§ 124.9 — Advance coordination, notification, and authorization.

§ 124.9 Advance coordination, notification, and authorization.

(a) Advance notification. (1) Before conducting any mitigation operation under 6 U.S.C. 124n(a)(2), an SLTT law enforcement or correctional agency must submit an advance notification through the designated Federal C-UAS coordination portal not fewer than 30 calendar days before the commencement of the operational period. When 30 calendar days is not feasible, the agency must submit the advance notification as early as the circumstances permit, with sufficient lead time to allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Federal Communications Commission to complete their respective reviews, and must include a brief explanation of the circumstances that prevented submission within the 30-day standard.

(2) The advance notification is a coordination document that routes the relevant data elements to each recipient agency through a single submission. The advance notification is not a request for approval by the Department of Justice or the Department of Homeland Security, and the absence of a response from the Department of Justice or the Department of Homeland Security does not affect the agency's authority to proceed.

(3) The advance notification must identify the submitting SLTT law enforcement or correctional agency, the planned dates and geographic location of the operation, the systems to be deployed by reference to the Authorized Systems List or Authorized Technologies List category, RF-emitting system parameters, a characterization of the airspace and operational environment, and confirmation of operator certification status and compliance with the agency implementation policy and the privacy requirements of this part.

(b) C-UAS Operations Plan. Each mitigation operation must also be authorized by a C-UAS Operations Plan in accordance with § 124.8. The agency may not commence mitigation operations until both the advance coordination process under this section and the signed C-UAS Operations Plan are complete. The SLTT law enforcement or correctional agency must also submit a comparable advance notification to the State if required by State law or policy.

(c) FBI and DHS notification and routing. The Attorney General, through the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security, receives the advance notification for purposes of deconflicting planned SLTT law enforcement or correctional agency C-UAS operations with any ongoing or planned Federal C-UAS, law enforcement, or national security operations. Until the portal is fully established, an SLTT law enforcement or correctional agency must notify the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security through a channel designated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security for that purpose.

(d) DOT/FAA coordination. Before conducting any mitigation operation, an SLTT law enforcement or correctional agency must coordinate with the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration through the coordination mechanism the Federal Aviation Administration has designated. The agency must provide the systems to be deployed, the geographic coordinates of each proposed deployment and enforcement location, the expected duration of the operation, and a characterization of the airspace environment. The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration may establish such flight restrictions as the Administrator determines necessary in his sole discretion for reasons of aviation safety. The absence of a formal flight restriction does not preclude mitigation action in exigent circumstances when a credible threat exists and the requirements of this part are otherwise satisfied.

(e) Categorical FAA determinations. The Federal Aviation Administration may issue categorical determinations for specific combinations of authorized technologies, geographic locations, and airspace environments. When a proposed mitigation operation falls within the parameters of a categorical determination by the Federal Aviation Administration, individual case-by-case Federal Aviation Administration coordination is not required, provided the agency operates within the conditions specified in the determination and notifies the Federal Aviation Administration through the Federal Aviation Administration-designated coordination mechanism.

(f) FCC authorization. Before deploying any C-UAS system (whether detection and warning only or mitigation) that involves the emission of radio waves, an SLTT law enforcement or correctional agency must obtain authorization to use that system consistent with Title III of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. The system must comply with any relevant regulations, policies, and guidance administered by the Federal Communications Commission, and an SLTT law enforcement or correctional agency must submit a request to the Federal Communications Commission through the advance notification process and as directed by the Federal Communications Commission. The Federal Communications Commission will also issue waivers, as appropriate, to C-UAS equipment vendors and manufacturers to allow them to import and sell C-UAS mitigation equipment that employs radio frequency interdiction technologies or electronic counter measures to authorized SLTT law enforcement and correctional agencies.

(g) Emergency exception. When a credible threat poses an imminent risk to human life and advance coordination under this section is not practicable, an SLTT law enforcement or correctional agency may take mitigation action. The agency must complete the notifications required by this section as soon as practicable, and in any event within two hours of the action. If the mitigation action involves an RF-emitting C-UAS system, the agency must additionally comply with the real-time notification requirements of § 124.11. Each invocation of this exception must be documented in the post-operation report with a specific explanation of why advance coordination was not feasible. This exception may not be invoked as a routine alternative to advance coordination, and a pattern of repeated invocations may result in compliance review under § 124.16, accreditation or certification suspension, and penalties under section 8605(f) of the SAFER SKIES Act. The compliance audit program will establish the criteria for identifying patterns of emergency invocations that warrant review.

(h) Federal coordination. Before conducting any operation under this part within a security or protection mission overseen by a Federal Government entity, or within an area, facility, waterway, or other area over which a Federal Government entity exercises a security or protection responsibility, the agency must coordinate with that Federal Government entity through the advance coordination process under § 124.9 before conducting the operation. The Federal Aviation Administration's general regulatory authority over the navigable airspace does not by itself trigger this requirement; airspace safety coordination is addressed in § 124.8 and § 124.11.

(i) Detection and warning operations. Detection and warning operations that do not actively transmit radio frequency energy and do not affect aviation safety are not subject to the advance coordination requirements of this section.