needed to increase security and domain awareness along the northern border. (f) Temporary duty assignments The Secretary shall submit a quarterly report to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives (1) the number of agents on temporary duty assignment; (2) the duration of the temporary duty assignment; and (3) the sectors from which the agents were assigned. (g) Rule of construction The Center established pursuant to subsection (a) shall be established separate and distinct from the Secretary’s authorities under section 708 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( 6 U.S.C. 348 November 30, 2023 Reported with an amendment

Summary: Northern Border Coordination Act This bill establishes a center to coordinate border security activities along the U.S.-Canada border and addresses related issues. Specifically, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must establish the Northern Border Coordination Center to serve as the centralized coordination center for operations, domain awareness, intelligence, and engagement with federal, state, tribal, local, and international partners. The center must also (1) serve as a coordination mechanism for implementing, evaluating, and updating the Northern Border Security Strategy; and (2) support counter-unmanned aircraft systems operations. The bill also requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Air and Marine Operations to (1) establish capability at the center to support northern border missions, including in the Great Lakes region; (2) locate personnel and resources with the center to support air and maritime domain awareness; and (3) coordinate with relevant DHS components on various activities, including efforts to monitor unmanned aircraft systems.