[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2684 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2684

To provide for the operation of unmanned aircraft systems by owners and 
                 operators of critical infrastructure.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 15, 2016

  Mr. Inhofe introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for the operation of unmanned aircraft systems by owners and 
                 operators of critical infrastructure.

    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 ``UAVs for Energy Infrastructure 
Act''.

SEC. 2. OPERATION OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS BY OWNERS AND OPERATORS 
              OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle B of title III of the FAA Modernization 
and Reform Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-95; 49 U.S.C. 40101 note) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 337. OPERATION OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS BY OWNERS AND 
              OPERATORS OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.

    ``(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Secretary of Transportation shall 
establish a process pursuant to which a covered person may operate an 
unmanned aircraft system to conduct activities described in subsection 
(b)--
            ``(1) beyond the visual line of sight of the individual 
        operating the unmanned aircraft system; and
            ``(2) without any restriction on the time of the operation.
    ``(b) Activities Described.--The activities described in this 
subsection that a covered person may use an unmanned aircraft system to 
conduct are the following:
            ``(1) Activities for which compliance with current law can 
        be accomplished by the use of manned aircraft, including--
                    ``(A) conducting activities to ensure compliance 
                with Federal or State regulatory, permit, or other 
                requirements, including to conduct surveys associated 
                with applications for permits for new pipeline 
                construction or maintenance or rehabilitation of 
                existing pipelines; and
                    ``(B) conducting activities relating to ensuring 
                compliance with the requirements of part 192 or 195 of 
                title 49, Code of Federal Regulations.
            ``(2) Activities to inspect, repair, or respond to critical 
        infrastructure, including to respond to a pipeline incident, or 
        in response to or preparation for a natural disaster, man-made 
        disaster, severe weather event, or other incident beyond the 
        control of the covered person that may cause material damage to 
        such infrastructure.
            ``(3) Activities not described in paragraph (1) or (2) if 
        the covered person notifies the local Flight Standards District 
        Office before the operation of the unmanned aircraft system.
    ``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Covered person.--The term `covered person' means a 
        person that--
                    ``(A) owns or operates a pipeline or other critical 
                infrastructure;
                    ``(B) is an agent of a person described in 
                subparagraph (A); or
                    ``(C) is the sponsor of a pipeline project.
            ``(2) Critical infrastructure.--The term `critical 
        infrastructure' has the meaning given that term in section 
        2339D of title 18, United States Code.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the FAA 
Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 336 the following:

``Sec. 337. Operation of unmanned aircraft systems by owners and 
                            operators of critical infrastructure.''.
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