119-hr5231

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5231 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 5231

To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to 
establish procedures and reporting requirements for incidents relating 
 to unidentified anomalous phenomena, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 September 9, 2025

Mr. Garcia of California (for himself, Mr. Grothman, Mr. Moskowitz, and 
 Mr. Ogles) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the 
 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
 of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
 concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to 
establish procedures and reporting requirements for incidents relating 
 to unidentified anomalous phenomena, 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 ``Safe Airspace for Americans Act''.

SEC. 2. UNIDENTIFIED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the enactment of 
this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 
shall--

    (1) develop procedures to synchronize and standardize the 
 collection, reporting, and analysis of incidents, including 
 adverse physiological effects, or the disruption, interference, 
 or interaction with flight instruments, potentially caused by 
 an unidentified anomalous phenomena reported by civilian 
 aircrew, air traffic controllers, flight attendants, aviation 
 maintenance personnel, aviation dispatchers, air carriers or 
 operators, and airports;

    (2) develop processes and procedures to ensure that such 
 incidents are reported and stored in an appropriate manner that 
 allows for the integration of analysis of such information;

    (3) establish procedures to provide employees of the 
 Federal Aviation Administration the ability for timely and 
 consistent reporting of such incidents that could reasonably be 
 considered an unidentified anomalous phenomena;

    (4) develop processes and procedures to ensure the timely 
 investigations of such incidents, including immediately 
 archiving information or data, including pilot-controller 
 communications as well as air traffic management system and 
 radar data, that could be used to aid in such investigations; 
 and

    (5) evaluate the threat that such incidents present to the 
 safety of the national airspace system.

    (b) Coordination.--In carrying out the requirements of this 
section, the Administrator shall coordinate with the heads of other 
departments and agencies of the Federal Government, as appropriate, 
including the Secretary of Defense, the Director of National 
Intelligence, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Administrator 
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Director of 
the National Science Foundation, and the Secretary of Energy.
            (c) All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office.--The Administrator shall 
share the reports and all incident archived information and data 
submitted under this section with the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution 
Office of the Department of Defense.
            (d) Prohibition Against Use of Reports for Enforcement 

=== Purposes ===
-
The Administrator may not use reports submitted under this section (or 
information derived therefrom) in any enforcement action except 
information concerning accidents or criminal offenses.

    (e) Communications Strategy.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall produce and 
implement a communications strategy to--

    (1) engage the public and publicize the reporting process 
 described under subsection

    (a) ; and

    (2) decrease stigma towards individuals submitting 
 information to the Administrator under this section.

    (f) Reporting System.--

    (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
 enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall select whether 
 reports submitted under this section shall be received 
 through--
        (A) the Aviation Safety Reporting Program in effect 
 as of the date of enactment of this Act; or
        (B) a new and separate system similar to such 
 Program that is established to exclusively receive 
 report of potential unidentified anomalous phenomena.

    (2) Consideration.--If the Administrator makes a selection 
 under paragraph

    (1)
        (A) , not later than 1 year after the date of 
 enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall consider whether 
 to update the Aviation Safety Reporting Program reporting 
 intake system to improve the capture information regarding 
 whether a reported event could involve an unidentified 
 anomalous phenomenon, and, if so, a mechanism for including 
 description of the object subject to such report and the 
 apparent kinematics of such object.

    (3) System requirement.--If the Administrator makes a 
 selection under paragraph

    (1)
        (B) , the Administrator shall 
 ensure the system includes the ability to provide a description 
 of the object subject to such report and the apparent 
 kinematics of such object.

    (4) Manner of submission.--The Administrator shall include 
 in the reporting system selected under this subsection the 
 ability to submit such a report via an electronic flight bag if 
 the Administrator determines that submitting via such flight 
 bag can be done--
        (A) safely; and
        (B) without compromising pilots' ability to aviate, 
 navigate and communicate.

    (g) Protection of Medical Certificates.--The spotting, visual 
witness, or reporting of unidentified anomalous phenomena shall not be 
taken into account for the purposes of evaluation of mental standards 
for issuing medical certificates for airmen and for remaining eligible 
for a medical certificate under part 67 of title 14, Code of Federal 
Regulations.

    (h) Protection of Airmen Certificates.--The spotting, visual 
witness, or reporting of unidentified anomalous phenomena may not be 
taken into account for the purposes of evaluation of competency for 
issuing airmen certificates under 

section 44709 of title 49, United 
States Code.
            (i) Prohibition on Reprisals for Federal Employees and 
Contractors.--An employee of a department or agency of the Federal 
Government, or of a contractor, subcontractor, grantee, subgrantee, or 
personal services contractor of such a department or agency, who has 
authority to take, direct others to take, recommend, or approve any 
personnel action, shall not, with respect to such authority, take or 
fail to take, or threaten to take or fail to take, a personnel action, 
including the revocation or suspension of security clearances, or 
termination of employment, with respect to any individual as a reprisal 
for spotting, visually witnessing or reporting of unidentified 
anomalous phenomena.

    (j) Prohibition on Reprisals for Employees of Air Carriers or 
Commercial Operators.--An air carrier or commercial operator under part 
119 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations shall not--

    (1) take or fail to take, or threaten to take or fail to 
 take, a personnel action, or termination of employment, with 
 respect to any individual as a reprisal for spotting, visually 
 witnessing or reporting of unidentified anomalous phenomena to 
 the Administrator; or

    (2) issue a cease and desist letter to any individual or 
 organization for spotting, visually witnessing, or reporting of 
 unidentified anomalous phenomena to the Administrator.

    (k) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--

    (1) all unidentified anomalous phenomena encounters by 
 aviation personnel should be reported, particularly when such 
 encounters involve a potential safety or national security 
 concern; and

    (2) employers and governmental officials should take 
 actions to reduce the stigma of reporting unidentified 
 anomalous phenomena.
            (l) === Definitions. ===
-In this Act:

    (1) Unidentified anomalous phenomena.--The term 
 ``unidentified anomalous phenomena'' means--
        (A) an airborne object that is not immediately 
 identifiable;
        (B) a transmedium object or device; and
            (C) a submerged object or device that--
            (i) is not immediately identifiable; and
            (ii) displays behavior or performance 
 characteristics suggesting that the object or 
 device may be related to an object described in 
 subparagraph
        (A) .

    (2) Transmedium object or device.--The term ``transmedium 
 object or device'' means an object or device that is--
        (A) observed to transition between space and the 
 atmosphere, or between the atmosphere and a body of 
 water; and
        (B) not immediately identifiable.
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