[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1641 Introduced in House (IH)]
114th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1641
To amend the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Organization Act to provide incentives for the reallocation of Federal
Government spectrum for commercial use, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 26, 2015
Mr. Guthrie (for himself, Ms. Matsui, Mr. Walden, and Ms. Eshoo)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Armed
Services, 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 amend the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Organization Act to provide incentives for the reallocation of Federal
Government spectrum for commercial use, 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 ``Federal Spectrum Incentive Act of
2015''.
SEC. 2. FEDERAL SPECTRUM INCENTIVES.
(a) Notice to Commission.--
(1) In general.--Section 113(g)(4) of the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization
Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)(4)) is amended--
(A) by striking the heading and inserting ``Notice
to commission.--'';
(B) in the second sentence of subparagraph (A), by
striking ``shall notify the Commission'' and all that
follows and inserting the following: ``shall notify the
Commission--
``(i) of estimated relocation or sharing
costs and timelines for such relocation or
sharing; or
``(ii) that, instead of relocation or
sharing costs under this subsection and section
118, a Federal entity will receive payment
under section 120 because such entity is--
``(I) discontinuing the operations
that the Federal entity conducts on
such eligible frequencies without
relocating such operations to other
frequencies; or
``(II) relocating such operations
to frequencies assigned to another
Federal entity in order for such
entities to share such frequencies.'';
and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(D) This subsection and section 118 shall not
apply with respect to the discontinuance of operations
on eligible frequencies or the relocation of such
operations by a Federal entity after the Commission
receives notice under subparagraph (A)(ii) with respect
to such discontinuance or relocation.''.
(2) Conforming amendments.--Section 113(g) of the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization
Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (3)(A)(iii)(I), by striking
``paragraph (4)(A)'' and inserting ``paragraph
(4)(A)(i)'';
(B) in paragraph (4)--
(i) in subparagraph (B), by striking
``subparagraph (A)'' and inserting
``subparagraph (A)(i)''; and
(ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking
``subparagraphs (A) and (B)'' and inserting
``subparagraphs (A)(i) and (B)''; and
(C) in paragraph (5), by striking ``paragraph
(4)(A)'' and inserting ``paragraph (4)(A)(i)''.
(b) Transition Plans.--Section 113(h) of the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act (47
U.S.C. 923(h)) is amended--
(1) in the heading, by striking ``Relocation or Sharing'';
(2) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
``(1) Development of transition plan by federal entity.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 240 days before
the commencement of any auction of eligible frequencies
described in subsection (g)(2), a Federal entity
authorized to use any such frequency shall submit to
the NTIA and to the Technical Panel established by
paragraph (3) a transition plan in which the Federal
entity--
``(i) declares the intention of such
entity--
``(I) to share such eligible
frequencies with a non-Federal user or
to relocate to other frequencies, and
to receive relocation or sharing costs
from the Spectrum Relocation Fund
established by section 118; or
``(II) to discontinue the
operations that the Federal entity
conducts on such eligible frequencies
without relocating such operations to
other frequencies or to relocate such
operations to frequencies assigned to
another Federal entity in order for
such entities to share such
frequencies, and to receive payment
from the Federal Spectrum Incentive
Fund established by section 120; and
``(ii) describes how the entity will
implement the relocation, sharing, or
discontinuance arrangement.
``(B) Common format.--The NTIA shall specify, after
public input, a common format for all Federal entities
to follow in preparing transition plans under this
paragraph.'';
(3) in paragraph (2)--
(A) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ``, to
discontinue such use,'' after ``from such
frequencies'';
(B) in subparagraph (F), by inserting ``,
discontinuance,'' after ``relocation''; and
(C) in subparagraph (G), by striking ``The plans''
and inserting ``To the extent applicable given the
intention declared by the entity under paragraph
(1)(A)(i), the plans'';
(4) in paragraph (4)(A), by inserting ``(if applicable)''
after ``timelines and'';
(5) in paragraph (6)--
(A) by inserting ``(if applicable)'' after
``costs''; and
(B) by inserting ``, discontinuance,'' after
``relocation'' the second place it appears; and
(6) in paragraph (7)(A)(ii), by inserting ``,
discontinuance,'' after ``relocation''.
(c) Relocation or Discontinuance Prioritized Over Sharing.--Section
113(j) of the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(j)) is amended--
(1) in the heading, by inserting ``or Discontinuance''
after ``Relocation''; and
(2) by inserting ``or discontinuance of the operations that
the Federal entity conducts on the band'' after ``from the
band'' each place it appears.
(d) Deposit of Auction Proceeds.--Section 309(j)(8) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (C)(i), by striking ``(D)(ii)'' and
inserting ``(D)(ii), (D)(iii)''; and
(2) in subparagraph (D)--
(A) in clause (i), by striking ``clause (ii)'' and
inserting ``clauses (ii) and (iii)''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(iii) Federal spectrum incentives.--
Notwithstanding subparagraph (A) and except as
provided in subparagraph (B) and clause (ii) of
this subparagraph, in the case of proceeds
(including deposits and upfront payments from
successful bidders) attributable to the auction
of eligible frequencies described in section
113(g)(2) of the National Telecommunications
and Information Administration Organization Act
with respect to which the Commission has
received notice under section 113(g)(4)(A)(ii)
of such Act, 1 percent of such proceeds shall
be deposited in the Federal Spectrum Incentive
Fund established by section 120 of such Act and
shall be available in accordance with such
section. The remainder of such proceeds shall
be deposited in the general fund of the
Treasury, where such proceeds shall be
dedicated for the sole purpose of deficit
reduction.''.
(e) Federal Spectrum Incentive Fund.--Part B of the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act (47
U.S.C. 921 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 120. FEDERAL SPECTRUM INCENTIVE FUND.
``(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury of the
United States a fund to be known as the Federal Spectrum Incentive Fund
(in this section referred to as the `Fund'), which shall be
administered by the Office of Management and Budget (in this section
referred to as `OMB'), in consultation with the NTIA.
``(b) Transfer of Funds.--The Director of OMB shall transfer from
the Fund to a Federal entity an amount equal to the amount deposited in
accordance with section 309(j)(8)(D)(iii) of the Communications Act of
1934 that is attributable to the auction of eligible frequencies
described in section 113(g)(2) of this Act being vacated by such
entity. Such amount shall be available to the Federal entity in
accordance with subsection (c) and shall remain available until
expended.
``(c) Use of Funds.--A Federal entity may use an amount transferred
under subsection (b) for the following purposes:
``(1) Offset of sequestration.--Any purposes permitted
under the terms and conditions of an appropriations account of
the Federal entity that was subject to sequestration for any
fiscal year under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit
Control Act of 1985. The amount used for such purposes under
this paragraph may not exceed the amount by which the amount
available to such entity under such account was reduced by
sequestration for such fiscal year.
``(2) Transfer to incumbent federal entity.--In the case of
a Federal entity that is relocating operations to frequencies
assigned to an incumbent Federal entity in order for such
entities to share such frequencies, to transfer an amount to
the incumbent Federal entity for any purposes permitted under
this subsection (except this paragraph). The transferred amount
shall remain available to the incumbent Federal entity until
expended.
``(d) Prohibition on Duplicative Payments.--If the Commission
receives notice under section 113(g)(4)(A)(ii) of a discontinuance of
operations on or relocation from eligible frequencies by a Federal
entity that has received, from the Spectrum Relocation Fund in
accordance with section 118(d)(3), relocation or sharing costs related
to pre-auction estimates or research with respect to such frequencies,
the Director of OMB shall deduct from the amount to be transferred to
such entity under subsection (b) an amount equal to such costs and
shall transfer such amount to the Spectrum Relocation Fund.''.
(f) Department of Defense Spectrum.--Section 1062(b) of the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (Public Law
106-65) does not apply to frequencies with respect to which the Federal
Communications Commission has received notice under section
113(g)(4)(A)(ii) of the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)(4)(A)(ii)).
SEC. 3. COSTS OF INCUMBENT FEDERAL ENTITIES RELATED TO SPECTRUM
SHARING.
(a) Description of Eligible Federal Entities.--Section 113(g)(1) of
the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)(1)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``authorized to use a band of eligible
frequencies described in paragraph (2)'';
(2) by striking ``spectrum frequencies'' the first place it
appears and inserting ``eligible frequencies described in
paragraph (2)''; and
(3) by striking ``spectrum frequencies'' the second place
it appears and inserting ``eligible frequencies described in
such paragraph''.
(b) Definition of Relocation or Sharing Costs.--Section
113(g)(3)(A) of the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)(3)(A)) is amended--
(1) in clause (iv)(II), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in clause (v), by striking the period and inserting ``;
and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(vi) the costs incurred by an incumbent
Federal entity to accommodate sharing the
spectrum frequencies assigned to such entity
with a Federal entity the operations of which
are being relocated from eligible frequencies
described in paragraph (2), unless the
Commission receives notice under paragraph
(4)(A)(ii)(II) with respect to the relocation
of such operations.''.
(c) Spectrum Relocation Fund.--Section 118 of the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act (47
U.S.C. 928) is amended--
(1) in subsection (c), by striking ``with respect to'' and
all that follows and inserting the following: ``with respect
to--
``(1) relocation from or sharing of such eligible
frequencies; or
``(2) in the case of an incumbent Federal entity described
in section 113(g)(3)(A)(vi), accommodating sharing the spectrum
frequencies assigned to such entity with a Federal entity the
operations of which are being relocated from such eligible
frequencies.''; and
(2) in subsection (d)--
(A) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ``(or, in the
case of an incumbent Federal entity described in
section 113(g)(3)(A)(vi), the eligible Federal entity
the operations of which are being relocated has
submitted such a plan)'' after ``transition plan''; and
(B) in paragraph (3)(B)(ii), by inserting ``except
in the case of an incumbent Federal entity described in
section 113(g)(3)(A)(vi),'' before ``the transition
plan''.
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