[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2249 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2249

To amend title 18, United States Code, to impose criminal penalties for 
               the unsafe operation of unmanned aircraft.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 5, 2015

Mr. Whitehouse introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to impose criminal penalties for 
               the unsafe operation of unmanned aircraft.

    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 ``Drone Operator Safety Act''.

SEC. 2. UNSAFE OPERATION OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 2 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in section 31--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) by redesignating paragraph (10) as 
                        paragraph (11); and
                            (ii) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 
                        following:
            ``(10) Unmanned aircraft.--The term `unmanned aircraft' has 
        the meaning given such term in section 331 of the FAA 
        Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note).''; 
        and
                    (B) in subsection (b), by inserting ```airport','' 
                before ```appliance'''; and
            (2) by inserting after section 39A the following:
``Sec. 39B. Unsafe operation of unmanned aircraft
    ``(a) Offense.--Any person who operates an unmanned aircraft in a 
manner that interferes with, or disrupts the operation of, an aircraft 
carrying 1 or more occupants operating in the special aircraft 
jurisdiction of the United States shall be punished as provided in 
subsection (b).
    ``(b) Penalty.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        punishment for an offense under subsection (a) shall be a fine 
        under this title, imprisonment for not more than 1 year, or 
        both.
            ``(2) Serious bodily injury or death.--The punishment for 
        an offense under subsection (a) during which the offender 
        attempts to cause, or intentionally or recklessly causes, 
        serious bodily injury or death shall be a fine under this 
        title, imprisonment for any term of years or for life, or both.
    ``(c) Operation of Unmanned Aircraft in Flight Path of Airport.--
The operation of an unmanned aircraft within the arrival or departure 
flight path of any airport without the permission of the airport 
operator or airport traffic control tower shall be considered a 
violation of subsection (a).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 2 of 
title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 39A the following:

``39B. Unsafe operation of unmanned aircraft.''.
                                 <all>