116 S4792 IS: Countering CCP Drones and Supporting Drones for Law Enforcement Act
U.S. Senate
2024-07-25
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EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
II
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4792
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 25, 2024
Mr. Scott of Florida (for himself, Mr. Warner, and Mr. Tester) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To amend the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019 to add communications equipment and services produced or provided by Shenzhen Da-Jiang Innovations Sciences and Technologies Company Limited and Autel Robotics to the list that the Federal Communications Commission is required to maintain under that Act, and for other purposes.
1.

Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Countering CCP Drones and Supporting Drones for Law Enforcement Act”.
2.

Countering CCP drones
(a)

Determination of whether unmanned aircraft systems manufacturers are Chinese military companies
Pursuant to the annual review required under section 1260H(a) of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116–283; 10 U.S.C. 113 note), the Secretary of Defense shall determine if any entity that manufactures or assembles unmanned aircraft systems (as defined in section 44801 of title 49, United States Code), or any subsidiary, parent, affiliate, or successor of such an entity, should be identified under such section 1260H(a) as a Chinese military company operating directly or indirectly in the United States.
(b)

Addition of certain equipment and services of DJI Technologies and Autel Robotics to covered communications equipment and services list
(1)

In general
Section 2 of the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 1601) is amended—
(A)
in subsection (c), by adding at the end the following:
“(5)
The communications equipment or service being—
(A)
communications or video surveillance equipment produced or provided by—
(i)
Shenzhen Da-Jiang Innovations Sciences and Technologies Company Limited (commonly known as “DJI Technologies”);
(ii)
Autel Robotics; or
(iii)
with respect to an entity described in clause (i) or (ii) (referred to in this clause as a “named entity”)—
(I)
any subsidiary, affiliate, or partner of the named entity;
(II)
any entity in a joint venture with the named entity; or
(III)
any entity to which the named entity has issued a license to produce or provide that telecommunications or video surveillance equipment; or
(B)
telecommunications or video surveillance services, including software, provided by an entity described in subparagraph (A) or using equipment described in that subparagraph.
(6)
(A)
The communications equipment or service being any communications equipment or service produced or provided by an entity—
(i)
that is a subsidiary, affiliate, or partner of an entity that produces or provides any communications equipment or service described in any of paragraphs (1) through (5) (referred to in this subparagraph as a “covered entity”);
(ii)
that is in a joint venture with a covered entity; or
(iii)
to which a covered entity has issued a license to produce or provide that communications equipment or service.
(B)
An executive branch interagency body described in paragraph (1) may submit to the Commission a petition to have an entity recognized as an entity to which subparagraph (A) applies.”; and
(B)
by adding at the end the following:
“(e)

Inapplicability to authorized intelligence activities
(1)

Definitions
In this subsection, the terms intelligence and intelligence community have the meanings given those terms in section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003).
(2)

Inapplicability
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an action by the Commission under subsection (b)(1) based on a determination made under paragraph (5) or (6) of subsection (c) shall not apply with respect to any—
(A)
activity subject to the reporting requirements under title V of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.);
(B)
activity of an element of the intelligence community relating to intelligence; or
(C)
activity of, or procurement by, an element of the intelligence community in support of an activity relating to intelligence.”.
(2)

Conforming amendments
Section 2 of the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 1601) is amended by striking “paragraphs (1) through (4)” each place that term appears and inserting “paragraphs (1) through (6)”.
(3)

Effective date
This subsection, and the amendments made by this subsection, shall take effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
(c)

First responder secure drone program
(1)

Definitions
In this subsection:
(A)

Eligible entity
(i)

In general
The term eligible entity means an agency of an entity described in clause (ii) that has as a primary responsibility the maintenance of public safety.
(ii)

Entity described
An entity described in this clause is any of the following:
(I)
Each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
(II)
A political subdivision, including a unit of local government, of an entity described in subclause (I).
(III)
A Tribal Government.
(B)

Eligible small unmanned aircraft system
The term eligible small unmanned aircraft system means a small unmanned aircraft system, as defined in part 107 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation), that—
(i)
was not designed, manufactured, or assembled, in whole or in part, by a foreign entity of concern; or
(ii)
does not include software or 1 or more critical components from a foreign entity of concern.
(C)

Foreign entity of concern
The term foreign entity of concern has the meaning given the term in section 9901 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 4651).
(D)

Secretary
The term Secretary means the Secretary of Transportation.
(E)

Unmanned aircraft system
The term unmanned aircraft system has the meaning given such term in section 44801 of title 49, United States Code.
(2)

Authority
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a program, in coordination with the Attorney General, to be known as the First Responder Secure Drone Program, to provide grants to eligible entities to facilitate the use of eligible small unmanned aircraft systems.
(3)

Use of grant amounts
An eligible entity may use a grant provided under this subsection to—
(A)
purchase or lease eligible small unmanned aircraft systems;
(B)
purchase or lease software, training, and other services reasonably associated with the purchase or lease of eligible small unmanned aircraft systems; and
(C)
dispose of unmanned aircraft systems owned by the eligible entity.
(4)

Restrictions on grant uses
In administering grants under this program, the Secretary, in coordination with the Attorney General, shall ensure funds are used in a manner that safeguards civil liberties and mitigates cybersecurity risks concerning the operation and use of the eligible small unmanned aircraft system.
(5)

Application
To be eligible to receive a grant under this subsection, an eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such form, and containing such information as the Secretary may require, including an assurance that the eligible entity or any contractor of the eligible entity, will comply with relevant Federal regulations.
(6)

Federal share
(A)

In general
Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the Federal share of the allowable costs of a project carried out using a grant provided under this subsection shall not exceed 50 percent of the total allowable project costs.
(B)

Waiver
The Secretary may increase the Federal share under subparagraph (A) to up to 75 percent if an eligible entity—
(i)
submits a written application to the Secretary requesting an increase in the Federal share; and
(ii)
demonstrates that the additional assistance is necessary to facilitate the acceptance and full use of a grant under this subsection, due to circumstances such as alleviating economic hardship, meeting additional workforce needs, or any other uses that the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
(7)

Funding
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary, $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2025 to carry out this subsection, to remain available until expended.
(8)

Sunset of program
The program established under this subsection shall end on the date that is the earlier of—
(A)
the date on which all appropriations authorized under paragraph (7) are expended; and
(B)
the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act.