H.R. 3463 — COUNTER Act

This section revises DoD's authority under 10 U.S.C. §130i to mitigate unmanned aircraft system (UAS) threats to covered facilities or assets (i.e., certain military installations, vessels, and other DoD-controlled properties and personnel), as follows: (1) specifies exemptions from criminal statutes 18 U.S.C. §§32, 1030, and 1367 and chapters 119 and 206 (previously, any provision of title 18) and requires the Secretary of Defense to delegate such authority to unified combatant command commanders, service secretaries, or other appropriate DoD officials; (2) authorizes UAS operator warnings, including through remote identification broadcasts; (3) permits such actions when they would support another federal agency mitigating UAS threats; (4) redesignates subsections (g)–(j) as (h), (j)–(k), and (l); (5) exempts counter-UAS technologies, procedures, and guidance from disclosure under 5 U.S.C. §552(b)(3) (FOIA) and state/local public records laws; (6) updates a reporting deadline in redesignated subsection (h)(1) to January 1, 2026 (from March 1, 2018); (7) exempts DoD and Coast Guard counter-UAS activities conducted outside the United States from the specified title 18 provisions and 49 U.S.C. §46502; (8) in redesignated subsection (k), extends certain termination and review dates to December 31, 2030, and November 15, 2030 (from December 31, 2026, and November 15, 2026, respectively) and lengthens a pilot program evaluation period to one year (from 180 days); and (9) in redesignated subsection (l), adds the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and House Committee on Homeland Security to notification requirements, defines "unified combatant command," and expands "covered asset" to include additional DoD properties (e.g., those under 10 U.S.C. §2672) and activities (e.g., WMD incident response and time-limited emergency response).