[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1228 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1228
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for enhanced
penalties for pirate radio, 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 ``Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse
Through Enforcement Act'' or the ``PIRATE Act''.
SEC. 2. PIRATE RADIO ENFORCEMENT ENHANCEMENTS.
Title V of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 501 et seq.)
is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``SEC. 511. ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR PIRATE RADIO BROADCASTING;
ENFORCEMENT SWEEPS; REPORTING.
``(a) Increased General Penalty.--Any person who willfully and
knowingly does or causes or suffers to be done any pirate radio
broadcasting shall be subject to a fine of not more than $2,000,000.
``(b) Violation of This Act, Rules, or Regulations.--Any person who
willfully and knowingly violates this Act or any rule, regulation,
restriction, or condition made or imposed by the Commission under
authority of this Act, or any rule, regulation, restriction, or
condition made or imposed by any international radio or wire
communications treaty or convention, or regulations annexed thereto, to
which the United States is party, relating to pirate radio broadcasting
shall, in addition to any other penalties provided by law, be subject
to a fine of not more than $100,000 for each day during which such
offense occurs, in accordance with the limit described in subsection
(a).
``(c) Annual Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of the PIRATE Act, and annually thereafter, the Commission
shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate a report summarizing the implementation of
this section and associated enforcement activities for the previous
fiscal year, which may include the efforts by the Commission to enlist
the cooperation of Federal, State, and local law enforcement personnel
(including United States attorneys and the United States Marshals
Service) for service of process, collection of fines or forfeitures,
seizures of equipment, and enforcement of orders.
``(d) Enforcement Sweeps.--
``(1) Annual sweeps.--Not less than once each year, the
Commission shall assign appropriate enforcement personnel to
focus specific and sustained attention on the elimination of
pirate radio broadcasting within the top 5 radio markets
identified as prevalent for such broadcasts. Such effort shall
include identifying, locating, and taking enforcement actions
designed to terminate such operations.
``(2) Additional monitoring.--Within 6 months after
conducting the enforcement sweeps required by paragraph (1),
the Commission shall conduct monitoring sweeps to ascertain
whether the pirate radio broadcasting identified by enforcement
sweeps is continuing to broadcast and whether additional pirate
radio broadcasting is occurring.
``(3) No effect on remaining enforcement.--Notwithstanding
paragraph (1), the Commission shall not decrease or diminish
the regular enforcement efforts targeted to pirate radio
broadcast stations for other times of the year.
``(e) State and Local Government Authority.--The Commission may not
preempt any State or local law prohibiting pirate radio broadcasting.
``(f) Revision of Commission Rules Required.--The Commission shall
revise its rules to require that, absent good cause, in any case
alleging a violation of subsection (a) or (b), the Commission shall
proceed directly to issue a notice of apparent liability without first
issuing a notice of unlicensed operation.
``(g) Pirate Radio Broadcasting Database.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this section, and semi-annually thereafter,
the Commission shall publish a database in a clear and legible
format of all licensed radio stations operating in the AM and
FM bands. The database shall be easily accessible from the
Commission home page through a direct link. The database shall
include the following information:
``(A) Each licensed station, listed by the assigned
frequency, channel number, or Commission call letters.
``(B) All entities that have received a notice of
unlicensed operation, notice of apparent liability, or
forfeiture order issued by the Commission.
``(2) Clear identification.--The Commission shall clearly
identify in the database--
``(A) each licensed station as a station licensed
by the Commission; and
``(B) each entity described in paragraph (1)(B) as
operating without a Commission license or
authorization.
``(h) Definition of Pirate Radio Broadcasting.--In this section,
the term `pirate radio broadcasting' means the transmission of
communications on spectrum frequencies between 535 and 1705 kilohertz,
inclusive, or 87.7 and 108 megahertz, inclusive, without a license
issued by the Commission, but does not include unlicensed operations in
compliance with part 15 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations.''.
Passed the Senate January 8, 2020.
Attest:
Secretary.
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1228
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for enhanced
penalties for pirate radio, and for other purposes.