A bill to eliminate the deadlines for spectrum auctions of spectrum previously allocated to television broadcasting.

Summary: Auction Reform Act of 2002 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, and other Federal law to repeal current deadlines for licenses for and auctioning of electromagnetic spectrum used by analog television broadcasters (which includes spectrum in the general 700 megahertz range). Prohibits the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from commencing or conducting spectrum auctions 31 and 44, currently scheduled for June 19, 2002.Requires the FCC to report to Congress: (1) specifying when it intends to reschedule such auctions; and (2) describing progress made in the transition from analog to digital television and in the assignment and allocation of additional spectrum for advanced mobile communications services that warrants the scheduling of such auctions.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Auction Reform Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Circumstances in the telecommunications market have 
        changed dramatically since the auctioning of spectrum in the 
        700 megahertz band was originally mandated by Congress in 1997, 
        raising serious questions as to whether the original deadlines, 
        or the subsequent revision of the deadlines, are consistent 
        with sound telecommunications policy and spectrum management 
        principles.
            (2) No comprehensive plan yet exists for allocating 
        additional spectrum for third-generation wireless and other 
        advanced communications services. The Federal Communications 
        Commission should have the flexibility to auction frequencies 
        in the 700 megahertz band for such purposes.
            (3) The study being conducted by the National 
        Telecommunications and Information Administration in 
        consultation with the Department of Defense to determine 
        whether the Department of Defense can share or relinquish 
        additional spectrum for third-generation wireless and other 
        advanced communications services will not be completed until 
        after the June 19th auction date for the upper 700 megahertz 
        band, and long after the applications must be filed to 
        participate in the auction, thereby creating further 
        uncertainty as to whether the frequencies in the 700 megahertz 
        band will be put to their highest and best use for the benefit 
        of consumers.
            (4) The Federal Communications Commission is also in the 
        process of determining how to resolve the interference problems 
        that exist in the 800 megahertz band, especially for public 
        safety. One option being considered for the 800 megahertz band 
        would involve the 700 megahertz band. The Commission should not 
        hold the 700 megahertz auction before the 800 megahertz 
        interference issues are resolved or a tenable plan has been 
        conceived.
            (5) The 700 megahertz band is currently occupied by 
        television broadcasters, and will be so until the transfer to 
        digital television is completed. This situation creates a 
        tremendous amount of uncertainty concerning when the spectrum 
        will be available and reduces the value placed on the spectrum 
        by potential bidders. The encumbrance of the 700 megahertz band 
        reduces both the amount of money that the auction would be 
        likely to produce and the probability that the spectrum would 
        be purchased by the entities that valued the spectrum the most 
        and would put the spectrum to its most productive use.
            (6) The Commission's rules governing voluntary mechanisms 
        for vacating the 700 megahertz band by broadcast stations--
                    (A) produced no certainty that the band would be 
                available for advanced mobile communications services, 
                public safety operations, or other wireless services 
                any earlier than the existing statutory framework 
                provides; and
                    (B) should advance the transition of digital 
                television and must not result in the unjust enrichment 
                of any incumbent licensee.

SEC. 3. REPEAL OF DEADLINES FOR SPECTRUM AUCTIONS.

    (a) Communications Act of 1934.--Section 309(j)(14)(C)(ii) of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(14)(C)(ii)) is amended by 
striking the second sentence.
    (b) Balanced Budget Act of 1997.--Section 3007 of the Balanced 
Budget Act of 1997 (111 Stat. 269) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new sentence: ``This section shall not apply to the band of 
frequencies between 698 and 806 megahertz, inclusive.''.
    (c) Consolidated Appropriations Act.--Paragraphs (2) and (3) of 
section 213(a) of H.R. 3425 of the 106th Congress, as enacted into law 
by section 1000(a)(5) of an Act making consolidated appropriations for 
the fiscal year ending September 30, 2000, and for other purposes 
(Public Law 106-113; 113 Stat. 1501A-295), are repealed.

SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF SCHEDULED AUCTIONS.

    (a) Termination.--The Federal Communications Commission shall not 
commence or conduct auctions 31 and 44 on June 19, 2002, as specified 
in the public notices of March 19, 2002, and March 20, 2002 (DA 02-659 
and DA 02-563).
    (b) Report.--Within one year after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Commission shall submit a report to the Congress--
            (1) specifying when the Commission intends to reschedule 
        auctions 31 and 44; and
            (2) describing the progress made by the Commission in the 
        digital television transition and in the assignment and 
        allocation of additional spectrum for advanced mobile 
        communications services that warrants the scheduling of such 
        auctions.