Northern Border Coordination Act
What changed between versions
The definition of 'northern border' was expanded to include the maritime border between Alaska and the Russian Federation, not just the US-Canada land border.
The C-UAS function now requires operations to be conducted pursuant to policies established by the Secretary consistent with section 210G of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, and may involve development, testing, and evaluation of technologies.
Quick reaction capability language changed from 'specifically missions in the Great Lakes region' to 'including missions in the Great Lakes region,' broadening the geographic scope of quick deployment.
A new function (subsection d(8)) requires the Center to identify challenges along the noncontiguous land border with Canada and the maritime border with Russia, ensure dedicated personnel address those challenges, and determine feasibility of a satellite facility.
Required component agencies were changed: Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers and the Science and Technology Directorate were removed; ICE Homeland Security Investigations was added as a required collocated component.
A former requirement for the Center to develop and test new technological capabilities specifically to respond to increased use of UAS for domain awareness was removed.
A sunset provision (subsection h) was added: the Act ceases to be effective 7 years after enactment.
A rule of construction (subsection d(6)(B)) states that nothing in the Act provides additional authority related to detection, mitigation, research, development, or testing of unmanned aircraft systems or counter-unmanned aircraft systems.
A new quarterly reporting requirement (subsection f) requires the Secretary to report to four congressional committees on temporary duty assignments of Border Patrol agents, including number of agents, duration, and source sectors.
Annual reporting now goes to six additional congressional committees (Senate Foreign Relations, Senate Commerce/Science/Transportation, House Foreign Affairs, House Transportation and Infrastructure) beyond the original two.
A rule of construction (subsection g) clarifies that the Center is separate and distinct from the Secretary's existing authorities under section 708 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.
The Air and Marine Operations requirement changed from 'establish a unit at the Center' to 'collocate personnel and resources with the Center,' which is less prescriptive about organizational structure.
