II118th CONGRESS2d SessionS. 4318IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESMay 9, 2024Mr. Peters introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and TransportationA BILLTo provide for an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) integration strategy.

1.

UAS integration strategy

(a)

In general

The Administrator shall implement the recommendations made by—(1)the Comptroller General to the Secretary contained in the report of the Government Accountability Office titled Drones: FAA Should Improve Its Approach to Integrating Drones into the National Airspace System, issued in January 2023 (GAO–23–105189); and(2)the inspector general of the Department of Transportation to the Administrator contained in the audit report of the inspector general titled FAA Made Progress Through Its UAS Integration Pilot Program, but FAA and Industry Challenges Remain To Achieve Full UAS Integration, issued in April 2022 (Project ID: AV2022027).(b)

Briefing

Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter through 2028, the Administrator shall provide a briefing to the appropriate committees of Congress that—(1)provides a status update on the—(A)implementation of the recommendations described in subsection (a);(B)implementation of statutory provisions related to unmanned aircraft system integration under subtitle B of title III of division B of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–254); and(C)actions taken by the Administrator to implement recommendations related to safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system included in aviation rulemaking committee reports published after the date of enactment of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–254);(2)provides a description of steps taken to achieve the safe integration of such systems into the national airspace system, including milestones and performance metrics to track results;(3)provides the costs of executing the integration described in paragraph (2), including any estimates of future Federal resources or investments required to complete such integration; and(4)identifies any regulatory or policy changes required to execute the integration described in paragraph (2).(c)

Definitions

In this section:(1)

Administrator

The term Administrator means the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.(2)

Appropriate committees of Congress

The term appropriate committees of Congress means the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives.(3)

Comptroller General

The term Comptroller General means the Comptroller General of the United States.(4)

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Transportation.