Wire
Power plants could use anti-drone tools
Tennessee Rep. Matt Van Epps’s House bill would let private operators of critical sites detect, track and counter small drones without forcing one approved system.
For owners of power plants, water systems, refineries and other critical sites, a drone overhead is not just a nuisance. It can be a safety risk, a surveillance tool or a way to interfere with operations. In the House, Tennessee Rep. Matt Van Epps has introduced H.R. 9232, a bill that would let private owners of critical infrastructure facilities use counter-unmanned aircraft system technologies, the federal term for anti-drone tools.
The proposal is written as permission, not a mandate. It would not force facilities to buy a specific product or build a uniform defense. Instead, it would open the door for private operators to use technology meant to detect, track or counter drones around sites that keep electricity, transport, communications and other essential services running.
A permission slip, not a mandate
That narrow design matters because the damage from a small drone can be outsized. A device that looks minor from the ground can still create a shutdown, a security scare or a crash hazard if it reaches the wrong place.
The bill is aimed at putting the response closer to the sites most exposed to that kind of disruption. Rather than leaving private operators with no clear room to act, it gives them more authority to defend facilities where a brief intrusion can become an expensive problem fast.
Why the target is so specific
The focus on critical infrastructure reflects how much modern life depends on places most people never see. When those systems are interrupted, the consequences spread beyond one site and into daily routines that depend on steady power, clean water and functioning transport.
H.R. 9232 does not rewrite drone law across the board. It tries to carve out a narrower path for private operators that need anti-drone tools to protect facilities the country relies on every day.