Review - SLTT cUAS Authority IFR - Detect, Identify, Monitor, and Track

This is the second in a series of blog posts about the interim final rule (IFR) published last week by DHS and DOJ on “Counter-UAS [cUAS] Authority for State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Law Enforcement and Correctional [SLTT] Agencies”. This post will look at the first of two cUAS authorities provided by the IFR. 

Previous posts include:  

• DHS/DOJ Publish SLTT cUAS Authority IFR – IFR Overview 

NOTE 1: All links to 6 USC 624n are provided to the updated version of that section available on Law.Cornell.edu since the federal government does not currently have a publicly available version that has been updated for the SAFER SKYS Act {TITLE LXXXVI of the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (PL 119-60, 139 STAT. 1938)}. 

NOTE 2: All links to the regulatory language proposed in this rulemaking will be to the proposed DHS language under 6 CFR Part 124. That language will be virtually identical to the proposed DOJ language under 28 CFR Part 124. 

Detection and Warning Overview 

The preamble to the rule discusses the source authorities for the SLTT certification to detect, identify, monitor, and track UAS. Those authorities allow SLTT individuals, subject to the training and certification requirements of §124.5, “to ‘detect, identify, monitor, and track’ UAS or unmanned aircraft, without prior consent, including by means of interception of or other access to a wire communication, an oral communication, or an electronic communication used to control the UAS or unmanned aircraft”. Such actions are subject to the requirement to: 

• Use systems or technologies that are included on a list of authorized technologies,  
• Comply with specific privacy protections, and 
• Comply with Federal oversight, audits, coordination, and compliance requirements. 

The detection and warning provisions of the rule will generally be found in the following proposed CFR sections: 

• The Detection and Warning Certification requirement of §124.5(c),  
• The detection and warning policy provisions of §124.6(g),  
• The authorized technology requirements of §124.7,  
• The C-UAS Operations Plan requirement of §124.8,  
• The operational conditions of §124.12, and  
• The privacy and data handling requirements of §124.14. 

For more details about these provisions of the NPRM, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/sltt-cuas-authority-ifr-detect-identify - subscription required.