Both the Senate and House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committees have developed 2016 spending bills with report language containing provisions that call for increased study of UAV technologies.

The House Transportation Appropriations bill calls for study of sense-and-avoid technologies, as well as tracking technologies and orders the FAA to deliver a report on the feasibility of using such technologies 180 days after the bill is passed. The language states:

The FAA is directed to assess the feasibility of integrating proven UAS mitigation technology with airport operations in order to detect, identify and track both the air vehicle and ground controller to explicitly identify the UAS without interference to existing airport operations. This assessment should review techniques to defeat an errant or hostile UAS without causing any collateral damage to essential navigation systems, wireless communications, the general public or other airport operations. The Committee directs that FAA [is] to provide a letter report on its findings no later than 180 days after enactment of this Act.

The Senate Transportation Appropriations bill calls for the FAA’s Pathfinder program to be expanded. Pathfinder is a partnership with CNN, BNSF and PrecisionHawk to evaluate UAV uses in the newsgathering, rail monitoring and agriculture sectors, respectively.

Both bills call for additional use of the six UAV test sites. The House provides $3 million above President Obama’s budget request for UAS research. The Senate wants the FAA to consider using its six test sites to help decide on applications that can be exempt from the prohibition against commercial use of UAVs.