I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4817 

To require the reallocation and auction for commercial use of the electromagnetic spectrum between the frequencies from 1755 megahertz to 

1780 megahertz. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 26, 2012 

Mr. STEARNS (for himself and Ms. MATSUI) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To require the reallocation and auction for commercial use 

of the electromagnetic spectrum between the frequencies 

from 1755 megahertz to 1780 megahertz. 

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 ‘‘Efficient Use of Gov5 ernment Spectrum Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REALLOCATION AND AUCTION OF 1755–1780 MHZ 

2 BAND. 

3 (a) WITHDRAWAL OR MODIFICATION OF FEDERAL

4 GOVERNMENT STATION ASSIGNMENTS.—The President 

5 shall— 

6 (1) not later than 5 years after the date of the 

7 enactment of this Act, withdraw or modify the as8 signment to a Federal Government station of the 

9 electromagnetic spectrum described in subsection 

10 (e); and 

11 (2) not later than 30 days after completing the 

12 withdrawal or modification, notify the Commission 

13 that the withdrawal or modification is complete. 

14 (b) REALLOCATION AND AUCTION.—Notwith15 standing paragraph (15)(A) of section 309(j) of the Com16 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)), not later 

17 than 3 years after the date of the enactment of the Middle 

18 Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Public 

19 Law 112–96), the Commission shall— 

20 (1) reallocate the electromagnetic spectrum de21 scribed in subsection (e) for commercial use; and 

22 (2) as part of the system of competitive bidding 

23 required by section 6401(b)(1)(B) of such Act (47 

24 U.S.C. 1451(b)(1)(B)), grant new initial licenses, 

25 subject to flexible-use service rules, for the use of 

26 such spectrum, paired with the spectrum between 


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1 the frequencies from 2155 megahertz to 2180 mega2 hertz, inclusive. 

3 (c) AUCTION PROCEEDS.—For purposes of depos4 iting the proceeds from the competitive bidding described 

5 in subsection (b)(2) that are attributable to the electro6 magnetic spectrum described in subsection (e), such spec7 trum shall be treated as spectrum that is required to be 

8 auctioned by section 6401(b)(1)(B) of the Middle Class 

9 Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 

10 1451(b)(1)(B)). 

11 (d) RELOCATION OF AND SHARING BY FEDERAL

12 GOVERNMENT STATIONS.— 

13 (1) RELOCATION PRIORITIZED OVER SHAR14 ING.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 

15 President shall withdraw under subsection (a)(1) the 

16 assignments to all Federal Government stations of 

17 the electromagnetic spectrum described in subsection 

18 (e). 

19 (2) SHARING IF RELOCATION NOT POSSIBLE.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the President deter21 mines, based on an operational impact assess22 ment, that a Federal Government station can23 not be relocated from the electromagnetic spec24 trum described in subsection (e) without jeop25 ardizing essential military capability, the PresiVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:02 Apr 28, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4817.IH H4817

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1 dent shall modify under subsection (a)(1) the 

2 assignment to such station of such spectrum to 

3 permit shared Federal and non-Federal use. 

4 (B) IDENTIFICATION OF STATIONS.—Not 

5 later than 18 months prior to the commence6 ment of the competitive bidding described in 

7 subsection (b)(2), the President shall— 

8 (i) identify any Federal Government 

9 stations the assignments of which will be 

10 modified in accordance with subparagraph 

11 (A); and 

12 (ii) notify— 

13 (I) the Assistant Secretary of any 

14 stations so identified; and 

15 (II) each Federal entity that op16 erates such a station that the station 

17 has been so identified. 

18 (C) DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSITION

19 PLAN.—For any station identified by the Presi20 dent under subparagraph (B)(i), the transition 

21 plan required by section 113(h)(1) of the Na22 tional Telecommunications and Information Ad23 ministration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 

24 923(h)(1)) shall enable non-Federal users to 

25 share with such station the electromagnetic 


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1 spectrum described in subsection (e). Where ex2 clusion zones are necessary for the protection of 

3 essential military capability, such plan shall 

4 provide for the smallest possible zones con5 sistent with such protection. 

6 (e) SPECTRUM DESCRIBED.—The electromagnetic 

7 spectrum described in this subsection is the spectrum be8 tween the frequencies from 1755 megahertz to 1780 

9 megahertz, inclusive. 

10 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist12 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

13 Commerce for Communications and Information. 

14 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

15 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

Æ 


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