Sponsors (7)
Official title: To reauthorize and reform counter-unmanned aircraft system authorities, to improve transparency, security, safety, and accountability related to such authorities, and for other purposes.
Introduced August 29, 2025 by Andrew R. Garbarino · Last progress August 29, 2025
The bill strengthens U.S. counter‑UAS capability, coordination, and oversight to protect aviation, critical infrastructure, and large events—but it also expands surveillance and agency discretion, raises privacy and civil‑liberties risks, and imposes costs and operational trade‑offs for operators, vendors, and taxpayers.
Airports, pilots, passengers, and freight operators will face fewer drone-related disruptions and safety risks because FAA and authorized entities gain clearer authority and tools to detect and mitigate UAS threats.
Event organizers, facility operators (airports, energy, chemical sites), and local governments get clearer eligibility, application, and approval processes for detection and counter‑UAS authorities, reducing legal uncertainty and enabling coordinated protection of large gatherings and critical infrastructure.
Federal agencies and state/local partners must follow safety, testing, and operator‑qualification standards (and FAA must approve/assess systems), improving effectiveness of counter‑UAS tools and reducing the risk that mitigation harms aviation or communications.
Operators, bystanders, and the general public face heightened privacy and civil‑liberties risks because agencies and authorized entities may intercept, retain, and share UAS communications and surveillance data (including retention windows and cross‑agency sharing).
All Americans and regulated parties face reduced procedural safeguards and greater agency discretion because DHS, DOJ, and FAA can issue binding guidance and deploy tools with limited notice-and-comment, increasing risk of opaque or sudden enforcement actions.
Aviation stakeholders and the public risk interference with legitimate aircraft, spectrum conflicts, or delayed emergency responses if counter‑UAS systems are mis‑configured, poorly coordinated, or slowed by approval/coordination requirements.
Based on analysis of 20 sections of legislative text.
Creates FAA/DHS/DOJ authorities and approval processes for counter‑UAS detection/mitigation at airports and critical sites, requires sUAS safety statements, and expands interception/seizure powers with reporting and privacy limits.
Requires manufacturers of small drones to present an FAA safety statement to first-time operators and creates detailed federal rules for approving, deploying, and operating counter‑UAS detection and mitigation systems at airports, critical sites, and large events. Expands and clarifies authority for FAA, DHS, and DOJ to detect, intercept, track, seize, and, in some cases, disrupt or disable unmanned aircraft, establishes approvals, training, reporting, and pilot programs, and narrows administrative‑procedure protections for certain guidance or determinations under the Act. Sets timelines for FAA performance guidance and airport deployment, requires interagency coordination and annual public reporting on counter‑UAS activities (with privacy protections and limited retention of intercepted communications), and terminates some authorities on a fixed date. The bill combines equipment approval, operational rules, training/certification requirements, and public transparency requirements for federal and state/local use of counter‑UAS tools.