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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3490 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3490

 To clarify the rights and responsibilities of Federal entities in the 
          spectrum relocation process, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 15, 2010

Mr. Warner (for himself and Mr. Wicker) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To clarify the rights and responsibilities of Federal entities in the 
          spectrum relocation process, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Spectrum Relocation Improvement Act 
of 2010''.

SEC. 2. RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF FEDERAL ENTITIES IN THE SPECTRUM 
              RELOCATION PROCESS.

    (a) Eligible Federal Entities.--Section 113(g)(1) of the National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act (47 
U.S.C. 923(g)(1)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(1) Eligible federal entities.--Any Federal entity, as 
        defined in subsection (i), that operates a Federal Government 
        station assigned to a band of eligible frequencies, as 
        described in paragraph (2), and that incurs relocation costs 
        because of the reallocation of frequencies from Federal use to 
        non-Federal use shall receive payment for such costs from the 
        Spectrum Relocation Fund if the Federal entity is found by the 
        Office of Management and Budget (in this section referred to as 
        `OMB') to comply with the requirements of this section and 
        section 118. For purposes of this paragraph, Federal power 
        agencies exempted under subsection (c)(4) that choose to 
        relocate from the frequencies identified for reallocation 
        pursuant to subsection (a) are eligible to receive payment 
        under this paragraph.''.
    (b) Public Information on Relocation Process.--Section 113(g) of 
the National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (7); and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(6) Public notice of relocation plans.--
                    ``(A) Not later than 90 days after the date on 
                which the NTIA, on behalf of eligible Federal entities 
                and after review by OMB, notifies the Commission of 
                estimated relocation costs and timelines for such 
                relocation as required by paragraph (4)(A), NTIA shall 
                post on its Web site detailed transition plans from 
                each of the eligible Federal entities. Each Federal 
                entity's transition plan shall provide the public with 
                the following information about its spectrum relocation 
                requirements:
                            ``(i) Current use of the spectrum.
                            ``(ii) Geographic location of the Federal 
                        entities' facilities or systems.
                            ``(iii) Frequency bands used by such 
                        facilities or systems, described by geographic 
                        location.
                            ``(iv) The steps to be taken by the Federal 
                        entity to relocate its current spectrum uses 
                        from the eligible frequencies, detailed 
                        according to timelines for specific geographic 
                        locations in sufficient detail to indicate when 
                        use of such frequencies at specific locations 
                        will be shared between the Federal entity and 
                        the commercial licensee.
                            ``(v) The specific interactions between 
                        eligible Federal entities and NTIA needed to 
                        implement the transition plan.
                            ``(vi) The name of the director, officer, 
                        or employee responsible for the Federal 
                        entity's relocation efforts and who is 
                        authorized to meet and negotiate with 
                        commercial licensees regarding the relocation 
                        process.
                            ``(vii) The Federal entity's plans and 
                        timeline for using relocation funds received 
                        from the Spectrum Relocation Fund.
                            ``(viii) The Federal entity's plans and 
                        timeline for procuring new equipment and 
                        additional personnel needed for the relocation.
                            ``(ix) The Federal entity's plans and 
                        timeline for field-testing and deploying new 
                        equipment needed in the relocation.
                            ``(x) The Federal entity's plans and 
                        timeline for hiring and relying on contract 
                        personnel, if any.
                            ``(xi) Risk factors in the relocation 
                        process that could affect the Federal entity's 
                        fulfillment of its transition plan.
                    ``(B) To be eligible to receive payment for 
                relocation costs from the Spectrum Relocation Fund--
                            ``(i) Federal entities shall make the 
                        transition plans described in this subsection 
                        available to NTIA at least 90 days prior to the 
                        date that NTIA shall make such plans publicly 
                        available on its Web site pursuant to 
                        subparagraph (A), in a common format to be 
                        specified by NTIA after public input; and
                            ``(ii) each transition plan shall be 
                        evaluated by a standing 3-member technical 
                        panel (in this section referred to as the 
                        `Technical Panel'), which shall report to NTIA 
                        and to the Federal entity, within 30 days after 
                        the plan's submission to NTIA, on the 
                        sufficiency of the plan under this paragraph, 
                        including whether the required public 
                        information is included and whether proposed 
                        timelines and estimated relocation costs, 
                        including costs proposed for expanding the 
                        capabilities of a Federal system in connection 
                        with relocation, are reasonable.
                    ``(C) The Director of OMB, the Administrator of 
                NTIA, in consultation with the affected Federal 
                entities, and the Chairman of the Commission shall each 
                appoint one member to the Technical Panel, and each 
                such member shall be a radio engineer or technical 
                expert. NTIA shall adopt regulations to govern the 
                workings of the Technical Panel after public notice and 
                comment, subject to OMB approval, and the members of 
                the Technical Panel shall be appointed, within 180 days 
                of the date of enactment of the Spectrum Relocation 
                Improvement Act of 2010. No person shall serve as a 
                member of the Technical Panel for more than 18 months.
                    ``(D) If any of the information otherwise required 
                by this paragraph is `classified information', as that 
                term is defined in section 798(b) of title 18, United 
                States Code, the Federal entity's transition plan shall 
                explain the exclusion of any such information as 
                specifically as possible, shall make all relevant non-
                classified information available in its transition 
                plan, and shall discuss as a risk factor the extent of 
                the classified information and the effect on the 
                relocation process of the classified information.
                    ``(E) NTIA, in consultation with OMB and the 
                Department of Defense, shall adopt regulations within 
                180 days of the date of enactment the Spectrum 
                Relocation Improvement Act of 2010 to ensure 
                information released publicly for the purpose of this 
                paragraph contains no sensitive or classified 
                information.''.
    (c) Sharing and Coordination of Spectrum Between Commercial 
Licensees and Federal Entities During Relocation Transition.--Section 
118 of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 928) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subsections:
    ``(f) Eligibility for Payment of Relocation Costs.--
            ``(1) Spectrum sharing.--To be eligible to receive payment 
        for relocation costs from the Spectrum Relocation Fund, a 
        Federal entity shall--
                    ``(A) in its transition plan for relocating its 
                current spectrum uses, provide--
                            ``(i) to the fullest extent possible, for 
                        sharing and coordination of eligible 
                        frequencies with commercial licensees, 
                        including reasonable accommodation by the 
                        Federal entity for the use of eligible 
                        frequencies by the commercial licensee during 
                        the period that the Federal entity is 
                        relocating its spectrum uses (in this 
                        subsection referred to as the `transition 
                        period'); and
                            ``(ii) a presumption that commercial 
                        licensees shall be able to use eligible 
                        frequencies during the transition period in 
                        geographic areas where the Federal entity does 
                        not utilize those frequencies;
                    ``(B) during the transition period, make itself 
                available, within 30 days after a written request, for 
                negotiation and discussion with commercial licensees; 
                and
                    ``(C) during the transition period, make available 
                to a commercial licensee with appropriate security 
                clearances any `classified information' as that term is 
                defined in section 798(b) of title 18, United States 
                Code, regarding the relocation process, on a need-to-
                know basis, to assist the commercial licensee in the 
                relocation process with that Federal entity or other 
                Federal entities.
            ``(2) Timely and successful completion of relocation.--In 
        addition to the conditions of paragraph (1), to be eligible to 
        receive payment for relocation costs from the Spectrum 
        Relocation Fund, a Federal entity--
                    ``(A) shall complete the relocation of its current 
                spectrum uses not later than 1 year after the date upon 
                which funds are transferred to the entity to fund the 
                relocation;
                    ``(B) may complete the relocation of its current 
                spectrum use at a time period different that required 
                under subparagraph (A), if prior to the date the 
                Technical Panel (as described in section 113(g)(6)(C)) 
                is required to post publicly the Federal entity's 
                transition plan, the Federal entity receives written 
                approval from the Office of Management and Budget (in 
                this section referred to as `OMB'), with the advice of 
                the Technical Panel; and
                    ``(C) shall make available to NTIA, not later than 
                15 days prior to the date that is the halfway point of 
                the time period described in subparagraph (A), a 
                complete update of its transition plan, provided that 
                NTIA shall post such update publicly on its Web site 
                not later than the date that is the halfway point of 
                the time period described in subparagraph (A).
            ``(3) Nothing in paragraphs (1) or (2) shall be construed 
        to adversely affect critical communications related to the 
        mission of any Federal entity.
            ``(4) Subject to subsection (d), payments for relocation 
        costs from the Spectrum Relocation Fund shall be made to an 
        eligible Federal entity not later than 30 days after the grant 
        of the first license following the close of the auction.
    ``(g) Dispute Resolution Process.--
            ``(1) If, during the spectrum relocation process, a dispute 
        arises over the execution, timing, or cost of the Federal 
        entity's transition plan, either the Federal entity or the 
        affected commercial licensee may seek resolution of the dispute 
        from a 3-member dispute resolution board, consisting of a 
        representative of OMB, NTIA, and the Commission, and chaired by 
        the representative of OMB.
            ``(2) The dispute resolution board shall meet with 
        representatives of the Federal entity involved in the dispute 
        and the commercial licensee together to discuss the dispute. 
        The dispute resolution board may require the parties to make 
        written submissions to it. The dispute resolution board shall 
        rule on any dispute within 30 days after the date that the 
        dispute was brought before it.
            ``(3) The dispute resolution board shall be assisted by the 
        Technical Panel described in section 113(g)(6)(C).
            ``(4) Subject to OMB approval, NTIA shall adopt regulations 
        to govern the working of the dispute resolution board and the 
        role of the Technical Panel after public notice and comment 
        within 180 days after the date of enactment of the Spectrum 
        Relocation Improvement Act of 2010.
            ``(5) Appeals may be taken from decisions of the dispute 
        resolution board to the United States Court of Appeals for the 
        District of Columbia Circuit by filing a notice of appeal with 
        that court within 30 days after the date of such decision. Each 
        party shall bear its own costs and expenses, including 
        attorneys' fees, for any litigation to enforce this subsection 
        or any decision rendered under it.''.
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