Review - SLTT cUAS Authority IFR – Authorized Personnel

This is the third 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 personnel that would be authorized by this rule to take cUAS actions. 

Previous posts include:  

• DHS/DOJ Publish SLTT cUAS Authority IFR – IFR Overview 
• SLTT cUAS Authority IFR - Detect, Identify, Monitor, and Track 

SLTT Level Authority 

Section 124.3 provides authority for SLTT law enforcement or correctional agencies to take detection, warning, and mitigation actions “that are necessary to address or eliminate a credible threat that a UAS or unmanned aircraft poses to the safety or security of people, a facility, or an asset; a venue or set of venues used for large-scale public gatherings or events; critical infrastructure; or a correctional facility.” 

Authorized Personnel  

Section 124.4 establishes the requirement that cUAS activities authorized under 6 USC 124n(a)(2) may only be conducted by employees of an SLTT agency. It specifically prohibits contractors from operating cUAS detection or mitigation systems that require relief from limitations under section 46502 of title 49 or sections 32, 1030, 1367 and chapters 119 and 206 of title 18, notwithstanding the laws of any particular State, local, Tribal, or territorial jurisdiction. 

Training and Certification  

Section 124.5 establishes the training and certification requirements for conducting cUAS mitigation operations under 6 USC 124n(b)(1) including disrupting control, seizing or exercising control, and use of reasonable force. Possession of Detection and Warning Certification is a prerequisite for mitigation training and certification. Personnel holding a Mitigation Certification issued by the NCUTC before the effective date of this part must complete the detection and warning curriculum by September 29, 2026. 

Mitigation training will be conducted in person at the NCUTC operated by the FBI. A basic Mitigation Certification training course is required, and additional training at the NCUTC may extend the scope of that certification to additional mitigation technology categories. The certification training will include instruction on the legal, operational, and technological aspects of C-UAS operations. 

Review - DHS/DOJ Publish SLTT cUAS Authority IFR

On Monday (available on-line yesterday), DHS and DOJ jointly published an interim final rule in the Federal Register (91 FR 41466-41516) for “Counter-UAS Authority for State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Law Enforcement and Correctional [SLTT] Agencies”. This IFR implements the requirements of the SAFER SKYS Act included as TITLE LXXXVI of the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (PL 119-60, 139 STAT. 1938) codified mainly at 6 USC 124n (the official USC listing at GoveInfo.gov has not been updated since 2024, they are way behind, and the USCODE.house.gov site has been down for weeks, so this link is to the Cornell Law US Code library listing). The effective date of this IFR is July 1st, 2026. 

Public Comments  

DHS/DOJ are soliciting public comments on this IFR. Comments may be submitted via the Federal Document Management System (formerly known as the Federal eRulemaking Portal; www.Regulations.gov: Docket # FBI-2026-0001). Comments should be submitted by September 4th, 2026. 

For an overview of the IFR, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/dhsdoj-publish-sltt-cuas-authority - subscription required. 

OMB Approves CISA SLTT Incident Collection ICR

Yesterday the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced the emergency approval of an information collection request (ICR) for the new State, Local, Tribal and Territorial (SLTT) Incident Collection. According to the supporting document provided to OIRA, CISA established the pilot SLTT Cyber Reporting and Threat Information Sharing Pilot in September 2019.

That supporting document explains the program this way:

“The SLTT Incident Collection Form is a voluntary form that will be posted on fraudsupport.org which is a public facing website operated by the Cybercrime Support Network (the organization awarded a cooperative agreement to conduct the Pilot). Respondents can fill out the form for each instance where they believe they have been victim of a cyber incident, including ransomware. The collection of the cyber threat incident data is critical to the work of the pilot as it ensures that citizens and SMBs receive tailored responses to help them understand what has occurred. CSN will provide detailed incident data to the appropriate state agencies for investigation and to assist SMBs, local governments and other critical infrastructure facilities recover from the cyber attacks. These victims would largely otherwise go without assistance without the information captured through this effort.”

The form for this collection will be maintained on fraudsupport.org which is a public facing website operated by the Cybercrime Support Network (the organization awarded a cooperative agreement to conduct the Pilot).

As part of the emergency approval OIRA is requiring CISA to publish the normal 60-day and 30-day ICR notices.