PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Aviation.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jun 9, 2023
This bill requires the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to issue rules to update the airworthiness and operating requirements for unmanned aircraft, also known as drones, operating beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) and intended to operate primarily at or below 400 feet above ground level.
Specifically, the FAA must
establish a means to accept certain proposed standards (e.g., airworthiness standards for unmanned aircraft),
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
enable the ability to operate unmanned aircraft for agricultural purposes,
establish a process by which the FAA may approve or accept third-party compliance services,
establish protocols for a networked information exchange, and
establish qualifications and standards for remote pilots operating an unmanned aircraft system (UAS).
The bill also transfers to the FAA from the Department of Transportation special authority to use a risk-based approach to determine how UAS may operate safely in the national airspace system. The FAA must use this process to authorize BVLOS UAS operations until it publishes the final rules required under this bill. The FAA must also establish requirements, or a process to accept proposed requirements, for the safe operation of UAS, including for the testing and evaluation of proprietary systems.
Further, a UAS operation conducted exclusively within Mode C veil airspace (the airspace within 30 nautical miles of certain airports, from the surface upward to 10,000 feet mean sea level) and that employs specific mitigation measures must be treated as satisfying certain safe operation requirements.
People & committees
Rep. Graves, Garret [R-LA-6] · R–LA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Aviation.
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Nov 18, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.3969 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.3969 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.3969 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.3969 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.