§ 124.8 — C-UAS Operations Plan.

§ 124.8 C-UAS Operations Plan.

(a) Requirement and function. Each mitigation operation, and each detection and warning operation conducted under this part using systems that require the authority of, or relief from certain laws under, 6 U.S.C. 124n, must be authorized by a C-UAS Operations Plan signed by the agency's Agency Approving Official. Section 124.12 sets out the conditions specific to detection and warning operations. The signed C-UAS Operations Plan is the instrument authorizing the operation on behalf of the SLTT law enforcement or correctional agency and certifies that the operation is consistent with the agency's implementation or detection and warning policy, that the operators are agency personnel who hold the required training and certification, and that the risk-based assessment factors of paragraph (e) of this section have been addressed. The agency may not commence mitigation operations until both the advance coordination process under § 124.9 and the signed C-UAS Operations Plan are complete.

(b) Legal counsel certification. The C-UAS Operations Plan must include a certification by the agency's legal counsel or, for an agency without in-house counsel, the applicable prosecuting authority, that the plan has been reviewed for legal sufficiency. The certification may take the form of a signature block, stamp, or attestation on the plan.

(c) Form. The C-UAS Operations Plan must be prepared on the standardized form prescribed by the Attorney General. The form is structured to use short-answer fields, selection-based fields, and map or diagram attachments, and does not require narrative legal analysis or repetition of standing procedures addressed in the agency's implementation policy. The form may use conditional fields keyed to the type of operation, so that each operation completes only the fields applicable to it; for a detection and warning operation, the fields specific to mitigation, such as mitigation-system parameters and render safe planning, do not apply.

(d) Content. The C-UAS Operations Plan must address, at a minimum and to the extent applicable to the operation:

(1) Operation identification, including the submitting agency, points of contact, the Agency Approving Official, the operation type, planned dates, geographic location, venue type, any Special Event Assessment Rating or National Special Security Event designation, and the identification of any mutual aid agencies;

(2) Systems and airspace, including the systems to be deployed by reference to the Authorized Systems List or Authorized Technologies List category; a description of each system's configuration and the hardware version, firmware revision, and software version of each system as deployed; RF-emitting system parameters; class of airspace; and anticipated flight restrictions;

(3) Coordination confirmation, including operator certification status, compliance with the agency implementation policy, the legal counsel certification, and compliance with the privacy and civil liberties requirements of this part; and

(4) Operational planning elements, including deployment configuration and spectrum deconfliction, personnel and team assignments, render safe and contingency planning, known authorized manned and unmanned aviation and deconfliction processes and procedures, communications, investigative response and data handling, and demobilization.

(e) Risk-based assessment. The C-UAS Operations Plan must address the following factors: potential impacts to aviation safety, civilian aviation and aerospace operations, aircraft airworthiness, or the use of the airspace; procedures to comply with any technical and siting limitations; options for mitigating identified potential impacts; potential consequences if potential impacts are not mitigated; the ability to provide reasonable advance notice to aircraft operators of both manned and unmanned aircraft; the setting and character of the facility or asset; for National Special Security Events and Special Event Assessment Rating events, the event characteristics; and the potential consequences to public safety if UAS threats are not mitigated. For National Special Security Events and Special Event Assessment Rating events, a plan that identifies the systems, airspace environment, and coordination elements from which the assessment can be derived satisfies this paragraph without separately addressing each factor in narrative form. Nothing in this part may be interpreted as limiting the authority of the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to manage the navigable airspace, assess potential aviation safety risks, and implement such mitigations as the Administrator determines appropriate.

(f) Timing and submission. The C-UAS Operations Plan must be completed before the commencement of operations and submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security through the designated Federal C-UAS coordination portal as a supplement to the advance notification not fewer than 7 calendar days before the commencement of operations, or as early as practicable when the applicable notification timeline does not permit 7 calendar days. For a detection and warning operation that is not subject to the advance notification requirement of § 124.9, the C-UAS Operations Plan must be submitted through the designated Federal C-UAS coordination portal before the commencement of operations, for situational awareness and recordkeeping; such submission is not an advance notification under § 124.9 and does not trigger Federal Aviation Administration or Federal Communications Commission coordination. The plan may be updated after submission to reflect changes resulting from Federal Aviation Administration or Federal Communications Commission coordination. Material updates must be resubmitted promptly. Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Communications Commission coordination is valid for the system configuration and the firmware and software version coordinated for the operation. A change in configuration, firmware, or software version does not require re-coordination if it does not materially change the system's radio frequency emission characteristics, its operating frequencies and power levels, or other factors potentially impacting aviation safety from those previously coordinated. A change that would operate outside the frequencies or power levels coordinated for the operation requires re-coordination before deployment; a summary of the change must be provided to the Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Communications Commission to determine if re-coordination is necessary. The Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Communications Commission may identify by guidance categories of configuration, firmware, or software changes that are deemed to materially affect radio frequency emission characteristics and require re-coordination. Federal review of the C-UAS Operations Plan is for deconfliction and situational awareness purposes and does not constitute approval or disapproval of the operation. For an event, area, or period in which a high volume of simultaneous operations is anticipated, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, may establish an earlier submission deadline for affected operations and will communicate that deadline to affected agencies in advance through the designated portal or the lead C-UAS agency.

(g) Relationship to implementation policy. The C-UAS Operations Plan is an event-specific or operation-specific document. Standing tactical procedures required by § 124.6(a) must be addressed in the agency's implementation policy, and the C-UAS Operations Plan must reference the implementation policy by title and version rather than repeating standing procedures.

(h) Operational windows. (1) An individual C-UAS Operations Plan may authorize operations for a period not to exceed 30 consecutive calendar days, except as provided in paragraph (h)(2) of this section. For operations requiring a longer duration, the agency must submit a renewal plan before the expiration of the current operational window; the renewal plan may incorporate the prior plan by reference and address only material changes. The agency must submit a renewal plan, through the designated Federal C-UAS coordination portal under § 124.8(f), before the expiration of the current operational window.

(2) For fixed-site facilities for which SLTT law enforcement and correctional agencies conduct ongoing persistent-protection operations, including correctional facilities, critical infrastructure sites, other permanent facilities with a continuing C-UAS mission, and venues where the agency expects to provide recurring C-UAS coverage within the authorization period, the Agency Approving Official may authorize a standing operational window of up to 365 calendar days, renewable upon submission of a renewal plan. The advance notification for a standing operational window must specify the venue and anticipated events or coverage periods; for a detection and warning operation not subject to the advance notification requirement of § 124.9, the C-UAS Operations Plan must specify the venue, the area covered, which may be stated as a radius around the site, and the anticipated coverage periods. Material changes, including a new event, new systems, or a changed threat environment, require an update to the advance notification under § 124.9(a) or, for such a detection and warning operation, an updated C-UAS Operations Plan. Federal coordination requirements continue to apply to each event within a standing window, including lead C-UAS agency coordination under § 124.10 and per-event coordination among the Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Federal Communications Commission.

(3) No C-UAS Operations Plan may authorize an indefinite or open-ended operational window.