I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3674 

To amend the National Telecommunications and Information Administration 

Organization Act to provide incentives for the reallocation of Federal 

Government spectrum for commercial use, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 9, 2013 

Mr. GUTHRIE (for himself, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WALDEN, and Ms. 

ESHOO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 

Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the National Telecommunications and Information 

Administration Organization Act to provide incentives 

for the reallocation of Federal Government spectrum for 

commercial use, 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 ‘‘Federal Spectrum In5 centive Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FEDERAL SPECTRUM INCENTIVES. 

2 (a) NOTICE TO COMMISSION.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 113(g)(4) of the Na4 tional Telecommunications and Information Admin5 istration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)(4)) is 

6 amended— 

7 (A) by striking the heading and inserting 

8 ‘‘NOTICE TO COMMISSION.—’’; 

9 (B) in the second sentence of subpara10 graph (A), by striking ‘‘shall notify the Com11 mission’’ and all that follows and inserting the 

12 following: ‘‘shall notify the Commission— 

13 ‘‘(i) of estimated relocation or sharing 

14 costs and timelines for such relocation or 

15 sharing; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) that, instead of relocation or 

17 sharing costs under this subsection and 

18 section 118, a Federal entity will receive 

19 payment under section 120 because such 

20 entity is— 

21 ‘‘(I) discontinuing the operations 

22 that the Federal entity conducts on 

23 such eligible frequencies without relo24 cating such operations to other fre25 quencies; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) relocating such operations 

2 to frequencies assigned to another 

3 Federal entity in order for such enti4 ties to share such frequencies.’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(D) This subsection and section 118 shall 

7 not apply with respect to the discontinuance of 

8 operations on eligible frequencies or the reloca9 tion of such operations by a Federal entity after 

10 the Commission receives notice under subpara11 graph (A)(ii) with respect to such discontinu12 ance or relocation.’’. 

13 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

14 113(g) of the National Telecommunications and In15 formation Administration Organization Act (47 

16 U.S.C. 923(g)) is amended— 

17 (A) in paragraph (3)(A)(iii)(I), by striking 

18 ‘‘paragraph (4)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 

19 (4)(A)(i)’’; 

20 (B) in paragraph (4)— 

21 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

22 ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub23 paragraph (A)(i)’’; and 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

2 ‘‘subparagraphs (A) and (B)’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘subparagraphs (A)(i) and (B)’’; and 

4 (C) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘para5 graph (4)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 

6 (4)(A)(i)’’. 

7 (b) TRANSITION PLANS.—Section 113(h) of the Na8 tional Telecommunications and Information Administra9 tion Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(h)) is amended— 

10 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘RELOCATION

11 OR SHARING’’; 

12 (2) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol13 lows: 

14 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSITION PLAN BY

15 FEDERAL ENTITY.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 240 

17 days before the commencement of any auction 

18 of eligible frequencies described in subsection 

19 (g)(2), a Federal entity authorized to use any 

20 such frequency shall submit to the NTIA and 

21 to the Technical Panel established by paragraph 

22 (3) a transition plan in which the Federal enti23 ty— 

24 ‘‘(i) declares the intention of such en25 tity— 


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1 ‘‘(I) to share such eligible fre2 quencies with a non-Federal user or 

3 to relocate to other frequencies, and 

4 to receive relocation or sharing costs 

5 from the Spectrum Relocation Fund 

6 established by section 118; or 

7 ‘‘(II) to discontinue the oper8 ations that the Federal entity con9 ducts on such eligible frequencies 

10 without relocating such operations to 

11 other frequencies or to relocate such 

12 operations to frequencies assigned to 

13 another Federal entity in order for 

14 such entities to share such fre15 quencies, and to receive payment from 

16 the Federal Spectrum Incentive Fund 

17 established by section 120; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) describes how the entity will im19 plement the relocation, sharing, or dis20 continuance arrangement. 

21 ‘‘(B) COMMON FORMAT.—The NTIA shall 

22 specify, after public input, a common format for 

23 all Federal entities to follow in preparing tran24 sition plans under this paragraph.’’; 

25 (3) in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ‘‘, to 

2 discontinue such use,’’ after ‘‘from such fre3 quencies’’; 

4 (B) in subparagraph (F), by inserting ‘‘, 

5 discontinuance,’’ after ‘‘relocation’’; and 

6 (C) in subparagraph (G), by striking ‘‘The 

7 plans’’ and inserting ‘‘To the extent applicable 

8 given the intention declared by the entity under 

9 paragraph (1)(A)(i), the plans’’; 

10 (4) in paragraph (4)(A), by inserting ‘‘(if appli11 cable)’’ after ‘‘timelines and’’; 

12 (5) in paragraph (6)— 

13 (A) by inserting ‘‘(if applicable)’’ after 

14 ‘‘costs’’; and 

15 (B) by inserting ‘‘, discontinuance,’’ after 

16 ‘‘relocation’’ the second place it appears; and 

17 (6) in paragraph (7)(A)(ii), by inserting ‘‘, dis18 continuance,’’ after ‘‘relocation’’. 

19 (c) RELOCATION OR DISCONTINUANCE PRIORITIZED

20 OVER SHARING.—Section 113(j) of the National Tele21 communications and Information Administration Organi22 zation Act (47 U.S.C. 923(j)) is amended— 

23 (1) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘OR DIS24 CONTINUANCE’’ after ‘‘RELOCATION’’; and 


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1 (2) by inserting ‘‘or discontinuance of the oper2 ations that the Federal entity conducts on the band’’ 

3 after ‘‘from the band’’ each place it appears. 

4 (d) DEPOSIT OF AUCTION PROCEEDS.—Section 

5 309(j)(8) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

6 309(j)(8)) is amended— 

7 (1) in subparagraph (C)(i), by striking 

8 ‘‘(D)(ii)’’ and inserting ‘‘(D)(ii), (D)(iii)’’; and 

9 (2) in subparagraph (D)— 

10 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘clause (ii)’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘clauses (ii) and (iii)’’; and 

12 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(iii) FEDERAL SPECTRUM INCEN14 TIVES.—Notwithstanding subparagraph 

15 (A) and except as provided in subpara16 graph (B) and clause (ii) of this subpara17 graph, in the case of proceeds (including 

18 deposits and upfront payments from suc19 cessful bidders) attributable to the auction 

20 of eligible frequencies described in section 

21 113(g)(2) of the National Telecommuni22 cations and Information Administration 

23 Organization Act with respect to which the 

24 Commission has received notice under sec25 tion 113(g)(4)(A)(ii) of such Act, 1 perVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:34 Dec 09, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3674.IH H3674

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1 cent of such proceeds shall be deposited in 

2 the Federal Spectrum Incentive Fund es3 tablished by section 120 of such Act and 

4 shall be available in accordance with such 

5 section. The remainder of such proceeds 

6 shall be deposited in the general fund of 

7 the Treasury, where such proceeds shall be 

8 dedicated for the sole purpose of deficit re9 duction.’’. 

10 (e) FEDERAL SPECTRUM INCENTIVE FUND.—Part B 

11 of the National Telecommunications and Information Ad12 ministration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 921 et seq.) is 

13 amended by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 120. FEDERAL SPECTRUM INCENTIVE FUND. 

15 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

16 Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as the 

17 Federal Spectrum Incentive Fund (in this section referred 

18 to as the ‘Fund’), which shall be administered by the Of19 fice of Management and Budget (in this section referred 

20 to as ‘OMB’), in consultation with the NTIA. 

21 ‘‘(b) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—The Director of OMB 

22 shall transfer from the Fund to a Federal entity an 

23 amount equal to the amount deposited in accordance with 

24 section 309(j)(8)(D)(iii) of the Communications Act of 

25 1934 that is attributable to the auction of eligible freVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:34 Dec 09, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3674.IH H3674

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1 quencies described in section 113(g)(2) of this Act being 

2 vacated by such entity. Such amount shall be available to 

3 the Federal entity in accordance with subsection (c) and 

4 shall remain available until expended. 

5 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A Federal entity may use an 

6 amount transferred under subsection (b) for the following 

7 purposes: 

8 ‘‘(1) OFFSET OF SEQUESTRATION.—Any pur9 poses permitted under the terms and conditions of 

10 an appropriations account of the Federal entity that 

11 was subject to sequestration for any fiscal year 

12 under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 

13 Control Act of 1985. The amount used for such pur14 poses under this paragraph may not exceed the 

15 amount by which the amount available to such entity 

16 under such account was reduced by sequestration for 

17 such fiscal year. 

18 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER TO INCUMBENT FEDERAL EN19 TITY.—In the case of a Federal entity that is relo20 cating operations to frequencies assigned to an in21 cumbent Federal entity in order for such entities to 

22 share such frequencies, to transfer an amount to the 

23 incumbent Federal entity for any purposes permitted 

24 under this subsection (except this paragraph). The 


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1 transferred amount shall remain available to the in2 cumbent Federal entity until expended. 

3 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITION ON DUPLICATIVE PAYMENTS.—If 

4 the Commission receives notice under section 

5 113(g)(4)(A)(ii) of a discontinuance of operations on or 

6 relocation from eligible frequencies by a Federal entity 

7 that has received, from the Spectrum Relocation Fund in 

8 accordance with section 118(d)(3), relocation or sharing 

9 costs related to pre-auction estimates or research with re10 spect to such frequencies, the Director of OMB shall de11 duct from the amount to be transferred to such entity 

12 under subsection (b) an amount equal to such costs and 

13 shall transfer such amount to the Spectrum Relocation 

14 Fund.’’. 

15 (f) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SPECTRUM.—Section 

16 1062(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act for 

17 Fiscal Year 2000 (Public Law 106–65) does not apply to 

18 frequencies with respect to which the Commission has re19 ceived notice under section 113(g)(4)(A)(ii) of the Na20 tional Telecommunications and Information Administra21 tion Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)(4)(A)(ii)). 

22 SEC. 3. COSTS OF INCUMBENT FEDERAL ENTITIES RE23 LATED TO SPECTRUM SHARING. 

24 (a) DESCRIPTION OF ELIGIBLE FEDERAL ENTI25 TIES.—Section 113(g)(1) of the National TelecommuniVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:34 Dec 09, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3674.IH H3674

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1 cations and Information Administration Organization Act 

2 (47 U.S.C. 923(g)(1)) is amended— 

3 (1) by striking ‘‘authorized to use a band of eli4 gible frequencies described in paragraph (2)’’; 

5 (2) by striking ‘‘spectrum frequencies’’ the first 

6 place it appears and inserting ‘‘eligible frequencies 

7 described in paragraph (2)’’; and 

8 (3) by striking ‘‘spectrum frequencies’’ the sec9 ond place it appears and inserting ‘‘eligible fre10 quencies described in such paragraph’’. 

11 (b) DEFINITION OF RELOCATION OR SHARING

12 COSTS.—Section 113(g)(3)(A) of the National Tele13 communications and Information Administration Organi14 zation Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)(3)(A)) is amended— 

15 (1) in clause (iv)(II), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

16 end; 

17 (2) in clause (v), by striking the period and in18 serting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(vi) the costs incurred by an incum21 bent Federal entity to accommodate shar22 ing the spectrum frequencies assigned to 

23 such entity with a Federal entity the oper24 ations of which are being relocated from el25 igible frequencies described in paragraph 


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1 (2), unless the Commission receives notice 

2 under paragraph (4)(A)(ii)(II) with respect 

3 to the relocation of such operations.’’. 

4 (c) SPECTRUM RELOCATION FUND.—Section 118 of 

5 the National Telecommunications and Information Ad6 ministration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 928) is amend7 ed— 

8 (1) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘with respect 

9 to’’ and all that follows and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘with respect to— 

11 ‘‘(1) relocation from or sharing of such eligible 

12 frequencies; or 

13 ‘‘(2) in the case of an incumbent Federal entity 

14 described in section 113(g)(3)(A)(vi), accommo15 dating sharing the spectrum frequencies assigned to 

16 such entity with a Federal entity the operations of 

17 which are being relocated from such eligible fre18 quencies.’’; and 

19 (2) in subsection (d)— 

20 (A) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ‘‘(or, 

21 in the case of an incumbent Federal entity de22 scribed in section 113(g)(3)(A)(vi), the eligible 

23 Federal entity the operations of which are being 

24 relocated has submitted such a plan)’’ after 

25 ‘‘transition plan’’; and 


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1 (B) in paragraph (3)(B)(ii), by inserting 

2 ‘‘except in the case of an incumbent Federal en3 tity described in section 113(g)(3)(A)(vi),’’ be4 fore ‘‘the transition plan’’. 

Æ 


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