National Drone and Advanced Air Mobility Research and Development Act
A BILL
To provide for coordinated Federal efforts to accelerate civilian unmanned aircraft systems and advanced air mobility research and development for economic and national security, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings
Congress finds the following:
Unmanned aircraft systems have the potential to change and transform sectors of the United States economy.
Advanced air mobility aims to transform the way people and goods are transported through new capabilities and applications.
Current uses and applications of unmanned aircraft systems and advanced air mobility include agriculture, transportation, law enforcement, public safety, disaster evaluation and response, fire detection, border security, weather forecasting, construction, utility monitoring, and many other uses and applications.
Research on and development, demonstration, testing, and evaluation of counter-UAS systems and detection systems activities are critical to fully understand the capabilities of and threats posed by unmanned aircraft systems.
Unmanned aircraft systems and advanced air mobility systems are subject to safety, privacy, cybersecurity, and supply chain risks, particularly as most unmanned aircraft systems in the United States are manufactured or assembled from parts manufactured in foreign countries.
National and homeland security threats posed by unmanned aircraft systems and advanced air mobility systems include criminal and terrorist use for espionage, surveillance, and intelligence gathering, smuggling drugs and contraband, and platforms to deliver explosives or chemicals, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons, and other firearms.
The Federal Government has an important role in advancing research, development, voluntary consensus technical standards, and education activities in advanced air mobility and unmanned aircraft systems technologies through coordination and collaboration between and among State, local, Federal, and Tribal governments, academia, the private sector, and labor organizations.
There is a lack of voluntary consensus technical standards for unmanned aircraft systems and advanced air mobility for academia and the public and private sectors.
The United States needs to invest in domestic manufacturing and secure supply chains of unmanned aircraft systems and advanced air mobility systems to meet the demand by the Government and the commercial sectors, to ensure United States high quality domestic manufacturing and supply chain jobs, and to reduce reliance on foreign-made systems.
Sec. 3 Definitions
In this Act, the following definitions apply:
Advanced air mobility— The term “advanced air mobility” means a transportation system that transports people and property by air between two points in the United States using aircraft with advanced technologies, including electric aircraft or electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, in both controlled and uncontrolled airspace.
Agency head— The term “agency head” means the head of any Executive agency (as defined in section 105 of title 5, United States Code).
Counter-uas system— The term “counter-UAS system” has the meaning given such term in section 44801(5) of title 49, United States Code.
Institute— The term “Institute” means a Drone and Advanced Air Mobility Research Institute described in section 201(b).
Institution of higher education— The term “institution of higher education” has the meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)
Interagency working group— The term “Interagency Working Group” means the Advanced Air Mobility and Unmanned Aircraft Systems Interagency Working Group of the National Science and Technology Council established under section 101 of title 1.
Labor organization— The term “labor organization” has the meaning given the term in section 2(5) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(5)), except that such term shall also include—
any organization composed of labor organizations, such as a labor union federation or a State or municipal labor body; and
any organization which would be included in the definition for such term under such section 2(5) but for the fact that the organization represents—
individuals employed by the United States, any wholly owned Government corporation, any Federal Reserve Bank, or any State or political subdivision thereof;
individuals employed by persons subject to the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 151 et seq.); or
individuals employed as agricultural laborers.
National laboratory— The term “National Laboratory” has the meaning given such term in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).
Technical standard— The term “technical standard” has the meaning given such term in section 12(d)(5) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note).
Unmanned aircraft system— The term “unmanned aircraft system” has the meaning given such term in section 44801(12) of title 49, United States Code.
Sec. 4 Purposes
The purpose of this Act is to ensure United States leadership in advanced air mobility and unmanned aircraft systems, and maximize benefits and mitigate risks of such systems by—
supporting research, development, demonstration, testing, and transition to operations of secure advanced air mobility systems and unmanned aircraft systems, including research and development to enable integration of such systems into the National Airspace System;
improving the interagency planning and coordination of Federal research and development of advanced air mobility and unmanned aircraft systems and maximizing the effectiveness of the Federal Government’s advanced air mobility and next generation unmanned aircraft systems research and development programs;
promoting domestic manufacturing and domestic supply chains for unmanned aircraft systems and mitigating supply chain risks;
supporting activities to mitigate risks to public safety and national and homeland security, including through response to disasters;
preparing the present and future United States workforce for the integration of advanced air mobility and unmanned aircraft systems across sectors of the economy, including through support for curriculum development and research opportunities and through partnerships that may include labor organizations and labor-management workforce training organizations;
supporting research, development, demonstration, and testing of civilian applications of unmanned aerial systems, including improved safety and sustainability of ground transportation, environmental monitoring, and disaster response;
promoting research and development collaboration among State, local, Tribal, and Federal governments, National Laboratories, industry, labor organizations, and academic institutions;
promoting the development of voluntary consensus technical standards and best practices for advanced air mobility and unmanned aircraft systems; and
applying lessons learned from unmanned aircraft systems research, development, demonstration, and testing to advanced air mobility systems.