[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3158 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3158
To establish a committee to advise space licensing authorities, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 3, 2021
Mrs. Feinstein introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a committee to advise space licensing authorities, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Space Technology Advisory Committee
Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
(2) Application.--The term ``application'' means an
application, petition, or other request for a license,
including an application, petition, or other request to
transfer a license that has already been issued.
(3) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Communications Commission.
(4) Committee.--The term ``Committee'' means the committee
established by section 3(a).
(5) Committee advisor.--The term ``Committee advisor''
means an individual described in section 3(b)(2).
(6) Committee member.--The term ``Committee member'' means
an individual described in section 3(b)(1).
(7) Lead member.--The term ``lead member'' means a
Committee member designated under section 3(d) to carry out a
specific duty of the Committee.
(8) License.--The term ``license'' means a license for--
(A) a launch site;
(B) a launch and reentry vehicle;
(C) a commercial spaceport;
(D) a commercial Earth remote sensing satellite; or
(E) commercial satellite communications.
(9) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Commerce.
SEC. 3. COMMITTEE TO ADVISE SPACE LICENSING AUTHORITIES.
(a) Establishment.--There is established a committee to assist the
Administrator, the Secretary, and the Commission in conducting reviews
of applications and licenses for the purpose of determining whether
granting the applications or maintaining the licenses poses a risk to
the national security or law enforcement or public safety interests of
the United States.
(b) Membership.--
(1) In general.--The Committee shall be comprised of the
following Committee members:
(A) The head, or a senior executive-level designee
of the head, of each of the following:
(i) The Department of Defense.
(ii) The Department of Homeland Security.
(iii) The Department of Justice.
(iv) The Office of the Director of National
Intelligence.
(v) The Federal Aviation Administration.
(vi) The National Space Council.
(vii) The Department of Commerce.
(B) The head of any other executive department or
agency, or any Assistant to the President, as the
President considers appropriate.
(2) Advisory members.--In addition to the Committee
members, the following individuals shall serve as Committee
advisors:
(A) The head, or a senior executive-level designee
of the head, of each of the following:
(i) The Department of State.
(ii) The Office of the United States Trade
Representative.
(iii) The Department of the Treasury.
(iv) The Securities and Exchange
Commission.
(v) The Federal Communications Commission.
(vi) The Environmental Protection Agency.
(vii) The Department of the Interior.
(viii) The Office of Science and Technology
Policy.
(ix) The Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(B) The Assistant to the President for National
Security Affairs.
(c) Chairperson.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Defense shall serve as
the chairperson of the Committee.
(2) Exclusive authority.--The chairperson shall have the
exclusive authority to act, or to authorize any other Committee
member to act, on behalf of the Committee, including by
communicating with the Administrator, the Secretary, the
Commission, and applicants and licensees.
(d) Lead Members.--The chairperson shall designate one or more
Committee members to serve as a lead member for carrying out a
Committee duty, consistent with the Committee member's statutory
authority.
(e) Assistant Secretary for Space Review.--
(1) In general.--The chairperson shall establish within the
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and
Sustainment the position of Assistant Secretary for Space
Review, which position shall be principally related to the
Committee, as delegated by the Secretary of Defense.
(2) Duties.--The duties of the Assistant Secretary for
Space Review shall be--
(A) to prioritize the organization and management
of Committee meetings; and
(B) to produce written archival records of
Committee actions.
(f) Information Sharing and Consultation.--The chairperson and each
lead member shall--
(1) keep the Committee fully informed of their respective
activities on behalf of the Committee; and
(2) consult the Committee before taking any material action
under this Act.
(g) Duties.--
(1) Receipt of applications and licenses.--The
Administrator, the Secretary, and the Commission shall refer
all applications and licenses to the Committee, and the
Committee shall receive such applications and licenses, for
review and determination.
(2) Review of applications and licenses.--
(A) In general.--The Committee shall--
(i) conduct a review and assessment of each
application and license received; and
(ii) with respect to each such application
and license--
(I) submit questions or requests
for information to the applicant,
licensee, or any other entity for
purposes of the assessment under
subclause (II);
(II) assess whether granting the
application or maintaining the license
would pose a risk to the national
security or law enforcement or public
safety interests of the United States;
(III) in the case of an application
or a license with respect to which the
Committee determines such a risk
exists, determine whether, as
applicable--
(aa) the application should
be granted or denied; or
(bb) the license should be
maintained or revoked; and
(IV) in the case of an application
or license determined to pose such a
risk that may be addressed through
approval with conditions--
(aa) not later than 30 days
after the date on which the
Committee receives such
application or license for
review, propose to the
Administrator, the Secretary,
or the Commission, as
applicable, the measures
necessary to address the risk,
and recommend that the
application only be granted, or
the license only maintained, on
the condition of compliance by
the applicant or licensee with
such measures;
(bb) if the Administrator,
the Secretary, or the
Commission approves the
measures proposed under item
(aa) and grants the
application, or maintains the
license, communicate with the
applicant or licensee with
respect to such measures; and
(cc) monitor compliance
with such measures.
(B) Timeline.--Not later than 30 days after the
date on which the chairperson determines under
paragraph (4) that the response of the applicant or
licensee to any question or information request is
complete, the Committee shall complete the review under
this paragraph.
(C) Notification.--The chairperson shall notify the
Administrator, the Secretary, or the Commission, as
applicable, of any application or license determined by
the Committee to warrant a secondary assessment.
(3) Secondary assessment of applications and licenses.--
(A) In general.--The Committee shall--
(i) conduct a secondary assessment of any
application or license determined by the
Committee to pose a risk to the national
security or law enforcement or public safety
interests of the United States that cannot be
addressed through standard mitigation measures;
and
(ii) with respect to each such application
or license--
(I) submit additional questions or
requests for information to the
applicant, licensee, or any other
entity to determine whether there are
unresolved concerns; and
(II) make a recommendation to the
Administrator, the Secretary, or the
Commission, as applicable, on whether
the application should be denied or the
license should be revoked.
(B) Timeline.--Not later than 90 days after the
date on which the Committee determines that a secondary
assessment under this paragraph is warranted, the
Committee shall complete the assessment.
(C) Notification.--The chairperson, in coordination
with the Administrator, the Secretary, or the
Commission, as applicable, shall notify the National
Security Council and the President of any application
or license with respect to which the Committee
recommends a denial or revocation.
(4) Requests for additional information.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 15 days after
receiving a response to questions or requests for
additional information submitted to an applicant,
licensee, or any other entity pursuant to an review
under paragraph (2) or a secondary assessment under
paragraph (3), the Committee shall--
(i) make a determination as to whether such
response is complete; and
(ii) notify the Administrator, the
Secretary, or the Commission, as applicable, of
such determination.
(B) Failure to respond.--
(i) In general.--In the case of an
applicant, licensee, or other entity that fails
to respond to such questions or requests for
additional information, the Committee may make
a recommendation to the Administrator, the
Secretary, or the Commission, as applicable--
(I) to deny the application
concerned without prejudice; or
(II) to rescind the license
concerned.
(ii) Notification.--
(I) Extension.--The chairperson
shall notify the Administrator, the
Secretary, or the Commission, as
applicable, of any extension of the
review or secondary assessment period.
(II) Denial.--The chairperson, in
coordination with the Administrator,
the Secretary, or the Commission, as
applicable, shall notify the National
Security Council and the President of
any recommendation by the Committee to
deny an application or rescind a
license.
(C) Confidentiality.--Information submitted to the
Committee shall not be disclosed to any individual or
entity outside the departments or agencies of Committee
members and Committee advisors, except as appropriate
and consistent with procedures governing the handling
of classified or otherwise privileged information.
(5) Notification of no objections.--If the Committee does
not have a recommendation or an objection to granting an
application or maintaining a license, the Committee shall so
notify the Administrator, the Secretary, or the Commission, as
applicable.
(6) Other duties.--The Committees shall conduct other
related duties, as the chairperson considers appropriate.
SEC. 4. THREAT ANALYSIS.
With respect to each application and license reviewed by the
Committee, the Director of National Intelligence, in coordination with
the intelligence community (as defined in section 3 of the National
Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003)), shall issue a written
assessment of any threat to the national security interests of the
United States posed by granting the application or maintaining the
license.
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