Drone Infrastructure Inspection Grant Act

Drone Infrastructure Inspection Grant Act This bill establishes programs within the Department of Transportation (DOT) to support the use of drones and other small, unmanned aircraft systems when inspecting, repairing, or constructing road infrastructure, electric grid infrastructure, water infrastructure, or other critical infrastructure. Specifically, DOT must award grants to state, tribal, and local governments; metropolitan planning organizations; or regional groups of those entities to purchase or otherwise use drones to increase efficiency, reduce costs, improve worker safety, and reduce carbon emissions when carrying out inspections, repairs, and construction. Grant recipients must use domestically manufactured drones that are made by companies not subject to Chinese influence or control. DOT must also award grants to certain institutions of higher education for training students for careers using drones and related technologies.