# H.R. 7613 (119th): Airspace Location and Enhanced Risk Transparency Act of 2026 or the ALERT Act

Airspace Location and Enhanced Risk Transparency Act of 2026 or the ALERT Act This bill addresses aviation safety by increasing requirements for aircraft tracking and communication using Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology and expanding oversight. As background, ADS-B for broadcasting (Out) and receiving (In) transmits information (e.g., location and weather) among aircraft and air traffic control (ATC). The bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) to enter into an agreement regarding the use of collision prevention technologies on DOD aircraft. The agreement must require the use of ADS-B Out as the default practice for DOD helicopters operating in the national airspace, unless such use would affect operational security. For DOD helicopters that are carrying out special missions in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area and are exempt from ADS-B Out transmission requirements, DOD must coordinate with DOT to conduct a safety risk assessment and implement appropriate mitigations. By December 31, 2031, DOD aircraft (other than certain special mission aircraft) must be equipped with and operating integrated ADS-B In technology. With respect to civil aircraft, by December 31, 2031, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) must generally require aircraft that are currently required to be equipped with ADS-B Out to also be equipped with ADS-B In. Additionally, among other requirements, the FAA must establish time-on-position limits for supervisory ATC personnel; establish a process to timely notify parties involved in certain near-miss incidents; and evaluate and revise, as necessary, helicopter routes around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: air_traffic_control. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: aviation_safety. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: dod_coordination. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: surveillance. Category: liberty_conscience. Lane tag: general equity.
Lane: unclear. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: war_funding. Category: war_peace. Lane tag: prudential.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 110: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The measure pursues a real good, protecting life through collision prevention, fatigue limits for controllers, and near-miss notification, within ordinary regulatory and administrative mechanics. It does not directly advance a named moral harm, and it does not clearly restrain one either. Its ADS-B tracking provisions concern aircraft position data rather than government monitoring of persons, so they do not reasonably support a surveillance-expansion reading on this metadata. The operational-security exemption and the mandated tracking are prudential tradeoffs rather than moral evils.
Theological note: The bill bears on the protection of human life in travel and on the duty of prudent stewardship over public safety systems, since collision avoidance and controller fatigue touch directly on neighbor-love and due care. Its core concern is aviation safety rather than a named moral wrong, so its relevance is primarily prudential. This is an issue-relevance note, not a final candidate judgment.

## Recorded votes

Roll 110: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended. Yea 396 · Nay 10 · Other 25.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-7613-119/