PUBLIC SAFETY USE OF TETHERED UAS.

SEC. 926. PUBLIC SAFETY USE OF TETHERED UAS. (a) In General.—Section 44806 of title 49, United States Code, is amended— (1) in the section heading by inserting “and public safety use of tethered unmanned aircraft systems” after “systems”; (2) in subsection (c)— (A) in the subsection heading by inserting “safety use of” after “public”; and (B) in paragraph (1)— (i) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)— (I) by striking “Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the” and inserting “The”; (II) by striking “permit the use of” and inserting “permit”; (III) by striking “public”; and (IV) by inserting “by a public safety organization for such systems” after “systems”; (ii) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the following: “(A) operated— “(i) at or below an altitude of 150 feet above ground level within class B, C, D, E, or G airspace, but not at a greater altitude than the ceiling depicted on the UAS Facility Maps published by the Federal Aviation Administration, where applicable; “(ii) within zero-grid airspaces as depicted on such UAS Facility Maps, only if operated in life-saving or emergency situations and with prior notification to the Administration in a manner determined by the Administrator; or “(iii) above 150 feet above ground level within class B, C, D, E, or G airspace only with prior authorization from the Administrator;” ; (iii) by striking subparagraph (B); and (iv) by redesignating subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E) as subparagraphs (B), (C), and (D), respectively; and (C) in paragraph (3) by striking “Public actively” and inserting “Actively”; and (3) by adding at the end the following: “(e) Definition.—In this section, the term ‘public safety organization’ means an entity that primarily engages in activities related to the safety and well-being of the general public, including law enforcement, fire departments, emergency medical services, and other organizations that protect and serve the public in matters of safety and security.” . (b) Clerical Amendment.—The analysis for chapter 448 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section 44806 and inserting the following: “44806. Public unmanned aircraft systems and public safety use of tethered unmanned aircraft systems.” . (c) Definition.—Section 44801(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended— (1) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting: “(A) weighs 55 pounds or less, including payload but not including the tether;” ; (2) in subparagraph (B) by striking “and” at the end; (3) in subparagraph (C) by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and (4) by adding at the end the following: “(D) is able to maintain safe flight control in the event of a power or flight control failure during flight; and “(E) is programmed to initiate a controlled landing in the event of a tether separation.” .