IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7310 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2020 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

To require the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to submit to Congress a plan 

for the modernization of the information technology systems of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and for other purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Spectrum IT Mod3 ernization Act of 2020’’. 

4 SEC. 2. MODERNIZATION EFFORT. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

6 (1) the term ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’ means the 

7 Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communica8 tions and Information; 

9 (2) the term ‘‘covered agency’’— 

10 (A) means any Federal entity that the As11 sistant Secretary determines is appropriate; and 

12 (B) includes the Department of Defense; 

13 (3) the term ‘‘Federal entity’’ has the meaning 

14 given the term in section 113(l) of the National 

15 Telecommunications and Information Administration 

16 Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(l)); 

17 (4) the term ‘‘Federal spectrum’’ means fre18 quencies assigned on a primary basis to a covered 

19 agency; 

20 (5) the term ‘‘infrastructure’’ means informa21 tion technology systems and information tech22 nologies, tools, and databases; and 

23 (6) the term ‘‘NTIA’’ means the National Tele24 communications and Information Administration. 

25 (b) INITIAL INTERAGENCY SPECTRUM INFORMATION

26 TECHNOLOGY COORDINATION.—Not later than 90 days 


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1 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Sec2 retary, in consultation with the Policy and Plans Steering 

3 Group, shall identify a process to establish goals, including 

4 parameters to measure the achievement of those goals, for 

5 the modernization of the infrastructure of covered agen6 cies relating to managing the use of Federal spectrum by 

7 those agencies, which shall include— 

8 (1) the standardization of data inputs, modeling 

9 algorithms, modeling and simulation processes, anal10 ysis tools with respect to Federal spectrum, assump11 tions, and any other tool to ensure interoperability 

12 and functionality with respect to that infrastructure; 

13 (2) other potential innovative technological ca14 pabilities with respect to that infrastructure, includ15 ing cloud-based databases, artificial intelligence tech16 nologies, automation, and improved modeling and 

17 simulation capabilities; 

18 (3) ways to improve the management of covered 

19 agencies’ use of Federal spectrum through that in20 frastructure, including by— 

21 (A) increasing the efficiency of that infra22 structure; 

23 (B) addressing validation of usage with re24 spect to that infrastructure; 


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1 (C) increasing the accuracy of that infra2 structure; 

3 (D) validating models used by that infra4 structure; and 

5 (E) monitoring and enforcing requirements 

6 that are imposed on covered agencies with re7 spect to the use of Federal spectrum by covered 

8 agencies; 

9 (4) ways to improve the ability of covered agen10 cies to meet mission requirements in congested envi11 ronments with respect to Federal spectrum, includ12 ing as part of automated adjustments to operations 

13 based on changing conditions in those environments; 

14 (5) the creation of a time-based automated 

15 mechanism— 

16 (A) to share Federal spectrum between 

17 covered agencies to collaboratively and dynami18 cally increase access to Federal spectrum by 

19 those agencies; and 

20 (B) that could be scaled across Federal 

21 spectrum; and 

22 (6) the collaboration between covered agencies 

23 necessary to ensure the interoperability of Federal 

24 spectrum. 


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1 (c) SPECTRUM INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MOD2 ERNIZATION.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 240 days 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Assist5 ant Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that 

6 contains the plan of the NTIA to modernize and 

7 automate the infrastructure of the NTIA relating to 

8 managing the use of Federal spectrum by covered 

9 agencies so as to more efficiently manage that use. 

10 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required under 

11 paragraph (1) shall include— 

12 (A) an assessment of the current, as of the 

13 date on which the report is submitted, infra14 structure of the NTIA described in that para15 graph; 

16 (B) an acquisition strategy for the modern17 ized infrastructure of the NTIA described in 

18 that paragraph, including how that modernized 

19 infrastructure will enable covered agencies to be 

20 more efficient and effective in the use of Fed21 eral spectrum; 

22 (C) a timeline for the implementation of 

23 the modernization efforts described in that 

24 paragraph; 


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1 (D) plans detailing how the modernized in2 frastructure of the NTIA described in that 

3 paragraph will— 

4 (i) enhance the security and reliability 

5 of that infrastructure so that such infra6 structure satisfies the requirements of the 

7 Federal Information Security Management 

8 Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–296; 116 

9 Stat. 2135); 

10 (ii) improve data models and analysis 

11 tools to increase the efficiency of the spec12 trum use described in that paragraph; 

13 (iii) enhance automation and work14 flows, and reduce the scope and level of 

15 manual effort, in order to— 

16 (I) administer the management 

17 of the spectrum use described in that 

18 paragraph; and 

19 (II) improve data quality and 

20 processing time; and 

21 (iv) improve the timeliness of spec22 trum analyses and requests for informa23 tion, including requests submitted pursu24 ant to section 552 of title 5, United States 

25 Code; 


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1 (E) an operations and maintenance plan 

2 with respect to the modernized infrastructure of 

3 the NTIA described in that paragraph; 

4 (F) a strategy for coordination between the 

5 covered agencies within the Policy and Plans 

6 Steering Group, which shall include— 

7 (i) a description of— 

8 (I) those coordination efforts, as 

9 in effect on the date on which the re10 port is submitted; and 

11 (II) a plan for coordination of 

12 those efforts after the date on which 

13 the report is submitted, including with 

14 respect to the efforts described in sub15 section (d); 

16 (ii) a plan for standardizing— 

17 (I) electromagnetic spectrum 

18 analysis tools; 

19 (II) modeling and simulation 

20 processes and technologies; and 

21 (III) databases to provide tech22 nical interference assessments that 

23 are usable across the Federal Govern24 ment as part of a common spectrum 


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1 management infrastructure for cov2 ered agencies; 

3 (iii) a plan for each covered agency to 

4 implement a modernization plan described 

5 in subsection (d)(1) that is tailored to the 

6 particular timeline of the agency; 

7 (G) identification of manually intensive 

8 processes involved in managing Federal spec9 trum and proposed enhancements to those proc10 esses; 

11 (H) metrics to evaluate the success of the 

12 modernization efforts described in that para13 graph and any similar future efforts; and 

14 (I) an estimate of the cost of the mod15 ernization efforts described in that paragraph 

16 and any future maintenance with respect to the 

17 modernized infrastructure of the NTIA de18 scribed in that paragraph, including the cost of 

19 any personnel and equipment relating to that 

20 maintenance. 

21 (d) INTERAGENCY INPUTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

23 the date of enactment of this Act, the head of each 

24 covered agency shall submit to the Assistant Sec25 retary and the Policy and Plans Steering Group a 


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1 report that describes the plan of the agency to mod2 ernize the infrastructure of the agency with respect 

3 to the use of Federal spectrum by the agency so that 

4 such modernized infrastructure of the agency is 

5 interoperable with the modernized infrastructure of 

6 the NTIA, as described in subsection (c). 

7 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted by the 

8 head of a covered agency under paragraph (1) 

9 shall— 

10 (A) include— 

11 (i) an assessment of the current, as of 

12 the date on which the report is submitted, 

13 management capabilities of the agency 

14 with respect to the use of frequencies that 

15 are assigned to the agency, which shall in16 clude a description of any challenges faced 

17 by the agency with respect to that manage18 ment; 

19 (ii) a timeline for completion of the 

20 modernization efforts described in that 

21 paragraph; 

22 (iii) a description of potential innova23 tive technological capabilities for the man24 agement of frequencies that are assigned 


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1 to the agency, as determined under sub2 section (b); 

3 (iv) identification of agency-specific 

4 requirements or constraints relating to the 

5 infrastructure of the agency; 

6 (v) identification of any existing, as of 

7 the date on which the report is submitted, 

8 systems of the agency that are duplicative 

9 of the modernized infrastructure of the 

10 NTIA, as proposed under subsection (c); 

11 and 

12 (vi) with respect to the report sub13 mitted by the Secretary of Defense— 

14 (I) a strategy for the integration 

15 of systems or the flow of data among 

16 the Armed Forces, the military de17 partments, the Defense Agencies and 

18 Department of Defense Field Activi19 ties, and other components of the De20 partment of Defense; 

21 (II) a plan for the implementa22 tion of solutions to the use of Federal 

23 spectrum by the Department of De24 fense involving information at multiple 

25 levels of classification; and 


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1 (III) a strategy for addressing, 

2 within the modernized infrastructure 

3 of the Department of Defense de4 scribed in that paragraph, the ex5 change of information between the 

6 Department of Defense and the NTIA 

7 in order to accomplish required proc8 essing of all Department of Defense 

9 domestic spectrum coordination and 

10 management activities; and 

11 (B) be submitted in an unclassified format, 

12 with a classified annex, as appropriate. 

13 (3) NOTIFICATION OF CONGRESS.—Upon sub14 mission of the report required under paragraph (1), 

15 the head of each covered agency shall notify Con16 gress that the head of the covered agency has sub17 mitted the report. 

18 (e) GAO OVERSIGHT.—The Comptroller General of 

19 the United States shall— 

20 (1) not later than 90 days after the date of en21 actment of this Act, conduct a review of the infra22 structure of covered agencies, as that infrastructure 

23 exists on the date of enactment of this Act; 

24 (2) after all of the reports required under sub25 section (d) have been submitted, conduct oversight 


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1 of the implementation of the modernization plans 

2 submitted by the NTIA and covered agencies under 

3 subsections (c) and (d), respectively; 

4 (3) not later than 1 year after the date on 

5 which the Comptroller General begins conducting 

6 oversight under paragraph (2), and annually there7 after, submit a report regarding that oversight to— 

8 (A) with respect to the implementation of 

9 the modernization plan of the Department of 

10 Defense, the Committee on Armed Services of 

11 the Senate and the Committee on Armed Serv12 ices of the House of Representatives; and 

13 (B) with respect to the implementation of 

14 the modernization plans of all covered agencies, 

15 including the Department of Defense, the Com16 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor17 tation of the Senate and the Committee on En18 ergy and Commerce of the House of Represent19 atives; and 

20 (4) provide regular briefings to— 

21 (A) with respect to the application of this 

22 section to the Department of Defense, the Com23 mittee on Armed Services of the Senate and the 

24 Committee on Armed Services of the House of 

25 Representatives; and 


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1 (B) with respect to the application of this 

2 section to all covered agencies, including the 

3 Department of Defense, the Committee on 

4 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

5 Senate and the Committee on Energy and Com6 merce of the House of Representatives. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 17, 

2020. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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