One Small Step to Protect Human Heritage in Space Act
This bill requires a federal agency that issues a license for the conduct of a lunar activity to require that each license applicant agree to abide by recommendations, guidelines, or principles issued by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) related to the protection and preservation of U.S. government lunar artifacts.
A federal agency may
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3766 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3766
To require any Federal agency that issues licenses to conduct
activities in outer space to include in the requirements for such
licenses an agreement relating to the preservation and protection of
the Apollo 11 landing site, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 16, 2019
Ms. Johnson of Texas (for herself, Mr. Lucas, Ms. Kendra S. Horn of
Oklahoma, and Mr. Babin) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in
addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require any Federal agency that issues licenses to conduct
activities in outer space to include in the requirements for such
licenses an agreement relating to the preservation and protection of
the Apollo 11 landing site, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``One Small Step to Protect Human
Heritage in Space Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) On July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 spacecraft launched
from the John F. Kennedy Space Center carrying Neil A.
Armstrong, Edwin E. ``Buzz'' Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins.
(2) July 20, 2019, will mark the 50th anniversary of the
date on which the Apollo 11 spacecraft landed on the Moon and
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set
foot on a celestial body off the Earth.
(3) The landing of the Apollo 11 spacecraft and humanity's
first off-world footprints are achievements unparalleled in
history, a direct product of the work and perseverance of the
more than 400,000 individuals who contributed to the
development of the Apollo missions on the shoulders of
centuries of science and engineering pioneers from all corners
of the world.
(4) Among the thousands of individuals who have contributed
to the achievements of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (in this section referred to as ``NASA'') are
African-American women such as Katherine Johnson, Dorothy
Vaughn, Mary Jackson, and Dr. Christine Darden, who made
critical contributions to NASA space programs. Katherine
Johnson worked at NASA for 35 years and calculated the
trajectory of the Apollo 11 landing and the trajectories for
the spaceflights of astronauts Alan Shepard and John Glenn.
Katherine Johnson, together with many other individuals the
work of whom often went unacknowledged, helped broaden the
scope of space travel and charted new frontiers for humanity's
exploration of space.
(5) The landing of the Apollo 11 spacecraft was made on
behalf of all humankind, and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin
were accompanied by messages of peace from the leaders of more
than 70 countries.
(6) The lunar landing sites of the Apollo 11 spacecraft,
the robotic spacecraft that preceded the Apollo 11 mission, and
the crewed and robotic spacecraft that followed, are of
outstanding universal value to humanity.
(7) Such landing sites--
(A) are the first archaeological sites with human
activity that are not on Earth;
(B) provide evidence of the first achievements of
humankind in the realm of space travel and exploration;
and
(C) contain artifacts and other evidence of human
exploration activities that remain a potential source
of cultural, historical, archaeological,
anthropological, scientific, and engineering knowledge.
(8) As commercial enterprises and more countries acquire
the ability to land on the Moon, it is necessary to ensure the
recognition and protection of the Apollo 11 landing site and
other historic landing sites together with all the human effort
and innovation the sites represent.
(9) On July 20, 2011, NASA published the voluntary guidance
entitled ``NASA's Recommendations to Space-Faring Entities: How
to Protect and Preserve the Historic and Scientific Value of
U.S. Government Lunar Artifacts''.
(10) In March 2018, the Office of Science and Technology
Policy published a report entitled ``Protecting & Preserving
Apollo Program Lunar Landing Sites & Artifacts''.
(11) The Apollo 11 landing site and other similar historic
landing sites in outer space merit legal protection from
inadvertent or intentional interference with such sites or the
environment surrounding such sites in order to prevent
irremediable loss of archaeological, anthropological,
historical, scientific, and engineering significance and value.
(12) Space-faring entities based outside the United States
have the capacity to land on the Moon.
(13) The licensing requirements under this Act are
applicable only to United States-based activities in outer
space and therefore have limited efficacy for protecting
against intentional or inadvertent disturbances of the Apollo
11 landing site and other similar historic sites from space-
faring entities based outside the United States.
(14) A binding international agreement to protect the
Apollo 11 landing site and other similar historic sites by
requiring adherence to the recommendations described in section
3(b) would be sufficient to protect against intentional or
inadvertent disturbances of the Apollo 11 landing site and
other similar historic sites.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
President should initiate a diplomatic initiative to negotiate an
international agreement described in subsection (a)(14).
SEC. 3. LICENSING REQUIREMENTS CONCERNING PRESERVATION OF HISTORIC
LUNAR LANDING SITES.
(a) In General.--Beginning not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, any Federal agency that issues a license to
conduct an activity in outer space shall require each applicant for
such a license--
(1) to agree to abide by the recommendations described in
subsection (b); or
(2) in the case of an activity that requires a license from
more than one Federal agency, to certify (as described in
paragraph (1) or (2), as applicable, of section 1746 of title
28, United States Code) that the applicant has submitted an
application for a license for such activity to another Federal
agency that satisfies paragraph (1).
(b) Recommendations Described.--The recommendations described in
this subsection are--
(1) ``NASA's Recommendations to Space-Faring Entities: How
to Protect and Preserve the Historic and Scientific Value of
U.S. Government Lunar Artifacts'' issued by the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration on July 20, 2011;
(2) the updates to ``NASA's Recommendations to Space-Faring
Entities: How to Protect and Preserve the Historic and
Scientific Value of U.S. Government Lunar Artifacts'' issued by
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on October
28, 2011; and
(3) any successor heritage preservation recommendations,
guidelines, or principles relating to the protection and
preservation of Government lunar artifacts issued by the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
(c) Exemptions.--A Federal agency issuing a license described in
subsection (a) may, in consultation with the Administrator of the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, exempt specific
activities of an applicant from the historic preservation agreement or
certification under subsection (a) if such bona fide activities are
determined to have legitimate and significant historical,
archeological, anthropological, scientific, or engineering value.
(d) Authority To Assess Penalty Fees.--
(1) In general.--A Federal agency issuing a license
described in subsection (a) may assess a penalty fee on the
holder of such license for conduct that violates one or more of
terms of the license relating to the agreement under subsection
(a)(1).
(2) Amount.--The penalty fee amount assessed under
paragraph (1) shall be--
(A) commensurate with the nature and extent of the
violation; and
(B) sufficient to deter future violations.
(e) Activity Defined.--In this section, the term ``activity'' means
an action or endeavor in outer space that--
(1) is intended to be lunar in nature, including lunar
orbit, landing, and impact; or
(2) has a greater likelihood than not of becoming lunar in
nature, including unintentional orbit and impact.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
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