I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 707

To establish procedures to improve the allocation and assignment of the

electromagnetic spectrum, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 2, 1993

Mr. DINGELL (for himself and Mr. MARKEY) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

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

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

3 part:

4 ‘‘PART B—EMERGING TELECOMMUNICATIONS

5 TECHNOLOGIES

6 ‘‘SEC. 111. FINDINGS.

7 ‘‘The Congress finds that—

8 ‘‘(1) the Federal Government currently reserves

9 for its own use, or has priority of access to, approxi10 mately 40 percent of the electromagnetic spectrum

11 that is assigned for use pursuant to the Communica12 tions Act of 1934;

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

14 by Federal Government licensees;

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

16 such frequencies be utilized more efficiently by Fed17 eral Government and non-Federal licensees;

18 ‘‘(4) additional frequencies are assigned for

19 services that could be obtained more efficiently from

20 commercial carriers or other vendors;

21 ‘‘(5) scarcity of assignable frequencies for li22 censing by the Commission can and will—

23 ‘‘(A) impede the development and commer24 cialization of new telecommunications products

25 and services;
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1 ‘‘(B) limit the capacity and efficiency of

2 the United States telecommunications systems;

3 ‘‘(C) prevent some State and local police,

4 fire, and emergency services from obtaining ur5 gently needed radio channels; and

6 ‘‘(D) adversely affect the productive capac7 ity and international competitiveness of the

8 United States economy;

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

10 produce significant economic returns; and

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

12 and the Federal Communications Commission should

13 be directed to take appropriate steps to correct these

14 deficiencies.

15 ‘‘SEC. 112. NATIONAL SPECTRUM PLANNING.

16 ‘‘(a) PLANNING ACTIVITIES.—The Assistant Sec17 retary and the Chairman of the Commission shall meet,

18 at least biannually, to conduct joint spectrum planning

19 with respect to the following issues—

20 ‘‘(1) the future spectrum requirements for pub21 lic and private uses, including State and local gov22 ernment public safety agencies;

23 ‘‘(2) the spectrum allocation actions necessary

24 to accommodate those uses; and
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1 ‘‘(3) actions necessary to promote the efficient

2 use of the spectrum, including spectrum manage3 ment techniques to promote increased shared use of

4 the spectrum that does not cause harmful inter5 ference as a means of increasing commercial access.

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

7 Chairman of the Commission shall submit a joint annual

8 report to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the

9 House of Representatives, the Committee on Commerce,

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

11 and the Commission on the joint spectrum planning activi12 ties conducted under subsection (a) and recommendations

13 for action developed pursuant to such activities.

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

15 report submitted after the date of the report by the advi16 sory committee under section 113(d)(4) shall—

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

18 committee report; and

19 ‘‘(2) include an analysis of the effect on spec20 trum efficiency and the cost of equipment to Federal

21 spectrum users of maintaining separate allocations

22 for Federal Government and non-Federal Govern23 ment licensees for the same or similar services.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 113. IDENTIFICATION OF REALLOCABLE FRE2 QUENCIES.

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

4 shall, within 24 months after the date of the enactment

5 of this part, prepare and submit to the President and the

6 Congress a report identifying bands of frequencies that—

7 ‘‘(1) are allocated on a primary basis for Fed8 eral Government use and eligible for licensing pursu9 ant to section 305(a) of the Act (47 U.S.C. 305(a));

10 ‘‘(2) are not required for the present or identifi11 able future needs of the Federal Government;

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

13 date of submission of the report or at any time dur14 ing the next 15 years, for use under the Act (other

15 than for Federal Government stations under such

16 section 305);

17 ‘‘(4) will not result in costs to the Federal Gov18 ernment, or losses of services or benefits to the pub19 lic, that are excessive in relation to the benefits that

20 may be obtained by non-Federal licensees; and

21 ‘‘(5) are most likely to have the greatest poten22 tial for productive uses and public benefits under the

23 Act.

24 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM AMOUNT OF SPECTRUM REC25 OMMENDED.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Based on the report re2 quired by subsection (a), the Secretary shall rec3 ommend for reallocation, for use other than by Fed4 eral Government stations under section 305 of the

5 Act (47 U.S.C. 305), bands of frequencies that span

6 a total of not less than 200 megahertz, that are lo7 cated below 6 gigahertz, and that meet the criteria

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

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

10 megahertz, bands of frequencies that span more

11 than 20 megahertz and that are located between 5

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

13 such criteria) bands of frequencies spanning more

14 than 200 megahertz, the report shall identify and

15 recommend for reallocation those bands (spanning

16 not less than 200 megahertz) that meet the criteria

17 specified in paragraph (5) of such subsection.

18 ‘‘(2) MIXED USES PERMITTED TO BE COUNT19 ED.—Bands of frequencies which the Secretary’s re20 port recommends be partially retained for use by

21 Federal Government stations, but which are also

22 recommended to be reallocated to be made available

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

24 be counted toward the minimum spectrum required

25 by paragraph (1) of this subsection, except that—
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1 ‘‘(A) the bands of frequencies counted

2 under this paragraph may not count toward

3 more than one-half of the minimum required by

4 paragraph (1) of this subsection;

5 ‘‘(B) a band of frequencies may not be

6 counted under this paragraph unless the assign7 ments of the band to Federal Government sta8 tions under section 305 of the Act (47 U.S.C.

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

10 by other means so as to guarantee that the po11 tential use to be made by such Federal Govern12 ment stations is substantially less (as measured

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

14 potential use to be made by non-Federal sta15 tions; and

16 ‘‘(C) the operational sharing permitted

17 under this paragraph shall be subject to coordi18 nation procedures which the Commission shall

19 establish and implement to ensure against

20 harmful interference.

21 ‘‘(c) CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFICATION.—

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

23 In determining whether a band of frequencies meets

24 the criteria specified in subsection (a)(2), the Sec25 retary shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) consider whether the band of fre2 quencies is used to provide a communications

3 service that is or could be available from a com4 mercial carrier or other vendor;

5 ‘‘(B) seek to promote—

6 ‘‘(i) the maximum practicable reliance

7 on commercially available substitutes;

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

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

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

11 communications technologies; and

12 ‘‘(iv) the use of nonradiating commu13 nications systems where practicable; and

14 ‘‘(C) seek to avoid—

15 ‘‘(i) serious degradation of Federal

16 Government services and operations; and

17 ‘‘(ii) excessive costs to the Federal

18 Government and users of Federal Govern19 ment services.

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

21 whether a frequency band meets the criteria speci22 fied in subsection (a)(3), the Secretary shall—

23 ‘‘(A) assume such frequencies will be as24 signed by the Commission under section 303 of
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1 the Act (47 U.S.C. 303) over the course of not

2 less than 15 years;

3 ‘‘(B) assume reasonable rates of scientific

4 progress and growth of demand for tele5 communications services;

6 ‘‘(C) determine the extent to which the

7 reallocation or reassignment will relieve actual

8 or potential scarcity of frequencies available for

9 licensing by the Commission for non-Federal

10 use;

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

12 be used to stimulate the development of new

13 technologies; and

14 ‘‘(E) consider the immediate and recurring

15 costs to reestablish services displaced by the

16 reallocation of spectrum.

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

18 whether a band of frequencies meets the criteria

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

20 consider—

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

22 will be available that is capable of utilizing the

23 band;
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1 ‘‘(B) the proximity of frequencies that are

2 already assigned for commercial or other non3 Federal use; and

4 ‘‘(C) the activities of foreign governments

5 in making frequencies available for experimen6 tation or commercial assignments in order to

7 support their domestic manufacturers of equip8 ment.

9 ‘‘(4) POWER AGENCY FREQUENCIES.—

10 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE FOR MIXED USE ONLY.—

11 The frequencies assigned to any Federal power

12 agency may only be eligible for mixed use under

13 subsection (b)(2) in geographically separate

14 areas and shall not be recommended for the

15 purposes of withdrawing that assignment. In

16 any case where a frequency is to be shared by

17 an affected Federal power agency and a non18 Federal user, such use by the non-Federal user

19 shall, consistent with the procedures established

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

21 interference to the affected Federal power agen22 cy or adversely affect the reliability of its power

23 system.

24 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—As used in this para25 graph, the term ‘Federal power agency’ means
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1 the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Bonneville

2 Power Administration, the Western Area Power

3 Administration, or the Southwestern Power

4 Administration.

5 ‘‘(d) PROCEDURE FOR IDENTIFICATION OF

6 REALLOCABLE BANDS OF FREQUENCIES.—

7 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION OF PRELIMINARY IDENTIFICA8 TION TO CONGRESS.—Within 12 months after the

9 date of the enactment of this part, the Secretary

10 shall prepare and submit to the Congress a report

11 which makes a preliminary identification of

12 reallocable bands of frequencies which meet the cri13 teria established by this section.

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

15 Not later than the date the Secretary submits the

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

17 convene an advisory committee to—

18 ‘‘(A) review the bands of frequencies iden19 tified in such report;

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

21 (i) the bands of frequencies which should be in22 cluded in the final report required by subsection

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

24 established under subsection (e) with respect to

25 such frequencies;
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1 ‘‘(C) receive public comment on the Sec2 retary’s report and on the final report; and

3 ‘‘(D) prepare and submit the report re4 quired by paragraph (4).

5 The advisory committee shall meet at least monthly

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

7 have taken place.

8 ‘‘(3) COMPOSITION OF COMMITTEE; CHAIR9 MAN.—The advisory committee shall include—

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

11 the Assistant Secretary, and one other rep12 resentative of the Federal Government as des13 ignated by the Secretary; and

14 ‘‘(B) representatives of—

15 ‘‘(i) United States manufacturers of

16 spectrum-dependent telecommunications

17 equipment;

18 ‘‘(ii) commercial carriers;

19 ‘‘(iii) other users of the electro20 magnetic spectrum, including radio and

21 television broadcast licensees, State and

22 local public safety agencies, and the avia23 tion industry; and
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1 ‘‘(iv) other interested members of the

2 public who are knowledgeable about the

3 uses of the electromagnetic spectrum.

4 A majority of the members of the committee shall be

5 members described in subparagraph (B), and one of

6 such members shall be designated as chairman by

7 the Secretary.

8 ‘‘(4) RECOMMENDATIONS ON SPECTRUM ALLO9 CATION PROCEDURES.—The advisory committee

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

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

12 Commission, the Committee on Energy and Com13 merce of the House of Representatives, and the

14 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor15 tation of the Senate, a report containing such rec16 ommendations as the advisory committee considers

17 appropriate for the reform of the process of allocat18 ing the electromagnetic spectrum between Federal

19 and non-Federal use, and any dissenting views

20 thereon.

21 ‘‘(e) TIMETABLE FOR REALLOCATION AND LIMITA22 TION.—

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

24 shall, as part of the report required by subsection

25 (a), include a timetable that recommends immediate
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1 and delayed effective dates by which the President

2 shall withdraw or limit assignments on the fre3 quencies specified in the report.

4 ‘‘(2) EXPEDITED REALLOCATION OF INITIAL 30

5 MHZ PERMITTED.—The Secretary may prepare and

6 submit to the President a report which specifically

7 identifies an initial 30 megahertz of spectrum that

8 meets the criteria described in subsection (a) and

9 that can be made available for reallocation imme10 diately upon issuance of the report required by this

11 section.

12 ‘‘(3) DELAYED EFFECTIVE DATE.—The rec13 ommended delayed effective dates shall—

14 ‘‘(A) permit the earliest possible

15 reallocation of the frequency bands, taking into

16 account the requirements of section 115(1);

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

18 of equipment that has been purchased or con19 tracted for to operate on identified frequencies;

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

21 frequency use with other nations; and

22 ‘‘(D) take into account the relationship be23 tween the costs to the Federal Government of

24 changing to different frequencies and the bene25 fits that may be obtained from commercial and
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1 other non-Federal uses of the reassigned fre2 quencies.

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

4 GOVERNMENT STATIONS.

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall—

6 ‘‘(1) within 6 months after receipt of the Sec7 retary’s report under section 113(a), withdraw the

8 assignment to a Federal Government station of any

9 frequency which the report recommends for imme10 diate reallocation;

11 ‘‘(2) within such 6-month period, limit the as12 signment to a Federal Government station of any

13 frequency which the report recommends be made im14 mediately available for mixed use under section

15 113(b)(2);

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

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

18 provided in subsection (b)(4) of this section), with19 draw or limit the assignment to a Federal Govern20 ment station of any frequency which the report rec21 ommends be reallocated or made available for mixed

22 use on such delayed effective date;

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

24 Federal Government stations as necessary to adjust

25 to such withdrawal or limitation of assignments; and
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1 ‘‘(5) transmit a notice and description to the

2 Commission and each House of Congress of the ac3 tions taken under this subsection.

4 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—

5 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO SUBSTITUTE.—If the

6 President determines that a circumstance described

7 in paragraph (2) exists, the President—

8 ‘‘(A) may substitute an alternative fre9 quency or band of frequencies for the frequency

10 or band that is subject to such determination

11 and withdraw (or limit) the assignment of that

12 alternative frequency or band in the manner re13 quired by subsection (a); and

14 ‘‘(B) shall submit a statement of the rea15 sons for taking the action described in subpara16 graph (A) to the Committee on Energy and

17 Commerce of the House of Representatives and

18 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

19 Transportation of the Senate.

20 ‘‘(2) GROUNDS FOR SUBSTITUTION.—For pur21 poses of paragraph (1), the following circumstances

22 are described in this paragraph:

23 ‘‘(A) the reassignment would seriously

24 jeopardize the national defense interests of the

25 United States;
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1 ‘‘(B) the frequency proposed for reassign2 ment is uniquely suited to meeting important

3 governmental needs;

4 ‘‘(C) the reassignment would seriously

5 jeopardize public health or safety; or

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

7 to the Federal Government that are excessive in

8 relation to the benefits that may be obtained

9 from commercial or other non-Federal uses of

10 the reassigned frequency.

11 ‘‘(3) CRITERIA FOR SUBSTITUTED FRE12 QUENCIES.—For purposes of paragraph (1), a fre13 quency may not be substituted for a frequency iden14 tified by the report of the Secretary under section

15 113(a) unless the substituted frequency also meets

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

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

18 President determines that any action cannot be com19 pleted by the delayed effective date recommended by

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

21 such an action by such date would result in a fre22 quency being unused as a consequence of the Com23 mission’s plan under section 115, the President

24 may—
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1 ‘‘(A) withdraw or limit the assignment to

2 Federal Government stations on a later date

3 that is consistent with such plan, except that

4 the President shall notify each committee speci5 fied in paragraph (1)(B) and the Commission

6 of the reason that withdrawal or limitation at

7 a later date is required; or

8 ‘‘(B) substitute alternative frequencies pur9 suant to the provisions of this subsection.

10 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON DELEGATION.—Notwithstand11 ing any other provision of law, the authorities and duties

12 established by this section may not be delegated.

13 ‘‘SEC. 115. DISTRIBUTION OF FREQUENCIES BY THE COM14 MISSION.

15 Not later than 1 year after the President notifies the

16 Commission pursuant to section 114(a)(5), the Commis17 sion shall prepare, in consultation with the Assistant Sec18 retary when necessary, and submit to the President and

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

20 of the frequency bands reallocated pursuant to the re21 quirements of this part. Such plan shall—

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

23 all such frequencies, but, taking into account the

24 timetable recommended by the Secretary pursuant to

25 section 113(e), shall propose—
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1 ‘‘(A) gradually to distribute the frequencies

2 remaining, after making the reservation re3 quired by subparagraph (B), over the course of

4 a period of not less than 10 years beginning on

5 the date of submission of such plan; and

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

7 such frequencies for distribution beginning after

8 the end of such 10-year period;

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

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

11 technologies and services in accordance with the

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

13 and

14 ‘‘(B) the availability of frequencies to stim15 ulate the development of such technologies;

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

17 spectrum from current commercial and other non18 Federal uses to provide for more efficient use of the

19 spectrum, and (B) innovation and marketplace de20 velopments that may affect the relative efficiencies

21 of different spectrum allocations; and

22 ‘‘(4) not prevent the Commission from allocat23 ing bands of frequencies for specific uses in future

24 rulemaking proceedings.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 116. AUTHORITY TO RECOVER REASSIGNED FRE2 QUENCIES.

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

4 withdrawal of assignment to Federal Government stations

5 pursuant to section 114, the President may reclaim reas6 signed frequencies for reassignment to Federal Govern7 ment stations in accordance with this section.

8 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURE FOR RECLAIMING FRE9 QUENCIES.—

10 ‘‘(1) UNALLOCATED FREQUENCIES.—If the fre11 quencies to be reclaimed have not been allocated or

12 assigned by the Commission pursuant to the Act,

13 the President shall follow the procedures for substi14 tution of frequencies established by section 114(b) of

15 this part.

16 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATED FREQUENCIES.—If the fre17 quencies to be reclaimed have been allocated or as18 signed by the Commission, the President shall follow

19 the procedures for substitution of frequencies estab20 lished by section 114(b) of this part, except that the

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

22 include—

23 ‘‘(A) a timetable to accommodate an or24 derly transition for licensees to obtain new fre25 quencies and equipment necessary for its utili26 zation; and
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1 ‘‘(B) an estimate of the cost of displacing

2 spectrum users licensed by the Commission.

3 ‘‘(c) COSTS OF RECLAIMING FREQUENCIES; APPRO4 PRIATIONS AUTHORIZED.—The Federal Government shall

5 bear all costs of reclaiming frequencies pursuant to this

6 section, including the cost of equipment which is rendered

7 unusable, the cost of relocating operations to a different

8 frequency band, and any other costs that are directly at9 tributable to the reclaiming of the frequency pursuant to

10 this section. There are authorized to be appropriated such

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

12 this section.

13 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE OF RECLAIMED FRE14 QUENCIES.—The Commission shall not withdraw licenses

15 for any reclaimed frequencies until the end of the fiscal

16 year following the fiscal year in which the President’s noti17 fication is received.

18 ‘‘(e) EFFECT ON OTHER LAW.—Nothing in this sec19 tion shall be construed to limit or otherwise affect the au20 thority of the President under sections 305 and 706 of

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

22 ‘‘SEC. 117. DEFINITIONS.

23 As used in this part:

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

25 the National Table of Frequency Allocations of a
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1 given frequency band for the purpose of its use by

2 one or more radiocommunication services.

3 ‘‘(2) The term ‘assignment’ means an author4 ization given to a station licensee to use specific fre5 quencies or channels.

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

7 entity that uses a facility licensed by the Federal

8 Communications Commission pursuant to the Com9 munications Act of 1934 for hire or for its own use,

10 but does not include Federal Government stations li11 censed pursuant to section 305 of the Act (47

12 U.S.C. 305).

13 ‘‘(4) The term ‘the Act’ means the Communica14 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.).’’.

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