[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2211 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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114th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2211
To authorize additional uses of the Spectrum Relocation Fund.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 27, 2015
Mr. Moran (for himself and Mr. Udall) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize additional uses of the Spectrum Relocation Fund.
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 ``Spectrum Relocation Fund Act of
2015''.
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL USES OF SPECTRUM RELOCATION FUND.
(a) In General.--Section 118 of the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 928) is
amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (i); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (f) the following:
``(g) Additional Payments for Research and Development and Planning
Activities.--
``(1) Amounts available.--Notwithstanding subsections (c)
through (e)--
``(A) there are appropriated from the Fund on the
date of the enactment of the Spectrum Relocation Fund
Act of 2015, and available to the Director of OMB for
use in accordance with paragraph (2), not more than
$500,000,000 from amounts in the Fund on such date of
enactment; and
``(B) there are appropriated from the Fund after
such date of enactment, and available to the Director
of OMB for use in accordance with such paragraph, not
more than 10 percent of the amounts deposited in the
Fund after such date of enactment.
``(2) Use of amounts.--
``(A) In general.--The Director of OMB may use
amounts made available under paragraph (1) to make
payments requested by Federal entities for research and
development, engineering studies, economic analyses, or
other planning activities intended to improve the
efficiency and effectiveness of the spectrum use of
Federal entities in order to make available frequencies
described in subparagraph (C) for reallocation for non-
Federal use or shared Federal and non-Federal use, or a
combination thereof, and for auction in accordance with
such reallocation.
``(B) Systems that improve efficiency and
effectiveness of federal spectrum use.--For purposes of
a payment under subparagraph (A) for activities with
respect to systems that improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of the spectrum use of Federal entities,
such systems include the following:
``(i) Systems that have increased
functionality or that increase the ability of a
Federal entity to accommodate spectrum sharing
with non-Federal entities.
``(ii) Systems that consolidate functions
or services that have been provided using
separate systems.
``(iii) Non-spectrum technology or systems.
``(C) Frequencies described.--The frequencies
described in this subparagraph are, with respect to a
payment under subparagraph (A), frequencies that--
``(i) are assigned to a Federal entity; and
``(ii) at the time of the activities
conducted with such payment, are not identified
for auction.
``(D) Conditions.--The Director of OMB may not make
a payment to a Federal entity under subparagraph (A)--
``(i) unless--
``(I) the Federal entity has
submitted to the Technical Panel
established under section 113(h)(3) a
plan describing the activities that the
Federal entity will conduct with such
payment;
``(II) the Technical Panel has
approved such plan under subparagraph
(E); and
``(III) the Director of OMB has
submitted the plan approved under
subparagraph (E) to the congressional
committees described in subsection
(d)(2)(C); and
``(ii) until 60 days have elapsed after
submission of the plan under clause (i)(III).
``(E) Review by technical panel.--
``(i) In general.--Not later than 120 days
after a Federal entity submits a plan under
subparagraph (D)(i)(I) to the Technical Panel
established under section 113(h)(3), the
Technical Panel shall approve or disapprove
such plan.
``(ii) Criteria for review.--In considering
whether to approve or disapprove a plan under
this subparagraph, the Technical Panel shall
consider whether--
``(I) the activities that the
Federal entity will conduct with the
payment will--
``(aa) increase the
probability of relocation from
or sharing of Federal spectrum;
``(bb) facilitate an
auction intended to occur not
later than 8 years after the
payment; and
``(cc) increase the net
expected auction proceeds in an
amount not less than the time
value of the amount of the
payment; and
``(II) the transfer will leave
sufficient amounts in the Fund for the
other purposes of the Fund.
``(3) Definition of federal entity.--For purposes of this
subsection, the term `Federal entity' has the meaning given the
term in section 113(l).
``(h) Prioritization of Payments.--In determining whether to make
payments under subsections (f) and (g), the Director of OMB shall, to
the extent practicable, prioritize payments under subsection (g).''.
(b) Administrative Support for Technical Panel.--Section
113(h)(3)(C) of the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(h)(3)(C)) is amended by
striking ``this subsection and subsection (i)'' and inserting ``this
subsection, subsection (i), and section 118(g)(2)(E)''.
(c) Eligible Federal Entities.--
(1) Relocation of and spectrum sharing by federal
government stations.--Section 113 of the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization
Act (47 U.S.C. 923) is amended--
(A) in subsection (g)--
(i) in paragraph (1)--
(I) by striking ``authorized to use
a band of eligible frequencies
described in paragraph (2) and'';
(II) by inserting ``eligible''
after ``auction of''; and
(III) by inserting ``eligible''
after ``reallocation of''; and
(ii) in paragraph (3)(A)--
(I) in the matter preceding clause
(i), by striking ``previously assigned
to such entity or the sharing of
spectrum frequencies assigned to such
entity'' and inserting ``or the sharing
of spectrum frequencies'';
(II) in clause (iv), by striking
``and'' at the end;
(III) in clause (v), by striking
the period and inserting ``; and''; and
(IV) 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).''; and
(B) in subsection (h)(1), by striking ``authorized
to use any such frequency''.
(2) Spectrum relocation fund.--Section 118 of the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization
Act (47 U.S.C. 928) is amended--
(A) 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
(B) in subsection (d)(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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