I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3370

To establish a permanent grant program to improve public safety communications and the interoperability of emergency communications equipment. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 21, 2003

Mr. STUPAK (for himself, Mr. FOSSELLA, and Mr. ENGEL) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To establish a permanent grant program to improve public 

safety communications and the interoperability of emergency communications equipment.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Safety Inter5 operability Implementation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Following the tragic events of September 

9 11, 2001, the need for interoperable communications 
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1 for public safety became even more apparent, and 

2 critical to address. 

3 (2) The inability of many firefighters and police 

4 to communicate with each other in the World Trade 

5 Centers led to some loss of lives that perhaps could 

6 have been prevented. 

7 (3) As demonstrated by a hearing by the Com8 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 

9 Representatives, Subcommittee on Telecommuni10 cations and the Internet, on June 11, 2003, inter11 operability problems and spectrum and equipment 

12 shortages continue to plague our nation’s first re13 sponders, and without additional funding these prob14 lems will continue. 

15 (4) Action is critical to address these shortages 

16 not only to ensure readiness in the event of another 

17 terrorist attack, but also to address daily commu18 nications needs that are essential. 

19 (5) Each day this Nation’s public safety officers 

20 put their lives on the line to serve this country and 

21 immediate increases in funding are essential. 

22 (6) According to the report by the Council on 

23 Foreign Relations, the United States is drastically 

24 underfunding local emergency responders, and re-
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1 mains dangerously unprepared to handle a cata2 strophic attack on American soil.

3 SEC. 3. PUBLIC SAFETY TRUST FUND. 

4 Part A of the National Telecommunications and In5 formation Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 

6 901 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 

7 new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 106. PUBLIC SAFETY TRUST FUND. 

9 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

10 ‘‘(1) FUND ESTABLISHED.—There is hereby es11 tablished in the Treasury of the United States the 

12 Public Safety Communications Trust Fund. 

13 ‘‘(2) DEPOSITS.—The Fund shall consist of—

14 ‘‘(A) the amounts appropriated pursuant 

15 to subsection (f); and 

16 ‘‘(B) 50 percent of the proceeds of any 

17 auction conducted pursuant to section 309(j) of 

18 the Communications Act of 1934 for any bands 

19 of frequencies other than those described in 

20 paragraph (3), except that such percentage may 

21 be reduced in accordance with paragraph (4). 

22 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTED FREQUENCIES.—The bands of 

23 frequencies described in this paragraph are the fol24 lowing: 
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1 ‘‘(A) the 216–220 megahertz band, the 

2 1432–1435 megahertz band, the 1710–1755 

3 megahertz band, and the 2385–2390 megahertz 

4 band of frequencies; and 

5 ‘‘(B) any other band of frequencies reallo6 cated from Federal use to non-Federal use after 

7 January 1, 2003, that is assigned by competi8 tive bidding pursuant to section 309(j) of the 

9 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

10 309(j)), except for bands of frequencies pre11 viously identified by the National Telecommuni12 cations and Information Administration in the 

13 Spectrum Reallocation Final Report, NTIA 

14 Special Publication 95–32 (1995). 

15 ‘‘(4) REDUCTION OF PERCENTAGE.—If the 

16 board of directors submits to the Congress a state17 ment that—

18 ‘‘(A) projects that the future needs for 

19 grants under subsection (c) has been reduced to 

20 the extent that the percentage specified in para21 graph (2) is likely to yield a surplus in the fund

22 beyond the amounts needed to meet such needs, 

23 and 
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1 (B) specifies a lower percentage that the 

2 board estimates to be sufficient to meet such 

3 needs (without yielding a surplus), 

4 paragraph (2) shall be applied to any auction subject 

5 to such paragraph that is conducted after the date 

6 of submission of such statement by substituting such 

7 lower percentage for 50 percent. 

8 ‘‘(5) FUND AVAILABILITY.—

9 ‘‘(A) APPROPRIATION.—There are hereby 

10 appropriated from the Fund such sums as are 

11 authorized by the board to be disbursed for 

12 grants under this section. 

13 ‘‘(B) REVERSION OF UNUSED FUNDS.—

14 Any grant proceeds that remain unexpended at 

15 the end of the grant period as determined 

16 under subsection (c)(3) shall revert to and be 

17 deposited in the Fund. 

18 ‘‘(b) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—

19 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Fund shall be ad20 ministered by the Administrator of the NTIA, in 

21 consultation with a board of directors comprised of 

22 5 members, appointed by the Secretary, with experi23 ence in one or more of the following fields: grant 

24 and investment management; communications equip25 ment and software applications; and public safety 
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1 and emergency response. The board shall consult 

2 with, or include a member or members from, the De3 partment of Homeland Security. 

4 ‘‘(2) FUNCTIONS.—The board shall—

5 ‘‘(A) establish the reasonable and prudent 

6 criteria for the selection of the grant recipients 

7 under this section; 

8 ‘‘(B) determine the amount of the grants 

9 awarded; and 

10 ‘‘(C) review the use of funds made by such 

11 grant recipients. 

12 ‘‘(3) COMPENSATION PROHIBITED; EXPENSES

13 PROVIDED.—The members of the board shall serve 

14 without compensation, but may, from appropriated 

15 funds available for the administrative expenses of 

16 the NTIA, receive travel expenses, including per 

17 diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with appli18 cable provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of 

19 title 5, United States Code. 

20 ‘‘(c) PURPOSE AND ACTIVITIES OF THE TRUST.—

21 ‘‘(1) GRANT PURPOSES.—In order to achieve 

22 the objectives and carry out the purposes of this 

23 part, the Administrator is authorized to make 

24 grants, from amounts deposited pursuant to sub25 section (a)(2) and from the interest or other income 
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1 on the Fund, to implement interoperability and mod2 ernization (including equipment upgrades) for the 

3 communications needs of public safety, fire, emer4 gency, law enforcement, and crisis management by 

5 State and local government agencies and instrumen6 talities and nonprofit organizations. 

7 ‘‘(2) GRANT PREFERENCE FOR BROADER SCOPE

8 OF INTEROPERABILITY.—In making grants from the 

9 Fund, the Administrator shall give preference to eli10 gible entities that are proposing inter-agency or re11 gional and multi-jurisdictional interoperability. 

12 ‘‘(3) GRANT AVAILABILITY.—Grants from the 

13 Fund shall be made available on a single or multi14 year basis to facilitate long term planning and train15 ing. 

16 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The following organiza17 tions and entities are eligible to apply for funds under this 

18 section: 

19 ‘‘(1) an agency or instrumentality of a State or 

20 local government of the United States (including an 

21 agency or instrumentality of a territory or posses22 sion of the United States); and 

23 ‘‘(2) a nonprofit agency or organization that is 

24 exempt from taxes under section 501(c)(3) of the In25 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 and that performs a 
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1 public safety function, as determined by the Admin2 istrator. 

3 ‘‘(e) PERMISSIBLE USES OF FUNDS.—Amounts 

4 made available by grant from the fund may be used by 

5 eligible entities for equipment, training, planning, and re6 search for the purposes of upgrading communications and 

7 the interoperability of communications used in public safe8 ty, fire, emergency, law enforcement, and crisis manage9 ment. 

10 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated to the Fund 

12 $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2004 and each of the 2 suc13 ceeding fiscal years. 

14 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.—

15 ‘‘(1) BY GRANT RECIPIENTS.—Each grant re16 cipient shall submit to the Administrator and the 

17 board a report on the use of the funds provided by 

18 the grant, and on the progress made with respect to 

19 the improvement of the grant recipient’s communica20 tions capabilities. 

21 ‘‘(2) BY ADMINISTRATOR.—The Administrator 

22 shall annually submit to the Congress a report on 

23 the operations of the Fund and the grants made by 

24 the Funds. Such report shall include—
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1 ‘‘(A) an identification of the grants made, 

2 the recipients thereof, and the planned uses of 

3 the amounts made available; 

4 ‘‘(B) a financial report on the operations 

5 and condition of the Fund; and 

6 ‘‘(C) a description of the results of the use 

7 of funds provided by grants under this section, 

8 including the status of interoperability imple9 mentation by the grant recipients. 

10 ‘‘(h) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator may pre11 scribe such regulations as may be necessary and appro12 priate to carry out this section. 

13 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—

14 ‘‘(1) the term ‘the Fund’ means the Public 

15 Safety Communications Trust Fund established pur16 suant to subsection (a); and 

17 ‘‘(2) the term ‘the board’ means the board of 

18 directors established pursuant to subsection (b).’’.

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