I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1677 

To amend the National Telecommunications and Information Administration 

Organization Act to provide for an incumbent informing capability, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 21, 2023 

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

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the National Telecommunications and Information 

Administration Organization Act to provide for an incumbent informing capability, 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 ‘‘Simplifying Manage5 ment, Access, Reallocation, and Transfer of Spectrum 

6 Act’’ or the ‘‘SMART Spectrum Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. INCUMBENT INFORMING CAPABILITY. 

8 Part B of the National Telecommunications and In9 formation Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 


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1 921 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 120. INCUMBENT INFORMING CAPABILITY. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) not later than 120 days after the date of 

6 the enactment of this section, begin to amend the 

7 Department of Commerce spectrum management 

8 document entitled ‘Manual of Regulations and Pro9 cedures for Federal Radio Frequency Management’ 

10 so as to incorporate an incumbent informing capa11 bility; and 

12 ‘‘(2) not later than the date on which amounts 

13 appropriated to carry out this section are first made 

14 available, begin to implement such capability, includ15 ing the development and testing of such capability. 

16 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE INCUMBENT INFORM17 ING CAPABILITY.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The incumbent informing 

19 capability required by subsection (a) shall include a 

20 system to enable sharing, including time-based shar21 ing, to securely manage harmful interference be22 tween non-Federal users and incumbent Federal en23 tities sharing a band of covered spectrum and be24 tween Federal entities sharing a band of covered 

25 spectrum. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The system required by 

2 paragraph (1) shall contain, at a minimum, the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(A) One or more mechanisms to allow 

5 non-Federal use in covered spectrum, as au6 thorized by the rules of the Commission. Such 

7 mechanism or mechanisms shall include inter8 faces to commercial sharing systems, as appro9 priate. 

10 ‘‘(B) One or more mechanisms to facilitate 

11 Federal-to-Federal sharing, as authorized by 

12 the NTIA. 

13 ‘‘(C) One or more mechanisms to prevent, 

14 eliminate, or mitigate harmful interference to 

15 incumbent Federal entities, including one or 

16 more of the following functions: 

17 ‘‘(i) Sensing. 

18 ‘‘(ii) Identification. 

19 ‘‘(iii) Reporting. 

20 ‘‘(iv) Analysis. 

21 ‘‘(v) Resolution. 

22 ‘‘(D) Dynamic coordination area analysis, 

23 definition, and control, if appropriate for a 

24 band. 


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1 ‘‘(3) COMPLIANCE WITH COMMISSION RULES.— 

2 The incumbent informing capability required by sub3 section (a) shall ensure that use of covered spectrum 

4 is in accordance with the applicable rules of the 

5 Commission. 

6 ‘‘(4) INPUT OF INFORMATION.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each incumbent Fed8 eral entity sharing a band of covered spectrum 

9 shall— 

10 ‘‘(i) input into the system required by 

11 paragraph (1) such information as the As12 sistant Secretary may require, including 

13 the frequency, time, and location of the use 

14 of the band by such Federal entity; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) to the extent practicable, input 

16 such information into such system on an 

17 automated basis. 

18 ‘‘(B) PAYMENT OF COSTS.—Notwith19 standing subsections (c) through (e) of section 

20 118 and subparagraphs (C) through (E) of sub21 section (g)(2) of such section, the Director of 

22 the Office of Management and Budget, in con23 sultation with the Assistant Secretary, may use 

24 amounts available in the Spectrum Relocation 

25 Fund to pay the costs incurred by Federal entiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1677.IH H1677

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1 ties to input information as required by sub2 paragraph (A). 

3 ‘‘(5) PROTECTION OF CLASSIFIED INFORMA4 TION AND CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFORMA5 TION.—The system required by paragraph (1) shall 

6 contain appropriate measures to protect classified 

7 information and controlled unclassified information, 

8 including any such classified information or con9 trolled unclassified information that relates to mili10 tary operations. 

11 ‘‘(c) BRIEFING.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

12 on which amounts appropriated to carry out this section 

13 are first made available, the Assistant Secretary shall pro14 vide a briefing on the implementation of this section to 

15 the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 

16 of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

17 Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 

18 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 ‘‘(1) COVERED SPECTRUM.—The term ‘covered 

20 spectrum’ means— 

21 ‘‘(A) electromagnetic spectrum for which 

22 usage rights are assigned to or authorized for 

23 (including before the date on which the incum24 bent informing capability required by subsection 

25 (a) is implemented) a non-Federal user or class 


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1 of non-Federal users for use on a shared basis 

2 with an incumbent Federal entity in accordance 

3 with the rules of the Commission; and 

4 ‘‘(B) electromagnetic spectrum allocated 

5 on a primary or co-primary basis for Federal 

6 use that is shared among Federal entities. 

7 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL ENTITY.—The term ‘Federal en8 tity’ has the meaning given such term in section 

9 113(l). 

10 ‘‘(3) INCUMBENT INFORMING CAPABILITY.— 

11 The term ‘incumbent informing capability’ means a 

12 capability to facilitate the sharing of covered spec13 trum. 

14 ‘‘(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec15 tion shall be construed to alter or expand the authority 

16 of the NTIA as described in section 113(j)(1).’’. 

Æ 


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