[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5040 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5040

 To direct the Director of the Bureau of Land Management to study the 
  effects of drone incursions on wildfire suppression, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 12, 2019

Mr. Curtis (for himself and Mr. Huffman) introduced the following bill; 
   which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in 
     addition to the Committee on Agriculture, 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 direct the Director of the Bureau of Land Management to study the 
  effects of drone incursions on wildfire suppression, 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 ``Aerial Incursion Repercussion Safety 
Act of 2019'' or the ``AIR Safety Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. STUDY ON EFFECTS OF DRONE INCURSIONS ON WILDFIRE SUPPRESSION.

    (a) Study Required.--The Director of the Bureau of Land Management, 
in consultation with the Chief of the Forest Service, shall conduct a 
study on the effects of drone incursions on the suppression of 
wildfires with respect to lands managed by the Department of the 
Interior or the Department of Agriculture.
    (b) Study Contents.--In conducting the study required under 
subsection (a), the Director shall--
            (1) determine, for each of the five most recently completed 
        calendar years, the number of occurrences in which a drone 
        incursion interfered with wildfire suppression and the effect 
        of each such occurrence on--
                    (A) the length of time required to achieve complete 
                suppression;
                    (B) the effectiveness of aerial firefighting 
                responses; and
                    (C) the amounts expended by the Federal Government; 
                and
            (2) evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of various 
        actions to prevent drone incursions, including--
                    (A) the use of reasonable force to disable, damage, 
                or destroy a drone;
                    (B) the seizure of a drone, including seizure with 
                a net device; and
                    (C) the dissemination of education materials 
                relating to the effects of drone incursions on wildfire 
                suppression.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit to the Committee on 
Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report on the findings of 
the study required under subsection (a) and any recommendations of the 
Director relating to such findings.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Drone.--The term ``drone'' means an unmanned aircraft 
        system owned by a private individual or entity.
            (2) Drone incursion.--The term ``drone incursion'' means 
        the operation of a drone within any airspace for which the 
        Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration has issued 
        a temporary flight restriction because of a wildfire.
            (3) Wildfire suppression.--The term ``wildfire 
        suppression'' has the meaning given such term in section 
        46320(d) of title 49, United States Code.
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