Review - HR 8590 Introduced – Counter UAS Training

Back in June, Rep Strong (R,AL) introduced HR 8950, the National Training Center for Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act. The bill would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 by adding two new sections dealing with counter UAS training. No new funding is authorized by the bill.

Moving Forward

Strong is not a member of either the House Judiciary Committee (to which primary consideration was assigned) nor the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (to which the secondary consideration was assigned). This means that the bill is not likely to have enough influence behind it to see it considered in either committee. I suspect that were the bill to be considered, it would receive some level of bipartisan support. I am not sure that it would be enough to see the bill move to the floor of the House under the suspension of the rules process. This bill I is not currently politically important enough to be considered under a rule.

Commentary

Section 124n provides limited authority for DOJ and DHS to conduct some counter UAS activities. The authority to conduct such activities at a ‘covered facility’ {see §124n(k)(3)} will terminate on October 1^st, 2024. This date has been moved in relatively small increments while Congress tries to work out a deal on rewriting §124n (or §210G of the Homeland Security Act of 2002). If this does not get ‘fixed’ permanently, the need for this legislation will pretty much disappear as the other cUAS uses authorized in §124n are relatively limited.

 

For more details about the provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-8590-introduced - subscription required.

Bills Introduced – 5-31-24

Yesterday, with the House and Senate meeting in pro forma session, there were 15 bills introduced. One of those bills will receive additional attention in this blog:

HR 8590 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Attorney General, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to establish counter-UAS system training and require the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to establish related standards for initial and recurrent training programs or certifications for individuals seeking to operate counter-UAS detection and mitigation systems, equipment, or technology, and for other purposes. Strong, Dale W. [Rep.-R-AL-5]