Title: Safeguarding America's Skies Act of 2018
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Safeguarding America's Skies Act of 2018
This bill amends the federal criminal code to authorize the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to detect, track, redirect, and disrupt an unauthorized unmanned aircraft to mitigate a safety or security threat to a facility or asset in the United States related to federal property, authorized protective operations, critical infrastructure, or other efforts.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5366 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5366

     To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for certain 
authorized actions regarding interdiction of unmanned aircraft, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 21, 2018

   Mrs. Hartzler (for herself, Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia, and Ms. 
  Hanabusa) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
   Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on 
Transportation and Infrastructure, and Homeland Security, for a period 
    to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for certain 
authorized actions regarding interdiction of unmanned aircraft, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Safeguarding America's Skies Act of 
2018''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZED ACTIONS REGARDING INTERDICTION OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 1 of part I of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end of the following:

``SEC. 28. AUTHORIZED ACTIONS REGARDING INTERDICTION OF UNMANNED 
              AIRCRAFT.

    ``(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
title, except as described in paragraph (1), the Secretary of Homeland 
Security and the Attorney General may, for their respective 
departments, authorize officers, employees, and contractors of the 
department assigned with duties that include safety, security, or 
protection of personnel, facilities, or assets of the department, to 
take such actions described in subsection (b) that are necessary to 
mitigate the threat (as defined by the Secretary of Homeland Security 
and the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of 
Transportation) that an unauthorized UAV poses to the safety or 
security of a covered facility or asset. In taking such actions, the 
agency shall--
            ``(1) avoid any infringement of the privacy and civil 
        rights of the people of the United States and the freedom of 
        the press consistent with the First and Fourth Amendments, 
        including with regard to the testing of any equipment and the 
        interception or acquisition of communications;
            ``(2) limit the geographic reach and the duration of such 
        actions to only those areas and timeframes that are reasonably 
        necessary to address a reasonable threat; and
            ``(3) use reasonable care not to interfere with non-
        targeted manned or unmanned aircraft, communications, 
        equipment, facilities, or services.
    ``(b) Actions Authorized.--
            ``(1) Actions described.--The actions described in this 
        subsection are as follows:
                    ``(A) Detect, identify, monitor, and track, without 
                prior consent, a UAV, including by means of 
                interception of or other access to wire, oral, 
                electronic, or radio communications or signals 
                transmitted to or by the UAV, to evaluate whether the 
                UAV poses a reasonable threat to the safety or security 
                of a covered facility or asset.
                    ``(B) Warn the operator of the UAV, including by 
                passive or active, and direct or indirect physical, 
                electronic, radio, and electromagnetic means.
                    ``(C) Redirect, alter control, disable, disrupt, 
                seize, or confiscate, without prior consent, a UAV that 
                poses a reasonable threat as determined under 
                subsection (a), including by intercepting, 
                substituting, or disrupting wire, oral, electronic, or 
                radio communications or signals transmitted to or by 
                UAV.
                    ``(D) Use reasonable force to disable, disrupt, 
                damage, or destroy a small unmanned aircraft, unmanned 
                aircraft system, unmanned aircraft, or unmanned 
                aircraft's attached system, payload, or cargo that 
                poses a reasonable threat to the safety or security of 
                a covered facility or asset.
                    ``(E) Conduct research, testing, training on, or 
                evaluation of any equipment, including any electronic 
                equipment, to determine its capability and utility to 
                enable.
            ``(2) Regulations and guidance.--The Secretary of Homeland 
        Security and the Attorney General, in coordination with the 
        Secretary of Transportation, may make rules and shall issue 
        guidance in their respective areas to carry out this section.
            ``(3) Avoidance of duplication.--The Secretary of Homeland 
        Security, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of 
        Transportation shall coordinate and avoid duplication in the 
        development of guidance under this paragraph or otherwise 
        implementing this section.
            ``(4) Minimization of harmful interference.--The Secretary 
        of Homeland Security, the Attorney General, and the Secretary 
        of Transportation shall also coordinate with the Federal 
        Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications 
        and Information Administration to ensure that all actions taken 
        and guidance and rules made under this subsection minimize 
        harmful interference to licensed and unlicensed communications, 
        devices, and services authorized by the Federal Communications 
        Commission.
            ``(5) Final rule regarding remote identification and 
        tracking of uavs.--Not later than one year after the effective 
        date of this section the Secretary of Transportation shall 
        issue a final rule requiring remote identification and tracking 
        of UAVs, including UAVs for recreational use, to ensure that 
        cooperative aircraft are identified.
    ``(c) Forfeiture.--Any UAV described in subsection (a) that is 
seized by the Federal agency is subject to forfeiture to the United 
States.
    ``(d) Exemption From Disclosure.--Information pertaining to the 
technology, procedures, and protocols used to carry out this section, 
including any regulations or guidance issued to carry out this section, 
shall be exempt from disclosure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5 and 
exempt from disclosure under State and local law requiring the 
disclosure of information.
    ``(e) Privacy Protection.--All actions taken and guidance and rules 
made under subsection (b)(2) shall ensure that--
            ``(1) the interception or acquisition of or access to 
        communications to or from UAV under this section is conducted 
        in a manner consistent with the Fourth Amendment to the 
        Constitution and applicable provisions of Federal law;
            ``(2) communications are intercepted, acquired, or accessed 
        only to the extent necessary to mitigate the reasonable threat 
        that an unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft poses to 
        the safety or security of a covered facility or asset;
            ``(3) records of such communications are maintained only 
        for as long as necessary and in no event for more than 180 days 
        unless the Secretary of Homeland Security or the Attorney 
        General reasonably determine that maintenance of such records--
                    ``(A) is necessary to support one or more safety or 
                security functions of the Department of Homeland 
                Security or the Department of Justice, respectively; or
                    ``(B) is required for a longer period to support a 
                law enforcement agency or by any other applicable law 
                or regulation; and
            ``(4) such communications are not disclosed outside the 
        Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Justice 
        unless the disclosure, subject to paragraph (a)(1) above--
                    ``(A) would fulfill a safety or security function 
                of the Department of Homeland Security or the 
                Department of Justice;
                    ``(B) would support the Department of Defense, a 
                civilian law enforcement agency, or the enforcement 
                activities of a regulatory agency of the Federal 
                Government in connection with a criminal or civil 
                investigation of, or any regulatory action with regard 
                to, an action described in subsection (b)(1); or
                    ``(C) is otherwise required by law or regulation.
    ``(f) Scope of Authority.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to provide the Secretary of Homeland Security or the Attorney 
General additional authorities beyond those described in (b)(1) without 
authorization by law.
    ``(g) Report to Congress.--The Attorney General and Secretary of 
Homeland Security, shall each submit to Congress, not later than one 
year after enactment, and each year thereafter, a report that shall 
include, at minimum--
            ``(1) a description of actions taken, guidance provided, 
        and rules made pursuant to this section, including a summary of 
        public comments submitted in relation to such guidance or 
        rules;
            ``(2) a description of each Department's efforts to address 
        privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties issues implicated by 
        the actions permitted by this section and other Federal and 
        State government policies affecting UAVs;
            ``(3) the number of UAVs that have been subject to each of 
        the actions taken under subsection (b)(2), broken out by 
        action;
            ``(4) actions taken by each Department to inform the public 
        of covered facilities and assets authorized by this section;
            ``(5) implementation costs; or
            ``(6) a description of any revisions to this section that 
        may be desirable.
    ``(h) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `cooperative aircraft' means aircraft that 
        have an electronic means of identification aboard in operation.
            ``(2) The term `covered facility or asset' means any 
        facility or asset that--
                    ``(A) is identified by the Secretary of Homeland 
                Security or the Attorney General;
                    ``(B) is located in the United States (including 
                the territories and possessions of the United States): 
                and
                    ``(C) relates to--
                            ``(i) the buildings and grounds leased, 
                        owned, or operated by or for the Federal 
                        Government, including Federal Facility 
                        protection operations;
                            ``(ii) authorized protective operations, 
                        including but not limited to the protection of 
                        Federal jurists, court officers, witnesses, and 
                        other persons;
                            ``(iii) penal, detention, correctional, and 
                        judicial operations;
                            ``(iv) National Security Special Events, 
                        Special Event Assessment Ratings Events, or 
                        other mass gatherings or events that are 
                        reasonably assessed by the Department of 
                        Justice to be a potential target for terrorism 
                        or other criminal activity;
                            ``(v) active Federal law enforcement 
                        investigations;
                            ``(vi) operations that counter terrorism, 
                        narcotics, and transnational criminal 
                        organizations;
                            ``(vii) securing authorized vessels, 
                        whether moored or underway;
                            ``(viii) protection operations pursuant to 
                        section 3056;
                            ``(ix) critical infrastructure;
                            ``(x) Emergency Response Operations;
                            ``(xi) National Disaster Areas if it is 
                        determined by the Secretary of Homeland 
                        Security that unauthorized access to the 
                        airspace would restrict recovery efforts;
                            ``(xii) Natural or Hazardous Disaster Areas 
                        if it is determined by the Secretary of 
                        Homeland Security that unauthorized access to 
                        the airspace would restrict recovery efforts; 
                        and
                            ``(xiii) other areas identified by the 
                        President.
            ``(3) The term `UAV' means a small unmanned aircraft, 
        unmanned aircraft system, unmanned aircraft, or unmanned 
        aircraft's attached system, payload, or cargo.
            ``(4) The terms `unmanned aircraft', `small unmanned 
        aircraft', and `unmanned aircraft system' have the meanings 
        given those terms in section 331 of the FAA Modernization and 
        Reform Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-95; 49 U.S.C. 40101 note).
            ``(5) The terms `intercept' and `wire, oral, electronic, or 
        radio communications' have the meaning given those terms in 
        section 2510.
            ``(6) The term `critical infrastructure' has the meaning 
        given that term in section 2339D except that the Attorney 
        General may, in his or her determination, amend the definition 
        for purposes of this section in the issuance of any guidance or 
        rules made under subsection (b)(2).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for such chapter is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``28. Authorized actions regarding interdiction of unmanned 
                            aircraft.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendments.--Title 18, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in section 32, by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Nothing in this section shall apply to any action lawfully 
taken under section 28.'';
            (2) in section 1030, by adding at the end the following:
    ``(k) Nothing in this section shall apply to any action lawfully 
taken under section 28.'';
            (3) in section 1362 by adding at the end the following:
        ``Nothing in this section shall apply to any action lawfully 
        taken under section 28.'';
            (4) in section 1367, by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Nothing in this section shall apply to any action lawfully 
taken under section 28.'';
            (5) in chapter 119--
                    (A) by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 2523. Exception for interdiction of unmanned aircraft
    ``Nothing in this chapter shall apply in the case of any action 
lawfully taken under section 28.''; and
                    (B) in the table of sections for such chapter, by 
                adding at the end the following:

``2523. Exception for interdiction of unmanned aircraft.'';
        and
            (6) in chapter 206--
                    (A) by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 3128. Exception for interdiction of unmanned aircraft
    ``Nothing in this chapter shall apply in the case of any action 
lawfully taken under section 28.''; and
                    (B) in the table of sections for such chapter, by 
                adding at the end the following:

``3128. Exception for interdiction of unmanned aircraft.''.
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