103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 707

AN ACT

To establish procedures to improve the allocation

and for other purposes.and assignment of the electromagnetic spectrum,
103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 707

AN ACT

To establish procedures to improve the allocation and assignment of the electromagnetic spectrum, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emerging Tele5 communications Technologies Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE NATIONAL TELECOMMUNI7 CATIONS AND INFORMATION ADMINISTRA8 TION ORGANIZATION ACT.

9 The National Telecommunications and Information

10 Administration Organization Act is amended—

11 (1) by redesignating part B as part C; and

12 (2) by inserting after part A the following new

13 part:
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1 ‘‘PART B—EMERGING TELECOMMUNICATIONS

2 TECHNOLOGIES

3 ‘‘SEC. 111. FINDINGS.

4 ‘‘The Congress finds that—

5 ‘‘(1) the Federal Government currently reserves

6 for its own use, or has priority of access to, approxi7 mately 40 percent of the electromagnetic spectrum

8 that is assigned for use pursuant to the Communica9 tions Act of 1934;

10 ‘‘(2) many of such frequencies are underutilized

11 by Federal Government licensees;

12 ‘‘(3) the public interest requires that many of

13 such frequencies be utilized more efficiently by Fed14 eral Government and non-Federal licensees;

15 ‘‘(4) additional frequencies are assigned for

16 services that could be obtained more efficiently from

17 commercial carriers or other vendors;

18 ‘‘(5) scarcity of assignable frequencies for li19 censing by the Commission can and will—

20 ‘‘(A) impede the development and commer21 cialization of new telecommunications products

22 and services;

23 ‘‘(B) limit the capacity and efficiency of

24 the United States telecommunications systems;
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1 ‘‘(C) prevent some State and local police,

2 fire, and emergency services from obtaining ur3 gently needed radio channels; and

4 ‘‘(D) adversely affect the productive capac5 ity and international competitiveness of the

6 United States economy;

7 ‘‘(6) a reassignment of these frequencies can

8 produce significant economic returns; and

9 ‘‘(7) the Secretary of Commerce, the President,

10 and the Federal Communications Commission should

11 be directed to take appropriate steps to correct these

12 deficiencies.

13 ‘‘SEC. 112. NATIONAL SPECTRUM PLANNING.

14 ‘‘(a) PLANNING ACTIVITIES.—The Assistant Sec15 retary and the Chairman of the Commission shall meet,

16 at least biannually, to conduct joint spectrum planning

17 with respect to the following issues—

18 ‘‘(1) the future spectrum requirements for pub19 lic and private uses, including State and local gov20 ernment public safety agencies;

21 ‘‘(2) the spectrum allocation actions necessary

22 to accommodate those uses; and

23 ‘‘(3) actions necessary to promote the efficient

24 use of the spectrum, including spectrum manage25 ment techniques to promote increased shared use of
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1 the spectrum that does not cause harmful inter2 ference as a means of increasing commercial access.

3 ‘‘(b) REPORTS.—The Assistant Secretary and the

4 Chairman of the Commission shall submit a joint annual

5 report to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the

6 House of Representatives, the Committee on Commerce,

7 Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Secretary,

8 and the Commission on the joint spectrum planning activi9 ties conducted under subsection (a) and recommendations

10 for action developed pursuant to such activities.

11 ‘‘(c) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The first annual

12 report submitted after the date of the report by the advi13 sory committee under section 113(d)(4) shall—

14 ‘‘(1) include an analysis of and response to that

15 committee report; and

16 ‘‘(2) include an analysis of the effect on spec17 trum efficiency and the cost of equipment to Federal

18 spectrum users of maintaining separate allocations

19 for Federal Government and non-Federal Govern20 ment licensees for the same or similar services.

21 ‘‘SEC. 113. IDENTIFICATION OF REALLOCABLE FRE22 QUENCIES.

23 ‘‘(a) IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED.—The Secretary

24 shall, within 24 months after the date of the enactment
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1 of this part, prepare and submit to the President and the

2 Congress a report identifying bands of frequencies that—

3 ‘‘(1) are allocated on a primary basis for Fed4 eral Government use and eligible for licensing pursu5 ant to section 305(a) of the Act (47 U.S.C. 305(a));

6 ‘‘(2) are not required for the present or identifi7 able future needs of the Federal Government;

8 ‘‘(3) can feasibly be made available, as of the

9 date of submission of the report or at any time dur10 ing the next 15 years, for use under the Act (other

11 than for Federal Government stations under such

12 section 305);

13 ‘‘(4) will not result in costs to the Federal Gov14 ernment, or losses of services or benefits to the pub15 lic, that are excessive in relation to the benefits that

16 may be obtained by non-Federal licensees; and

17 ‘‘(5) are most likely to have the greatest poten18 tial for productive uses and public benefits under the

19 Act.

20 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM AMOUNT OF SPECTRUM REC21 OMMENDED.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Based on the report re23 quired by subsection (a), the Secretary shall rec24 ommend for reallocation, for use other than by Fed25 eral Government stations under section 305 of the
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1 Act (47 U.S.C. 305), bands of frequencies that span

2 a total of not less than 200 megahertz, that are lo3 cated below 6 gigahertz, and that meet the criteria

4 specified in paragraphs (1) through (4) of subsection

5 (a). The Secretary may not include, in such 200

6 megahertz, bands of frequencies that span more

7 than 20 megahertz and that are located between 5

8 and 6 gigahertz. If the report identifies (as meeting

9 such criteria) bands of frequencies spanning more

10 than 200 megahertz, the report shall identify and

11 recommend for reallocation those bands (spanning

12 not less than 200 megahertz) that meet the criteria

13 specified in paragraph (5) of such subsection.

14 ‘‘(2) MIXED USES PERMITTED TO BE COUNT15 ED.—Bands of frequencies which the Secretary’s re16 port recommends be partially retained for use by

17 Federal Government stations, but which are also

18 recommended to be reallocated to be made available

19 under the Act for use by non-Federal stations, may

20 be counted toward the minimum spectrum required

21 by paragraph (1) of this subsection, except that—

22 ‘‘(A) the bands of frequencies counted

23 under this paragraph may not count toward

24 more than one-half of the minimum required by

25 paragraph (1) of this subsection;
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1 ‘‘(B) a band of frequencies may not be

2 counted under this paragraph unless the assign3 ments of the band to Federal Government sta4 tions under section 305 of the Act (47 U.S.C.

5 305) are limited by geographic area, by time, or

6 by other means so as to guarantee that the po7 tential use to be made by such Federal Govern8 ment stations is substantially less (as measured

9 by geographic area, time, or otherwise) than the

10 potential use to be made by non-Federal sta11 tions; and

12 ‘‘(C) the operational sharing permitted

13 under this paragraph shall be subject to coordi14 nation procedures which the Commission shall

15 establish and implement to ensure against

16 harmful interference.

17 ‘‘(c) CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFICATION.—

18 ‘‘(1) NEEDS OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—

19 In determining whether a band of frequencies meets

20 the criteria specified in subsection (a)(2), the Sec21 retary shall—

22 ‘‘(A) consider whether the band of fre23 quencies is used to provide a communications

24 service that is or could be available from a com25 mercial carrier or other vendor;
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1 ‘‘(B) seek to promote—

2 ‘‘(i) the maximum practicable reliance

3 on commercially available substitutes;

4 ‘‘(ii) the sharing of frequencies (as

5 permitted under subsection (b)(2));

6 ‘‘(iii) the development and use of new

7 communications technologies; and

8 ‘‘(iv) the use of nonradiating commu9 nications systems where practicable; and

10 ‘‘(C) seek to avoid—

11 ‘‘(i) serious degradation of Federal

12 Government services and operations; and

13 ‘‘(ii) excessive costs to the Federal

14 Government and users of Federal Govern15 ment services.

16 ‘‘(2) FEASIBILITY OF USE.—In determining

17 whether a frequency band meets the criteria speci18 fied in subsection (a)(3), the Secretary shall—

19 ‘‘(A) assume such frequencies will be as20 signed by the Commission under section 303 of

21 the Act (47 U.S.C. 303) over the course of not

22 less than 15 years;

23 ‘‘(B) assume reasonable rates of scientific

24 progress and growth of demand for tele25 communications services;
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1 ‘‘(C) determine the extent to which the

2 reallocation or reassignment will relieve actual

3 or potential scarcity of frequencies available for

4 licensing by the Commission for non-Federal

5 use;

6 ‘‘(D) seek to include frequencies which can

7 be used to stimulate the development of new

8 technologies; and

9 ‘‘(E) consider the immediate and recurring

10 costs to reestablish services displaced by the

11 reallocation of spectrum.

12 ‘‘(3) ANALYSIS OF BENEFITS.—In determining

13 whether a band of frequencies meets the criteria

14 specified in subsection (a)(4), the Secretary shall

15 consider—

16 ‘‘(A) the extent to which equipment is or

17 will be available that is capable of utilizing the

18 band;

19 ‘‘(B) the proximity of frequencies that are

20 already assigned for commercial or other non21 Federal use; and

22 ‘‘(C) the activities of foreign governments

23 in making frequencies available for experimen24 tation or commercial assignments in order to
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1 support their domestic manufacturers of equip2 ment.

3 ‘‘(4) POWER AGENCY FREQUENCIES.—

4 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE FOR MIXED USE ONLY.—

5 The frequencies assigned to any Federal power

6 agency may only be eligible for mixed use under

7 subsection (b)(2) in geographically separate

8 areas and shall not be recommended for the

9 purposes of withdrawing that assignment. In

10 any case where a frequency is to be shared by

11 an affected Federal power agency and a non12 Federal user, such use by the non-Federal user

13 shall, consistent with the procedures established

14 under subsection (b)(2)(C), not cause harmful

15 interference to the affected Federal power agen16 cy or adversely affect the reliability of its power

17 system.

18 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—As used in this para19 graph, the term ‘Federal power agency’ means

20 the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Bonneville

21 Power Administration, the Western Area Power

22 Administration, or the Southwestern Power

23 Administration.

24 ‘‘(d) PROCEDURE FOR IDENTIFICATION OF

25 REALLOCABLE BANDS OF FREQUENCIES.—
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1 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION OF PRELIMINARY IDENTIFICA2 TION TO CONGRESS.—Within 12 months after the

3 date of the enactment of this part, the Secretary

4 shall prepare and submit to the Congress a report

5 which makes a preliminary identification of

6 reallocable bands of frequencies which meet the cri7 teria established by this section.

8 ‘‘(2) CONVENING OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—

9 Not later than the date the Secretary submits the

10 report required by paragraph (1), the Secretary shall

11 convene an advisory committee to—

12 ‘‘(A) review the bands of frequencies iden13 tified in such report;

14 ‘‘(B) advise the Secretary with respect to

15 (i) the bands of frequencies which should be in16 cluded in the final report required by subsection

17 (a), and (ii) the effective dates which should be

18 established under subsection (e) with respect to

19 such frequencies;

20 ‘‘(C) receive public comment on the Sec21 retary’s report and on the final report; and

22 ‘‘(D) prepare and submit the report re23 quired by paragraph (4).
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1 The advisory committee shall meet at least monthly

2 until each of the actions required by section 114(a)

3 have taken place.

4 ‘‘(3) COMPOSITION OF COMMITTEE; CHAIR5 MAN.—The advisory committee shall include—

6 ‘‘(A) the Chairman of the Commission and

7 the Assistant Secretary, and one other rep8 resentative of the Federal Government as des9 ignated by the Secretary; and

10 ‘‘(B) representatives of—

11 ‘‘(i) United States manufacturers of

12 spectrum-dependent telecommunications

13 equipment;

14 ‘‘(ii) commercial carriers;

15 ‘‘(iii) other users of the electro16 magnetic spectrum, including radio and

17 television broadcast licensees, State and

18 local public safety agencies, and the avia19 tion industry; and

20 ‘‘(iv) other interested members of the

21 public who are knowledgeable about the

22 uses of the electromagnetic spectrum.

23 A majority of the members of the committee shall be

24 members described in subparagraph (B), and one of
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1 such members shall be designated as chairman by

2 the Secretary.

3 ‘‘(4) RECOMMENDATIONS ON SPECTRUM ALLO4 CATION PROCEDURES.—The advisory committee

5 shall, not later than 36 months after the date of the

6 enactment of this part, submit to the Secretary, the

7 Commission, the Committee on Energy and Com8 merce of the House of Representatives, and the

9 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor10 tation of the Senate, a report containing such rec11 ommendations as the advisory committee considers

12 appropriate for the reform of the process of allocat13 ing the electromagnetic spectrum between Federal

14 and non-Federal use, and any dissenting views

15 thereon.

16 ‘‘(e) TIMETABLE FOR REALLOCATION AND LIMITA17 TION.—

18 ‘‘(1) TIMETABLE REQUIRED.—The Secretary

19 shall, as part of the report required by subsection

20 (a), include a timetable that recommends immediate

21 and delayed effective dates by which the President

22 shall withdraw or limit assignments on the fre23 quencies specified in the report.

24 ‘‘(2) EXPEDITED REALLOCATION OF INITIAL 30

25 MHZ PERMITTED.—The Secretary may prepare and
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1 submit to the President a report which specifically

2 identifies an initial 30 megahertz of spectrum that

3 meets the criteria described in subsection (a) and

4 that can be made available for reallocation imme5 diately upon issuance of the report required by this

6 section.

7 ‘‘(3) DELAYED EFFECTIVE DATE.—The rec8 ommended delayed effective dates shall—

9 ‘‘(A) permit the earliest possible

10 reallocation of the frequency bands, taking into

11 account the requirements of section 115(1);

12 ‘‘(B) be based on the useful remaining life

13 of equipment that has been purchased or con14 tracted for to operate on identified frequencies;

15 ‘‘(C) be based on the need to coordinate

16 frequency use with other nations; and

17 ‘‘(D) take into account the relationship be18 tween the costs to the Federal Government of

19 changing to different frequencies and the bene20 fits that may be obtained from commercial and

21 other non-Federal uses of the reassigned fre22 quencies.

23 ‘‘SEC. 114. WITHDRAWAL OF ASSIGNMENT TO FEDERAL

24 GOVERNMENT STATIONS.

25 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall—
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1 ‘‘(1) within 6 months after receipt of the Sec2 retary’s report under section 113(a), withdraw the

3 assignment to a Federal Government station of any

4 frequency which the report recommends for imme5 diate reallocation;

6 ‘‘(2) within such 6-month period, limit the as7 signment to a Federal Government station of any

8 frequency which the report recommends be made im9 mediately available for mixed use under section

10 113(b)(2);

11 ‘‘(3) by the delayed effective date recommended

12 by the Secretary under section 113(e) (except as

13 provided in subsection (b)(4) of this section), with14 draw or limit the assignment to a Federal Govern15 ment station of any frequency which the report rec16 ommends be reallocated or made available for mixed

17 use on such delayed effective date;

18 ‘‘(4) assign or reassign other frequencies to

19 Federal Government stations as necessary to adjust

20 to such withdrawal or limitation of assignments; and

21 ‘‘(5) transmit a notice and description to the

22 Commission and each House of Congress of the

23 actions taken under this subsection.

24 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO SUBSTITUTE.—If the

2 President determines that a circumstance described

3 in paragraph (2) exists, the President—

4 ‘‘(A) may substitute an alternative fre5 quency or band of frequencies for the frequency

6 or band that is subject to such determination

7 and withdraw (or limit) the assignment of that

8 alternative frequency or band in the manner re9 quired by subsection (a); and

10 ‘‘(B) shall submit a statement of the rea11 sons for taking the action described in subpara12 graph (A) to the Committee on Energy and

13 Commerce of the House of Representatives and

14 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

15 Transportation of the Senate.

16 ‘‘(2) GROUNDS FOR SUBSTITUTION.—For pur17 poses of paragraph (1), the following circumstances

18 are described in this paragraph:

19 ‘‘(A) the reassignment would seriously

20 jeopardize the national defense interests of the

21 United States;

22 ‘‘(B) the frequency proposed for reassign23 ment is uniquely suited to meeting important

24 governmental needs;
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1 ‘‘(C) the reassignment would seriously

2 jeopardize public health or safety; or

3 ‘‘(D) the reassignment will result in costs

4 to the Federal Government that are excessive in

5 relation to the benefits that may be obtained

6 from commercial or other non-Federal uses of

7 the reassigned frequency.

8 ‘‘(3) CRITERIA FOR SUBSTITUTED FRE9 QUENCIES.—For purposes of paragraph (1), a fre10 quency may not be substituted for a frequency iden11 tified by the report of the Secretary under section

12 113(a) unless the substituted frequency also meets

13 each of the criteria specified by section 113(a).

14 ‘‘(4) DELAYS IN IMPLEMENTATION.—If the

15 President determines that any action cannot be com16 pleted by the delayed effective date recommended by

17 the Secretary pursuant to section 113(e), or that

18 such an action by such date would result in a fre19 quency being unused as a consequence of the Com20 mission’s plan under section 115, the President

21 may—

22 ‘‘(A) withdraw or limit the assignment to

23 Federal Government stations on a later date

24 that is consistent with such plan, except that

25 the President shall notify each committee speci-
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1 fied in paragraph (1)(B) and the Commission

2 of the reason that withdrawal or limitation at

3 a later date is required; or

4 ‘‘(B) substitute alternative frequencies pur5 suant to the provisions of this subsection.

6 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON DELEGATION.—Notwithstand7 ing any other provision of law, the authorities and duties

8 established by this section may not be delegated.

9 ‘‘SEC. 115. DISTRIBUTION OF FREQUENCIES BY THE COM10 MISSION.

11 Not later than 1 year after the President notifies the

12 Commission pursuant to section 114(a)(5), the Commis13 sion shall prepare, in consultation with the Assistant Sec14 retary when necessary, and submit to the President and

15 the Congress, a plan for the distribution under the Act

16 of the frequency bands reallocated pursuant to the

17 requirements of this part. Such plan shall—

18 ‘‘(1) not propose the immediate distribution of

19 all such frequencies, but, taking into account the

20 timetable recommended by the Secretary pursuant to

21 section 113(e), shall propose—

22 ‘‘(A) gradually to distribute the frequencies

23 remaining, after making the reservation re24 quired by subparagraph (B), over the course of
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1 a period of not less than 10 years beginning on

2 the date of submission of such plan; and

3 ‘‘(B) to reserve a significant portion of

4 such frequencies for distribution beginning after

5 the end of such 10-year period;

6 ‘‘(2) contain appropriate provisions to ensure—

7 ‘‘(A) the availability of frequencies for new

8 technologies and services in accordance with the

9 policies of section 7 of the Act (47 U.S.C. 157);

10 and

11 ‘‘(B) the availability of frequencies to stim12 ulate the development of such technologies;

13 ‘‘(3) address (A) the feasibility of reallocating

14 spectrum from current commercial and other non15 Federal uses to provide for more efficient use of the

16 spectrum, and (B) innovation and marketplace de17 velopments that may affect the relative efficiencies

18 of different spectrum allocations; and

19 ‘‘(4) not prevent the Commission from allocat20 ing bands of frequencies for specific uses in future

21 rulemaking proceedings.

22 ‘‘SEC. 116. AUTHORITY TO RECOVER REASSIGNED FRE23 QUENCIES.

24 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY OF PRESIDENT.—Subsequent to the

25 withdrawal of assignment to Federal Government stations
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1 pursuant to section 114, the President may reclaim reas2 signed frequencies for reassignment to Federal Govern3 ment stations in accordance with this section.

4 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURE FOR RECLAIMING FRE5 QUENCIES.—

6 ‘‘(1) UNALLOCATED FREQUENCIES.—If the fre7 quencies to be reclaimed have not been allocated or

8 assigned by the Commission pursuant to the Act,

9 the President shall follow the procedures for substi10 tution of frequencies established by section 114(b) of

11 this part.

12 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATED FREQUENCIES.—If the fre13 quencies to be reclaimed have been allocated or as14 signed by the Commission, the President shall follow

15 the procedures for substitution of frequencies estab16 lished by section 114(b) of this part, except that the

17 notification required by section 114(b)(1)(A) shall

18 include—

19 ‘‘(A) a timetable to accommodate an or20 derly transition for licensees to obtain new fre21 quencies and equipment necessary for its utili22 zation; and

23 ‘‘(B) an estimate of the cost of displacing

24 spectrum users licensed by the Commission.
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1 ‘‘(c) COSTS OF RECLAIMING FREQUENCIES; APPRO2 PRIATIONS AUTHORIZED.—The Federal Government shall

3 bear all costs of reclaiming frequencies pursuant to this

4 section, including the cost of equipment which is rendered

5 unusable, the cost of relocating operations to a different

6 frequency band, and any other costs that are directly at7 tributable to the reclaiming of the frequency pursuant to

8 this section. There are authorized to be appropriated such

9 sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of

10 this section.

11 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE OF RECLAIMED FRE12 QUENCIES.—The Commission shall not withdraw licenses

13 for any reclaimed frequencies until the end of the fiscal

14 year following the fiscal year in which the President’s noti15 fication is received.

16 ‘‘(e) EFFECT ON OTHER LAW.—Nothing in this sec17 tion shall be construed to limit or otherwise affect the au18 thority of the President under sections 305 and 706 of

19 the Act (47 U.S.C. 305, 606).

20 ‘‘SEC. 117. DEFINITIONS.

21 As used in this part:

22 ‘‘(1) The term ‘allocation’ means an entry in

23 the National Table of Frequency Allocations of a

24 given frequency band for the purpose of its use by

25 one or more radiocommunication services.
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1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘assignment’ means an author2 ization given to a station licensee to use specific fre3 quencies or channels.

4 ‘‘(3) The term ‘commercial carrier’ means any

5 entity that uses a facility licensed by the Federal

6 Communications Commission pursuant to the Com7 munications Act of 1934 for hire or for its own use,

8 but does not include Federal Government stations li9 censed pursuant to section 305 of the Act (47

10 U.S.C. 305).

11 ‘‘(4) The term ‘the Act’ means the Communica12 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.).’’.

Passed the House of Representatives March 2,

1993.

Attest:

Clerk.

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